The Girls - Jordyn Lyn

I wish I was more consistent at writing the special or funny things down that happen with the girls all the time. I just truly love watching the girls unfold and grow and just become more of who they are supposed to be. I feel very strongly about not forcing them to be anything but themselves, and when I forget that and try to fit them in a box of any kind, it never works and I always feel bad.

Jordyn Lyn. 12 years old has been a fun age. I really mean it. Although the opinions and eye rolling hasn't stopped, I feel a little more tolerant of it, because I see it as her just trying to be independent. I really like to hear her thoughts about life, friends, school, and just what she finds joy in. 

I'm so thankful she always wants to show me her dance moves. I love watching her dance. She is particularly proud right now because she has really quickly grasped some of the moves in her solo routine. She was just telling me the other day how surprised she was that when Jessie shows her a move, she can just do it! Specifically things that she struggled with just the end of last dance season. So she really is feeling the fruits of her labor. Lots of hard work pays off! I just love to see how much she loves it. She always wishes her solo practice was way, way longer than it is.I truly never hear complaints about dance. Even weeks where they spent 15 hours dancing! I feel grateful to have helped her find something that she truly loves. And I genuinely feel like she chose this, and I did not push her into it, but guided her as she showed a love and a desire for it. Jordyn has her best friend, Nataly. They are two peas in a pod for sure. Jordyn seems like the kind of person who has lots of friends, but feels most comfortable with one or two really close friends who she truly opens up to and it's really herself with. 

And I am completely fine with that! Nataly is a great friend, and a joy to be around. They are so funny, and I love that they let me in on some of their inside jokes. Like Debbie. One of the yard duty teachers at school, Mrs Lopez, has been one of their inside jokes for a couple years now. It is so hilarious to see them do impersonations of her. I can't even explain it, it's just something you have to see. "Girlssss". 

It's also been interesting to help her navigate through the world of social media. 

She has an Instagram account, and has asked for a Snapchat. A lot of her friends have Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and all that. But I explained to her that we are starting slow so she can learn how to navigate and manage the big responsibility that it is to have yourself out there on social media.I told her that I completely trust her, and saying no to a Snapchat, for example, has nothing to do with how much I trust her. Just last week, we had an interesting example of what I have been trying to teach her. Somebody created a anonymous Facebook Instagram page called "Clay hate page ". They posted some extremely, extremely mean,degrading and bullying things about some of the girls in 7th grade. The principal found out and took care of it and the page has been deleted. But the words that this person wrote cannot be deleted from anyone's minds. Especially the girls who were hurt by the words. I was grateful Jordyn got to learn something from that without being a target of that painful experience. Social media can be scary and is much bigger than a 12-year-old can fully comprehend.

(this picture below might be too hard to explain, but the look she is giving me is what I wanted to show!)

 Jordyn is a very creative, smart, and responsible girl. I love when she wants to teach a family home evening or gets in a mood to play store or something like that with her sisters. Occasionally, when I have left her home with Peyton for a short period of time, I will come home and have Peytons hair fixed, or her homework done, or a snack made for her. It's fun to see Jo be able to initiate things like that! 

She is also obsessed with babies and really wants to babysit. I think she has finally given up on anyone in our family having more babies! 

I love this picture of Jordyn and Peyton sitting my my parents at church. I am so thankful that Jordyn gets to have such a close relationship with my parents. They are both positive and important role models in her life. Jo gets to be wild and crazy and loud with her grandma, and gets to be teased and tease back with grandpa. Also gets to figure out really long and sometimes annoying math problems (like how many grandchildren could the Duggers have if each kid had 20 kids).

I can let myself get sad when I think of only having 5 1/2 more years until she is 18 and able to be on her own. Only because I won't get to see her every single day and be as integrated in her life as I am now. I truly enjoyed her, and have learned a lot about myself through our relationship. I mostly just hope she always knows how much I love her and will support her and anything she wants in life! I LOVE YOU JO JO!!!!!!!!!