To My Son On His Sixth Birthday

Dear Graham,

Happy birthday to my sweet boy! Today, on your sixth birthday, I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you, and how much I have enjoyed seeing you grow and learn this past year. You continue to impress me with the things you can do, and I love the big kid you have become.

Every morning, I look forward to your snuggles. Your sleepy eyes and your slow morning steps remind me of how much you are like Daddy. You both like to sleep in, and both need several reminders to get up and take on the day. I’m sorry I have to wake you up each morning. You look so peaceful cocooned inside your favorite blanket, Brownie. That blanket is still going strong, even though he has been loved hard for six long years.

Our friends that gave you Brownie were so smart to get it in brown. If that thing had originally been blue, it would now be a disgusting gray. It’s so endearing how you chew on Brownie when you are tired, and it made me laugh last week when I was at your school and you told me hugging me while I was wearing my nubby brown sweater reminded you of Brownie. Stroking my back and saying “You feel like Brownie right now”. Maybe when Brownie finally kicks the bucket, I’ll give you that sweater. I’ll still have it, since I keep clothes forever.

You may be the only kindergartner in your school who packs his own lunch. You are such a big kid, slapping together a sandwich, rinsing off an apple, filling up your water bottle, and packing yourself a snack. I love watching your little body climb up on the counter to get yourself a cup, or helping your sister reach the granola bars in the pantry. You regularly feed the dog and vacuum, but you have made it clear that cleaning your room is one chore too many. I’m worried that the state of your bedroom is going to be a long-term struggle for us, and I try not to imagine what your room will look like when you are a teenager. Or how it will smell.

You got your first diary this year, and I have loved watching you write in it and create your own stories. I hope that you come to enjoy storytelling as much as I have, and that you continue to see writing and reading as magical. You are even writing fiction, which I know because I saw your latest Dude Diary entry, “I hat mom”. I know it makes you mad when you’re put in a timeout or sent to your room, but to say you “hat” me is pretty harsh, dontcha think? I think I like your Star Wars and Harry Potter stories better. I don’t want to stifle your creative process though, so I guess you can write about whatever you want. Lord knows I do, even when my mom doesn’t like it.

You are also getting really good at math. This, as you probably already know, comes from your father. The math you can do in your head is quickly going to surpass my abilities, and I am not looking forward to helping you with math homework in the next few years. You’ll have to talk to your dad about that.

Your Lego creations continue to impress me. You are clever, and the way you make little machines with moving parts is so smart. I’m sorry I said you can’t get any Legos for your birthday this year, but we are drowning in Legos, and all of our living room shelves are being taken up by large assembled sets, including the Millenium Falcon, an X-Wing Starfighter, a space shuttle, and whatever your current creation is. Talk Daddy into building you some shelves for your room, and you can get more Legos. Right now though, we couldn’t possibly house any more.

Last weekend you were so cute in your t-ball uniform. I loved watching you with your new teammates, laughing and discussing things five-year-old boys think about. Things like rocket ships, and snacks, and Angry Birds. Pretty much anything but baseball, a fact that did not escape the attention of your coach. The little opening day parade was cute, and you did a good job marching with your team. Thank you for jumping out of line to give me a smooch when you passed by. Your quick and genuine affection made my heart melt, and drew a collective “Aww…” from the crowd. I keep thinking that you will stop kissing and hugging me in public, but with the exception of one isolated incident, you continue show affection in front of others. Let’s agree right here and now that you can be cool and love your parents in public. Forever.

I look forward to this coming year, the year of six, and I can’t wait to see the things you learn to do. You are my special boy, and one of my greatest blessings. Six years ago you made me a mom, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

Love you forever,

Mom

4 thoughts on “To My Son On His Sixth Birthday

  1. I have noticed you don’t monetize your blog, don’t waste your traffic,
    you can earn extra bucks every month because you’ve got high quality content.
    If you want to know how to make extra money, search for: Boorfe’s tips best adsense alternative

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.