Dear Roger: The Last Monkey Birthday?

She is growing up. Oh God, she is growing up. She is still the sweet, kind, loving little girl she has always been, but she has a snarky edge to her that she didn't have last year. She has slammed doors, thrown pencils in frustration and she sassed back at her tutor more than a few times and she adores him. She is leaving her Jackson home more and more and gradually accepting that the little band of men she loved have totally abandoned her. She is getting tougher and she has endured bullying at school like the tough monkey girl she is and no longer does she come home in tears, retreating to her room to cuddle her monkey under her blankets, now she rants and stomps and tells me about how she restrained herself from,"Stomping a mudhole" in the bully's butt, (I may have rubbed off on her a little bit), and she is holding her head up higher, though she still has days when she just wants to cuddle Benny and mope for a bit.
She got a scholarship to go to a camp for Gifted children this summer and for some reason the school district has been doing more testing on her and they have reaffirmed she is "Intellectually and Creatively Gifted", though I don't know why they feel the need to keep testing her for it. She reads constantly, draws and sings,(quite often very inappropriate songs), and her tutor works with her on college level vocabulary words and concepts just to provide a challenge to her. She is very used to always getting 100% and being told how brilliant she is so actually being provided a challenge where she sometimes fails is good for her, though its not good for door frames or pencils. My child has an ego and it does not accept failure very well and we are teaching her how to fail and come back from it, though the process is heart rending for all of us.
She has cut her hair this past year, gotten her ears pierced, traveled to Seattle, made new friends, stood up to her brothers, suffered heartbreak and realized that heroes are just human beings who sometimes forget that they are heroes to little girls and go back to being human beings. She has decided she wants to grow up to be a hero herself and she is a fierce defender of those she sees as needing her protection, including her tutor and even her long lost hero's for some odd reason.
I don't know what the future is going to hold for her in this next year, but I do know it is going to be full of amazing things. We are celebrating her birthday on Saturday with Karaoke, a cake in the shape of a,"Glittery Unicorn Pooping a Rainbow" , followed by a dinner of Sushi with friends at her favorite Japanese restaurant. She hasn't asked for any presents, just fun with friends because she said she has everything she wants and needs. If you arent busy on Saturday, join us on Twitter, send her a Happy Birthday, she will appreciate it. @calamityjen1