Dear Bo, Six...

I don’t know why it’s such a surprise to me each time I write this letter that you are another year older.  It is though.  So yet again, I find myself shaking my head saying, “I can’t believe you’re 6.”  Six.  The infant years are behind us.  The toddler years are behind us.  And now the preschool years are behind us.  We’ve entered the grade school years.  If I think of your life in seasons, I can almost hyperventilate thinking that only the middle school years and high school years separate us from the empty nest years.  What they say about time is true…it keeps marching on.

I was so anxious about the start of kindergarten.  The thought of you being with people who did not love you unconditionally, who did not give you the benefit of the doubt, who did not know your idiosyncrasies…it terrified me.  When I looked at a list of things you should know before kindergarten…well, many of them I was unsure about.  Ironically, it wasn’t the academic stuff that panicked me, but the things like “open your capri sun and lunchable by yourself” “button and unzip your pants by yourself” “wipe by yourself”.  These things kept me up at night!  Silly mommy.  You’ve done so well.  You love school.  You love not only learning, but all of it…recess, your friends.  And from what I can tell from feedback from your teachers…you’re kind and a good friend to your classmates.  That makes my heart soar.  You can be the best student in the world, the best athlete, the best everything…but ultimately I want you to be kind to others.  School (heck…life) can be a hard place…but it’s less so when people are kind to each other.   They also say you’re an enthusiastic learner…I’m so glad about that.  There’s a lot of learning to do (long beyond your school years); enthusiasm will help!

You have mostly passed through your love of trains phase and have crossed into Lego devotion.  You love to build.  You like to build with instructions, but mostly you like to make your own “inventions”.  You’re creative and persistent with your Legos.  You go to a Lego class and love it.

You are a great bike rider and also like riding your scooter.  You aren’t really into sports, but you do like to hit tennis balls with Daddy.  You like to draw and color (only since kinder started!).  You love to read, be read to, sing, and make up stories (and listen to other people make up stories!). 

You are a good big brother.  You and Kate warm my heart together.  Sure, you get frustrated with each other and argue and bicker sometimes.  But…when you’re on, you’re on.  You hug, and say kind things to each other, and play together well.  I worshipped my older brother and had such a sweet relationship with him when we lived at home, I love seeing that in you two. 

You have such a sweet spirit, Bo.  I pray that your heart stays soft.  You are eager to please, tender towards others’ feelings, and just so expressive with your love.  You can be hard headed and defiant, too…can’t we all?  But mostly, I would just describe you as enthusiastic, kind, full of joy, and loving.  Our nighttime routine is to sing “I’ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart”, pray, tell a story, and sing “Jesus Loves Me”.  Every time you sing about the joy in your heart, I think how true that song is.  You are just joy personified.  As a momma who has struggled to embrace joy, it’s a beautiful thing to witness.

I love you, son.  I’m so glad that of all the little boys in the whole world, God gave me you.