Dear Kids,
We had many strange conversations in 2018. Marshall liked to ask me about strange scenarios, such as would I smoke one cigarette to get a millions dollars (yes), a hundred cigarettes for a million dollars (maybe), a thousand cigarettes for a million dollars (no way), etc. Of course, as a parent, I was obligated to reiterate what you already knew (that smoking is bad), but I tried to emphasize logic over preachiness. We also talked about vulgar words, a subject which both of you found fascinating. We managed to find a casual way to talk about these somewhat sensitive topics. I hope you will always feel comfortable enough to ask me about anything, and that I will feel comfortable enough to answer you honestly about anything.
I found an index card on which Marshall had written some information about himself for his first day of school (4th grade). Favorite game: Minecraft. Favorite color: green. Favorite animal: cat.
One of your Advent gifts in December was a family movie night. Before the movie, Livia wrote me a letter and gave it to me in an envelope with the most adorable stamp drawn on it. The letter said,
Dear Mom,
Can you please tell me what the snacks for the movie are? I seriously can’t wait! By the way, I think one of the snacks is popcorn! Please write back instead of yelling out or talking out because then it won’t be a surprise for Marshall, and it won’t be as fun! Oh and don’t write in cursive because I am bad at reading cursive.
Love,
Livia
Livia may not have been good at reading cursive, but she had already been working on her signature for months. At her request, I taught her how to write all the letters of her name in cursive, and she mastered them, even the tricky ones. Luckily for her, her teacher includes cursive in her 2nd grade curriculum. She may learn cursive well enough to use it for life. (Marshall’s teacher, on the other hand, only covered the subject long enough for him to learn to recognize the individual letters. He will probably never use joined writing himself. He had no interest in it, though, so he might never miss it. He is unapologetically a child of the Computer Age!)
Livia, having reached 2nd grade, got to take part in the school’s holiday music show. We have always enjoyed Marshall’s shows, and we were excited to finally see Livia perform. Being in front of an audience hardly seemed to faze her. She sang along cheerfully, and it was a great show. With Marshall in 4th grade, we have the spring concert to look forward to, where he will be performing on the recorder. He has so much more musical talent than he knows, as does Livia (who thinks that she cannot sing—nonsense!). I will try to devote more attention to your musical training in 2019. You both have so many talents, and I don’t want any of them to wither from neglect.
Love,
Mom