My Dearest C&J,

I see that I’ve neglected to write new letters to you for a long time.  Well, we’ve been busy.

C: When you look back on this year, I hope you will remember fondly your 5 extracurricular activities + our weekly trips to the library.  I love that you love books and are such an avid reader.  It’s a great way to acquire knowledge beyond what dad and I can teach you, and you’re off to a great start.  And yes, all your activities are a lot of hard work.  Work that you don’t want to take on at times.  But your continued passion and enjoyment of them and refusal to give them up reassure me that they are right for you, for now.  And yes, whether you know it or not, I am always checking-in, trying to assess if it’s all too much.

One day, when we look back together, I hope we see that these activities helped you build a strong foundation for the journey you embark on.  It’s impossible to do everything well and your challenge in the next few years will be to choose.  Music, dance, gymnastics, and academics?  Where should you focus?  We all have our biases, and I need to keep reminding myself that it’s your choice and yours only.

J: You make me laugh almost every day.  How did you grow into a preschooler so quickly?  Preschool has started with some challenges for you.  But you are happy, and you’ve grown to love school, and that’s all that really matters.  In a world seemingly built for extroverts, it can be overwhelming to be introverted.  You take a long time to warm up to a new environment and new friends, always cautiously observing before jumping in.  And I know exactly how you feel!  One day, you’ll see that there’s power to being introverted too.

I love your creativity and the silly questions you ask me.  My “adulterated” adult mind can’t always make sense of what you’re saying or what your questions mean.   But no matter.  You seem satisfied with my answers, even when I don’t try hard enough to come up with the right answers.  I will keep reminding myself to try harder.

As adults, the two of you probably won’t remember these “building blocks” of learning we’ve worked so hard to stack.  I know I can’t quite recall exactly what I did at your age.  I hope you do remember the feeling of being well loved and cherished.  That what you say and do, every day, matter.  Tremendously.  And will, always.

Love,

Mom