NOLAN IS TEN

Dear Nolan,

10… TEN… A DECADE?! What? How? You are turning ten. I’ve thought about this many times when you were little. Thinking about what you would be like, what WE would be like. It has happened in a blip. I’ve also been a mom for a decade, which I also can’t fathom.  I am very emotional right now because your youngest brother is going to kindergarten round up tomorrow and I just registered you and Judah for middle school last week. You are ten. First things are happening that I am not ready for and last things are happening that I want to grab onto so tightly.

Your Personality


I’ll start with your ten year old personality. I think everything I’m going to tell you basically hasn’t changed since you popped out. Nolan, you are aware, helpful, and polite. You feed off of energies and definitely shoulder other people’s feelings especially dad’s and mine. You don’t like us to be upset and you really try hard to make us feel better. When I am melting down, you are running around trying to clean things because you know that helps me. You don’t want anyone to fight or argue. Feeling peaceful, calm, and safe is very important to you. Almost every night when I ask you for a prayer request, you tell me you want to pray for safety. All the scary things in this world (especially you living through this year with a shooting at MSU and two incidents in Okemos) has really changed your perspective. You scare easily. Nolan, you are also entering your tween years for sure. We’ve gotten glimpses of a teenage attitude and it’s been a little rough sometimes. It can take a bit for you to calm down, but you can always arrive at a rational state eventually. I hope that always stays. You like to play things safe in your life. There is a lot of good to that because I know you won’t take a risk you don’t feel comfortable about. In your academic and sport life, it often means you are hesitant to try new things, learn something new, or really work hard at something you don’t know. You’ve just chosen to sign up for band for next year and I’m really proud of you. Doing something you don’t know how to do already is not your thing, but an amazing place to learn. 

Your Bond With Brothers


You and Judah still have an amazing twin bond that I love to watch. Even though you don’t necessarily have a ton in common with what you like to do, you have each other’s back 100%. Just last week you got a migraine during Miles’ birthday party and Dad had to come and get you early. Judah ran out to say goodbye to you before you left. When we all got home and were getting ready to bed, Judah came over to the side of your bed. You said, “is that Judah?” You were wearing an eye mask, of course. Once you realized it was him, you both hugged each other. Sometimes you stay up for a long time just talking about school and life. More so than a lot of other things, I hope this bond between Judah and you stays forever. You don’t have to do all the same things or like all the same things, but your mutual respect for one another is enormous (okay, I did tear up just a bit there, but no crying yet). Carter and you love to be silly together. Sometimes this is a great matchup and sometimes it’s not if you rile each other up. You like to shoot baskets together, toss a ball around, and play games together. You love your “Buddy” Preston, but I think it’s hard for you, sometimes, to figure out how to play with him. You’re not really much for pretending or playing with stuffed animals. I told you that just because some of your other brothers do that with him, you’ve gotta figure out what works for the TWO of you. You like to read to him, help him get ready, and to teach him how to play things. Sometimes you aren’t patient with him (or anyone) who doesn’t do things fast. I truly understand that and it’s also something to work on. 

What You're Into

This year you’ve played basketball and baseball and you love both of them very much. You weren’t sure about playing baseball again and I’m so glad you decided to do that. I think this year is going great for you and can’t wait to see what happens when you get to play some games. You love to watch sports on TV and get very invested in teams like MSU. You love to cheer on a team you like during any game. 

Nolan, you are still a total reader. You can sit alone in your room, on the beach, outside, wherever and get into a book. I LOVE that. You continue to be a great student and your teacher loves your zest for learning. 

When you aren’t playing sports or reading, you love our air hockey table we got for Christmas, drawing/coloring, puzzling (I wish you did all that even more), board games, card games especially Monopoly Deal, and playing outside as much as possible. 

Hopes For Next Year

This next year is going to bring some changes- new school, more teachers to juggle, all the elementary school kids coming together, and getting closer and closer to the teenage stage. I have so many hopes for you. I hope you keep challenging yourself and building resilience. I hope you meet new friends that you love to be around. I hope you stay innocent and keep childhood close as it’s fleeting for you. One of the biggest things I hope is that you stay close with us, your team, your family. I (and we) are your safe landing. Don’t ever forget that. 

I love who you’ve been and who you are becoming- thanks for letting me be such a part of the ride. 

I love you no matter what.

Always,

Mom

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