An Ode to Mazzy on Her Last Day of 10th Grade

One thing that has been a little hard about being a parenting influencer/content creator navigating the big kid years is that my two kids have very different rules about how they are featured in my content. As most of you know, Harlow is more of a ham, who comes up with her own bits and asks me to film them, while Mazzy prefers to be more private. In addition, Harlow participates in all performance based activities, while Mazzy’s talents and extracurriculars are not quite as geared to an audience. I know that you all know that Mazzy showing up less on my feed is all about me trying to respect her boundaries, but every once in a while, I feel the need to remind myself of that as well. And I also want her to know that I see her value and all her accomplishments and am so proud of her, even if those things don’t appear in a square on Instagram. So today, on Mazzy’s last day of 10th grade (I can’t believe it), I wanted to dedicate this post purely to my oldest daughter (a rising junior!!!) and tell you a little about who she is and all the things she does that aren’t captured in my photos and videos.

For starters, Mazzy had an excellent year in school. I don’t really like when parents brag about their kids grades and accomplishments, because there are so many kids who struggle, but just know Mazzy has had her share of struggle too. But over the course of the last two years, she’s turned into a remarkable student. She’s become responsible, conscientious, gets her work done on time and cares deeply about her grades. She rarely complains about schoolwork (a far cry from how she behaved in elementary school), which is very helpful, because when she does, I know to take it seriously. This year I’ve watched Mazzy advocate for herself and ask for help when she needs it. I’ve also learned to trust her when she says she has something handled. She prefers to go to a teacher when she’s struggling than go to me, because it’s important to her to show us (and herself) that she can earn her grades on her own merit. Last year, I would get annoyed with her when she would turn in papers without asking me to proof them (“I’m a writer! Why wouldn’t you use me to your advantage???”), but I’ve learned to back off and that she’s doing just fine without me. At the end of this year, Mazzy was asked to be a writing advisor at school, a position that she wanted very badly and I was so excited to hear that she got it.

Mazzy also loves visual arts and is very active in her school’s visual art program. Last week, I went to her school art show and got to bring home a few of her pieces. My favorite pieces are this fish she made in printmaking (which is not upside down, it’s labeled incorrectly)…

And a trio of pieces she made in pottery that are now proudly displayed on our living room bookshelf.

For next year, Mazzy was invited to join the advanced drawing and painting program at school which she is also very excited about.

Whenever Mazzy has big news, whether it be a good grade, an accomplishment or an accolade from a teacher, she always texts the family group chat to tell us. There is honestly nothing better than receiving one of those texts. “GUYS. VERY EXCITING NEWS.” Then she waits for us to text “what happened??” before she gives us the goods. She is always so surprised when she is recognized for her hard work or when her hard work pays off. And there is something extra special about seeing our little family (including Harlow) each text back “GREAT JOB MAZZY!!!!” with all the necessary emojis.

For this summer, Mazzy applied to a college creative writing program which ended up getting canceled, much to her (and my) dismay, but then she ended up getting an internship at a marketing/PR firm that she is definitely more excited about than her original plan. I’m excited too. I remember in middle school, she got assigned to create an Instagram page for an element in science class. She chose cobalt, created a whole aesthetic for the feed with quippy Gen Z style captions and her science teacher said she had never seen a student do such a good job on that assignment. I had to smile at that one, because OBVIOUSLY, my child would ace that. And just like me (Mazzy hates when I say that), I think my firstborn thrives when she is tasked to find a creative solution that doesn’t stray too far from a box. That’s the essence of advertising and I think Mazzy’s going to kill it at the marketing firm.

Mazzy is doing the internship for three weeks and then going on a travel program in July which focuses on photography. In August, she is planning on spending lots of time at the driving range with Mike, because much to her dad’s delight, golf has actually become her sport of choice. We used to joke that Mazzy taking an interest in golf would be Mike’s dream come true and now here she is, with two years on her school’s varsity golf team under her belt. Mike is just as proud of that as he is about the time she put together her IKEA nightstand all by herself. I know I’ve told you guys that one before, but it bears repeating, because it is so Mazzy.

This morning, I walked Mazzy to the subway with Frankie to give her a proper send-off on her very last day of school. She has a very specific route, with a very specific entrance, that through trial and error, she has determined is the fastest way to school. I should mention that Mazzy is the subway maven amongst all her friends. She knows the subway like the back of her hand, as well as the LIRR to get to her friends’ houses on Long Island and the Path to get to her friends’ houses in Jersey. She will often meet her camp friends in Penn Station when they are traveling to the city, so she can make sure everyone gets where they need to go. Whenever we ride together, I am the one following her around. She’s even showed Mike a few shortcuts that he didn’t know about.

Sometimes, when Mazzy is running early, she’ll pick up Starbucks before school. There is one right near her chosen subway entrance and she let me know this morning while we were walking together, that was her plan. When we arrived, I realized that Mazzy had pre-ordered her drink on the app and I had to go wait in line. That’s also Mazzy. Forever thinking ahead and proud to be one step ahead of me. She grabbed her drink and we said goodbye while I was still in line.

Then a few minutes later, I got a text. “GUESS WHAT.” What???? “My club got approved!!” A few weeks ago, Mazzy had applied to start a school club for next year in partnership with a non-profit that we’ve been working with since she was little. (Remember Birthday Buds?) I wrote back. “Yay! Everything you wanted is happening.” Heart emoji included of course.

I got my drink and started walking Frankie back home. Then I got another text from Mazzy. It was her Connections stats for the day. A perfect game.

“Nice!”

“I got the purple first!”

“Of course you did.”

Feel free to brag about your kids in the comments below.