Dear Miles,

It’s a mystery. Monday through Friday we need to drag your tired bones from your bed at 7am for school. But Saturday and Sunday, you are up at 6:30. Bright eyed. Ready for the day. Video games won’t start for another hour or two, but it seems even the promise of screens stirs your mind to wakefulness. 

And your mind is AWAKE. This year I’ve asked you to work on school skills in the evening hours before bed. You’ve been practicing math that is a level or two ahead of where you are in school. Your brain is so quick and so clever. You solve math problems much faster than I do. 

We had goals for you this year. We needed to start preparing for middle school. You tested into a 6th grade STEM program called Ingenuity and we are so, so proud! We’re working on organization and follow through with school assignments. This is a tough one for you but we’re finding solutions!

You’ve firmly settled on your core friend group: Charlie and Jonah. And lucky you! They’re going be in the same Ingenuity program too!!!

I love that you’re my kid. I love that you want to go jogging with me at the break of dawn. I love that you are passionate (even if that passion is mostly about video games).

Happy birthday kiddo!

Love,

Mom

Dear Will,

You’re Seven! What is seven? Seven is finishing up the first grade. Seven is playing T-ball. Seven is giggle fits at the dinner table. Seven is tailing your brother and avoiding my kisses.

You’re an excellent liar. And I mean that in the best way possible. You tell us stories you think we want to hear instead of the true story. Right now it’s hard to know what is true and what is not true in your world. In the medical field we would call that being a poor historian. I think that this quirk is born out of your deep empathy. You can feel what we feel, you can anticipate what we want to hear, what we want to know - so you project those stories back to us. It's quite a talent.

You can really read this year. And your standardized tests say that you are surpassing your peers in math and reading. You tested into a gifted and advanced learning program at school. But gosh, you cannot focus on completing tasks that you find boring. Trying to get you to write even one sentence is pure torture… for both you and me.

You’re still kind, empathetic, silly, and a pure joy in our family. Your jokes are getting better. Sometimes you have Dad and I chuckling pretty hard. You’re a great physical comedian. Silly walks are a specialty of yours.

I’m excited to see what this next year brings. I want to see more silly walks.

Happy birthday!!

I love you kiddo,

Mom