Sweet Elisabeth… You are the picture of the perfect First Grader: excited to learn, confident of what you know, determined to please your teacher, liked by your classmates, and enthusiastic about every single part of your day. Your enthusiasm for the school day is fun to watch, Elisabeth. You’re dressed in your uniform before the...Continue Reading
Dear Nate…. This is your first year to go to school all day and every day. No more pajama days. No more Best Friend Days with just me and you. Ready or not, your days will be filled with school for the next twenty years. Ready or not, your are now a big-boy student. Of...Continue Reading
Dear Catie… Fifth Grade has got to be easier than the last couple of years. In Third Grade we discovered so much about how you learn. In Fourth Grade we found out how well you get along with your class. You know yourself better now and understand how you learn best. You’re confident your teacher...Continue Reading
Dear Catie… Remember how, the first time you put on this Westlake shirt, you stared at yourself in the mirror for a very long time? If seeing yourself in the uniform usually worn by your little brother and sister was strange for you, it was, perhaps, doubly strange for me. But you were unfazed. After...Continue Reading
Dear Elisabeth… I breathed a sigh of relief when you wore this red polo for your first day of Kindergarten (Part II). For your past three first-days-of-school, you’ve chosen the white shirt option for your uniform. And, here’s the thing about the uniform you wear on the first day of school, Elisabeth. It is the...Continue Reading
Dear Sam, You hesitated to hold that sign in this picture. Is that because you were confused about today being your first real day of Kindergarten? I know, it’s a little weird since that was last year. Today is actually your first day of Kindergarten Part II. Or, did you hesitate because you thought it...Continue Reading
(Ed. Note: No FAQs today as I’m writing the annual first-day-of-school letters to the kids. Here’s the first one, complete with tears and some extra pictures of the first day of school.) Dear Nate… You are full of surprises, kid. Daddy and I would have bet money the first day of school would be very...Continue Reading
{Ed. Note: I posted this letter yesterday, on Nate’s birthday. But thanks to craptastic, flawed technology, it disappeared from the face of the Internet. So, here I am, writing it again. Ugh.} Dear Nate… This morning when you woke up, you called for me to come and hold you. When I whispered in your ear...Continue Reading
Dear Catie, Sam, Elisabeth, and Nate… Here’s what I know: each of you loved our family vacation. Here’s what else I know: one day, when you all are nineteen, sixteen, sixteen, and thirteen, you might not love spending two weeks with Dad and me. When that happens, and we have to bribe you with trips...Continue Reading
Dear Nate… Last night, when you put your pajamas on all by yourself, we discussed what a big boy you are. I said, “You are growing up so fast!” And you agreed, “I AM, MOMMY!” You have the attention span of a fourteen year old, the vocabulary of an eight-year-old, and the interests of a...Continue Reading
