Fourteen Years of Our Little Pickle

Dear LP

Each year I write you a letter and each year the time to write that letter seems to come round quicker and quicker. I have no idea where the years are going but somehow, the tiny baby I had at home is now fourteen. And what a delight you are!

This year has been such a good year for you. Pretty uneventful on most fronts – you finished Year 9 at school, ready for Year 10 next week, and aside from that there haven’t been any big changes.

You chose your GCSEs a few months ago and were glad to be able to do the ones you chose. So you’re going to be doing Citizenship, History and French, as well as all the mandatory ones – and an extra science that the school insisted the whole year do as it should work out better for you all based on data since the pandemic.

You are so ready for your GCSEs. You’ve already been talking about revising, making notes etc and have signed up to a trip to Berlin in May half term for your history GCSE. I think the next couple of years will be exciting ones for you. No more of the subjects you didn’t enjoy as much – food tech, RE, geography… If only you could give up PE too! But no such luck.

This year you started going to debate club at school which has been great for you, discussing so many topics and learning how to have civilised debates without arguing. I’ve loved hearing about what you’ve been debating each week.

After really discovering makeup and music last year, these tastes have grown and developed even more. Taylor Swift is now not something that interests you – and you were definitely not as excited as me about her getting engaged this week. But, you love Conan Gray, the Epic Musical and all things Hamilton – which we’ll be seeing in New York in October.

Your makeup is getting more experimental and darker. I ask if you’re turning nemo, knowing full well the word is emo, but it’s become a little joke for us. You suit the eyeliner you put on most days and you love having dark lips. I just love that you are so unapologetically you. You’re so comfortable in your skin and don’t need anyone else to like the things you like. You do you. And I hope you keep on doing you forever more.

I feel like you got all your teenage moodiness and angst out of the way before you actually reached 13, as this last year has been pretty smooth sailing compared to the year before. We haven’t butted heads as much and most days I feel your love, rather than anger, upset or general moodiness. I feel like we’re closer this year, and long may that continue.

You also really love your brother. You may not show it much, and you may bite his head off at times, but you are always there for him, looking out for him and making sure he’s ok. I know, deep down, you are both still each other’s favourite people and would always rather be together.

You haven’t grown much this year, you’re pretty much the same height and shoe size as you were a year ago but where you haven’t grown physically, you have grown in personality. You sing constantly, put music on wherever you are in the house and constantly quote song lyrics or phrases from movies and TV shows.

You are also so knowledgable and ask questions about everything to find out even more. We have had so many deep conversations this year and I love to see your inquisitive nature coming through again.

We have had a couple of holidays this year – to Dubai and the UAE this summer and the north of England at Easter but it hasn’t been as busy a year as it usually is. We have still crammed in lots of days out, just not many overnight adventures.

You still spend so much time staring at your phone but you still don’t have social media, and haven’t asked for it, happily just chatting to your friends on Whatsapp. You also read a lot – and love anything Ancient Greece at the moment. We’re planning a trip to Athens at some point as I know you’ll soak up every minute of it!

You still make things constantly – bead bracelets, crochet things, phone chains. It’s lovely to see you so engrossed in things that don’t involve screens and I buy you any new creative bits whenever I can.

This year you’ve discovered The Sims at play it often. Minecraft and Roblox still make appearances but The Sims is your favourite. We’ve watched a few TV series together this year too – Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars and some other things that I can’t remember!

We went to see Coldplay at Wembley last week. Although not one of your favourite bands, you know their music through us and had a great time at the show, singing and dancing along.

We tinted your eyelashes for the first time just before the summer holiday and you loved it. As, like me, you have very fair eyelashes, having them tinted makes such a difference to your face and I think it’s something we’ll be doing regularly in the future.

One thing you’ve really discovered this year is instant noodles, and would eat them for every meal if you could. You happily make them yourself for lunch, sometimes adding different veg or meat to them, and it’s turned into a proper little routine. Ready for student life a few years early!

LP, you are amazing. I love the person you are becoming and as much as I loved the little, tiny you, I really love getting to know this grown up, more independent you. You’re fun, quirky, full of love, so funny and just great to be around. We absolutely adore you.

Please, keep being you. Never change and, as the saying goes, never let anyone dull your sparkle. You light up our lives.

With love, always

Mummy and Daddy x