Eight Is

Eight is long limbs with knobby knees,

It is hair all the way down your back and a smile that lights me up

Eight is figuring out how to love your differences,

Its likes and dislikes that aren’t the same as your classmates.

Eight is contradictory,

It is pushing me away and pulling me in, wanting all the freedom but still needing my help.

Eight is learning that kids can be mean but you can still be nice,

It is tag on the playground, being included and excluded, and reading for hours on end.

Eight is big emotions in a little package,

Its angrily yelling that you love us when it is all just too much to handle.

Eight is singing songs before bed,

It is laughter and games, jokes and secret handshakes.

Eight is hard,

Its limit testing and fierce fierce determination.

Eight more grown up then I could have imagined,

It is everything I thought it would be when I pictured you here before you were born.

They say each stage is the hardest until it becomes easy,

The second you get used to something, it all gets changed up.

I don’t know that I could pick a favorite age,

But right now,

Eight Is.