A Letter to my Sweet D

Dear D,

I.Love.You.  Let's start there, okay?
I am your biggest fan.
Your turned 10 this past Sunday.  You are a decade, dude.  Unbelievable.

I genuninely enjoy the person you're becoming.  The young man I see when I look at you is someone special.  Cue my he was  born on 3/24 at 4:23! line.  You are not perfect, of course.  You are my child, remember.

There was a time, roughly from 3-4.5 years, that I thought I would not survive.
There were days when we were like oil and water, you and I.  You had some clothing issues that led you to only want to wear soccer shorts, short sleeve shirts with the tags cut out and Crocs.  Every day.  Weather be damned.  Being a first time mother who knew nothing, I fought you on this.  And lost.
Your preschool teacher told me to pick my battles better and to let go.  As soon as I did, your stubborn streak broke.  Not that we haven't had other glimpses of that side of you-but I know now to give you space and let you make your own choices.  You are a person who requires space and a bit of unstructured time.  I can appreciate that.

No Napoleon Syndrome for you.  Although it helps you are off the charts tall for your age.
You are sweet and sensitive.  Not in a weak way.  You are certainly capable of dishing it out to your sisters.  I have seen you dish to friends when the situation called for it.  But those exchanges bother you a bit.  It's not in your nature to hurt someone's feelings intentionally.  But if you feel cornered, watch out.  I can appreciate that, also.

You are incredibly creative.  I wish I had more of what you have in that arena.  You are a great artist, writer and conceptual builder.  You can see something in your mind and replicate it on paper or through Legos.  I really dig that about you.

You are like me and can get lost in good fiction for days.  You are reading series books now that even I enjoy reading.  Cool stuff.

You love to be outside.  Building forts, playing flashlight tag, fishing, archery, Nerf wars, shooting hoops, riding bikes.  I love that you appreciate nature so much.  You have a huge heart for animals and remind me so much of my dad sometimes in that way.

I wish I could shrink you back down to 3 again, after having survived another 2 kids.  I would re-do that year and half.  Push less, listen more.  Thankfully, you seem to remember very little of that time.

I am thankful that you have made it to 10.  The Paranoid Patty in me is always worried about your health and safety.  To the extremes, sometimes.  I don't think that apple fell too far from this tree, with you.  You are a lot like me in that any health situation could be cause for a freakout.  Whereas your sister's arm could be hanging by a thread and she would probably tap it to see it swing.  Different strokes, I guess.

You are insanely handsome.  And you don't even know it.  That will change, someday, when some PYT starts chatting you up.  Better hope she gets my blessing.

You are an amazing kid-funny, thoughtful, smart and creative.  You are going to do big things.  The road will not always be without bumps-you have already seen that.  But I have faith in you.  I see the husband, father and man you will become.  And I really dig it.

I adore you!!

Love and happiness always,
Mom

May love and laughter light your days,

and warm your heart and home.

May good and faithful friends be yours, 

wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world 

with joy that long endures.

May all life's passing seasons

bring the best to you and yours!

Where To Start...

This boy just got another great report card.  I work in his class every Wednesday so his teacher just gave me his card early-AB Honor Roll again.  Missed A Honor Roll by a hair, again.  They also had practice EOG's last week and he had the highest score in the class on the reading portion.

So proud of my D!

The other day Kitty brought a baby snake into the garage.  D, my animal lover, saw it and was trying to  entice Kitty to find a new plaything.  He said, "The snake is alive, but looks damaged."  Way to call it.

The Big Kids' school has a new music teacher this year and apparently, he rocks.  Which is what a music teacher should do.  But, anyway.

Last night some of the grades had a European Extravaganza, highlighting music, heritage, etc from various countries.  Very cool.  Third grade played African drums, with a tom-tom drum thrown in to keep it "Old Country."

D was not thrilled about having his picture taken or playing in front of so many people but he did fine.

It snowed here several a couple of weeks ago and Squeezalicious was the only little person home at the time.  She partied.  We ended up getting a couple of inches and she and Kitty ran around like maniacs.

Apparently we then came inside to do laundry, as my bed in the background is naked.

 Groucho here, helped.  With the laundry that is, fully clothed in her princess nightgown.

This morning before school she informed that she is going to be a "cooker" when she grows up.  

I can only assume this means chef.

This weekend the girls enjoyed a birthday party for a sweet friend at a horse farm.

Very cool.

This little baby was checking out her tired mama.  

And this baby was loving the horse, but not enough to do a summer camp there.  

Bummer.  I would if I could.

This one vacillates between teacher, hair stylist and "nail girl."  What happened to shark doctor??

I feel very Seinfeldish when I say "Not that there is anything wrong with that"…but this is a child who makes up geometry problems on her whiteboard at home because she likes to.  Potential?  Check.

Second grade did a skit based on a Scottish song.  GoGo had a line as a Police Officer.  She loved it.  She told me she was going for a brogue but it kind of came off as Gomer Pyle.  It worked.

The weather is starting to break here, finally.

I am counting the days to summer break, almost as much as my kids.

Yes, there will be days where they drive me out of my ever livin' mind and I will mentally count the days until they go back to school and drink a Blue Moon or 3.  But the larger part of summer will be spent enjoying their giggles, our road trips, lounging in our jammies watching movies and playing flashlight tag with friends.

Let's start there.