The tradition was set a few years back, when I made my daughter a birthday card with an “Isla word” for every letter of the alphabet.
“Are you going to make me a card every year?” she asked, expectantly.
Which was like asking an eager chef for second helpings of her latest scratch: How could I say no?
So year on year, I’ve always come up with a new card idea for her special day.
Tomorrow, Isla turns 13. Her pre-teen years have been all about exploring and experimenting, so I am marking their close with a mix and match book about The Many Aspects of Isla.
Remember those toddler board books with flaps for heads, bodies and legs to assemble into cat-mingo-diles, astro-doctor-rinas and parasailing divers on skis? They were fun to play with as kids. It turns out that they are even more fun — and deeply satisfying — to make.
Here’s what I did.
Getting Ready
I spent a few days brainstorming Isla’s hobbies and scrolled through family photographs and my sprog log for a refresher on her eventful pre-adolescence. (I compensate for my poor memory by documenting our family relentlessly, so I had a lot of material to draw on). During conference calls, I trialled practice sketches, accessorizing stick figures with chef’s hat and apron or school blazer and ponytail.
Equipment and Supplies
I opted for a spiral bound notebook, for ease of flipping. I gathered pencils and pens, felt tips, scissors and a ruler. Later, I scavenged our drawers for aluminum foil for silver party shoes and metallic duct tape for a fencer’s sword.
Making the Book
I drew a stick figure template to use as a guide and traced horizontal lines to divide the page into a top, middle and bottom section. Over the next few days, I traced various versions, dressing them up and adding voice bubbles, labels and family jokes. I recruited my nanny to contribute a few doodles because I wanted Rachel’s perspective on Isla, and her deft knack with a pencil.
The best part was completing each picture, cutting along the horizontal lines and testing out the multiplying mix-and-match possibilities.
Thoughts on my Mix And Match Girl
As the book took shape, it occurred to me that the mixed-and-matched array better reflected Isla than any one sketch. One minute, she experiences life as a chef-debater-fencer and the next, as a bookwork-thespian-vexillologist (flag enthusiast). The kaleidoscopic flux is what makes parenting endlessly engaging.
Maybe that’s what I was trying to get at, all those years ago, with my first alpha-ntastic birthday card.
What makes all of our kids — and indeed, each of us — so unique is the multiplicity of identities we collect and collate, and then bring to life’s challenges and opportunities.
On Day 1 of teenagerdom (not to mention, the rest of her life), I hope this gift reminds Isla of how many alter egos she can bring to the adventures ahead. Most importantly, I’ve left plenty of blank pages at the end because I hope she never stops adding to the many aspects of Isla. I can’t wait to draw a new stack, next year.
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