NOLAN IS EIGHT

Dear Nolan,

HAPPY EIGHTH BIRTHDAY!!!! I hope eight is so great. Meanwhile I’m sitting here trying to figure out how in the world anyone that I’ve birthed is eight years old. That’s a really old kid! When I wrote your seven-year-old letter last year, I had so many thoughts about the Coronavirus Pandemic and how crazy everything was then. How resilient you’ve had to be, how many things change all the time, how much you’ve had to roll with the punches. Here I am, thinking about your last year having many of the same feelings… SHEESH. 

In the last year, you’ve had no school at all, online school last spring, a very different online school this fall and winter, one in person schedule, and now a second this spring so far. Adaptability is hard for me. Adaptability is hard for you. Sometimes I seriously think someone took out my brain, cloned it, and put it into you. You don’t like not knowing things, you don’t like not understanding things. There is a lot not to know right now, a lot not to understand. However, here you are doing wonderful things despite it all. My thirty-eight year old habits are a little harder to break than yours and for that, I am grateful. You and I are both being tested a lot this last year and seeing you build resilience makes me so proud. 

You LOVE being back in school, LOVE.

One of the first things you said about finally seeing your teacher’s classroom for the first time was being shocked and in awe of how many books she has. AH- there is no better thing to notice. I’m so happy you get a couple of months of  being able to experience second grade in person even if it’s still different. You and your eight other in-person classmates (including your brother) all play together at recess and I think that is one of the most adorable and special things in the world. 

Besides loving being back at school, you are currently obsessed with cars, specifically Teslas. You always want to talk to me about what our next car should be and wondering about our budget and what the list of things are that we really want so that you can research for us. Through your genius hour work with me, you’ve learned how to make a website and blog and are loving to write down things that Nolan Knows. Writing isn’t always your favorite thing so I am loving how engaged you are in this new project. You’ve been missing playing sports so we are excited about the possibility of soccer coming up and baseball on the horizon. 

You are SUPER into US atlases and barely go anywhere without having it close to you.

In fact, you planned a sensational day trip to Saint Simons Island, Georgia for us on the way home from Saint Augustine just recently by using our atlas. Speaking of travel, you are continuing to be the best explorer and traveler game to do whatever, see whatever, try whatever. Everywhere is on your list and I just LOVE it. One of my goals is to weave more service into our travel and exploring so that you can not only see the world, but help it too. 

Nolan, you are currently working on three things: keeping your hands to yourself, keeping your feet to yourself, and making sure your tone is kind. You have strong impulses to wrestle and push and be rough with friends and your brothers. You sometimes give us teenage ‘tude and we are NOT here for it. 

Our favorite activities to do together are play cards or board games, go on hikes and, generally, be in nature, sight see, read books together (we are reading Lemonade War currently and you are saying it’s your new favorite book ever), color, do puzzles (I want to do that more), and try to scare one another. You never get me, I always get you :) The other night though you scared me so badly, I had to sit down after and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you so proud. One of my other favorite moments with you this year was when you and I stayed on the sightseeing trolly in Saint Augustine and learned SO much history about this city we love. Every fact you were so excited to learn and wanted to do the tour again as soon as we’d gone to all the stops. 

In this next year, I hope you continue to grow in your friendships.

When you can really be yourself around people who accept you, my sensitive, thoughtful boy, that’s when the real fun begins. I’d like you to continue to write. I am going to try to help you find some more activities, at home, that you enjoy. When you don’t have something you are so excited to work on, you get in everyone’s business and cause a lot of distractions for other brothers who might be trying hard to concentrate :) I want to do more puzzles with you. I want you focus on how you can lead, kindly, respectfully, to stand up for others and for good. 

I look forward to wherever eight might take us, my firstborn.

I’m here for it all… your biggest cheerleader.

I love you so.

-Mom