Dear Gibson,

You woke me up this morning by nudging me and saying, "Mom, I have our camping list!  Read it!"

Here is the list, I admit it took me a minute on some of the words, but I got it - and it's a pretty great list!  I wanted to put it here, just in case the original ever gets lost.

Tent
Food
Wood
Camp Light
Poison Mosquito
Blankets
Supplies
Swimming Suit
Plates & Cups
Pillows
Stove
Cooking Supplies
Fire Starter
Fishing Supplies
Shoes

Very well done, son!  Our first camping trip of the season is in two weeks - we'll make sure to pack all of the things on your list.  And you are getting very good at phonetic spelling, by the way!  

Love,

Mom

Dear Gibson,

Today you had your first swimming lesson.  You've been very nervous about it, since you haven't really had a lot of success in years past.  This year, you're doing private lessons at a pool near Grandpa Gary's house with one of their neighbors.  Grandma Arloa got you a special swimming suit to wear to your lessons, and this morning we were at the pool at 8:30.  Early for us!! 

To sum up, you were amazing!  You were so focused and attentive, and did everything she told you to.  By the end of the 30 minutes, you were kicking across the pool with a kickboard!  She said that you have a natural talent, and that your body is built for swimming, and that in a year or so you would be able to join the Junior Swim Team.  You lit up!  I hope you find joy in swimming, even if you don't decide to join the swim team.  At the very least you'll possess a valuable life skill!

I'm so happy that you overcame your fears and discovered that you really can do hard things.

Love,
Proud Mom

Dear Gibson,

Today you said the sweetest thing to me, and I have to write it down before I forget.  We were talking about how I go to school, and you asked me what I was going to school for.  I told you I'm getting a degree in Family Life.  "What does that do?" you asked.  I said, "Well, it teaches me all sorts of ways to be a better mommy."  Then you said, "Well, you should stop going then, because you're already a great mom."

Sigh.  That's what makes it ALL worth it.  Thanks for making my day.

Love,
Mom

Dear Gibson,

Today was your last day of Kindergarten.  You are now officially a 1st grader!  Woohoo!!!  I want to take some time to write down some of your accomplishments from this school year, because there are many.  

First of all, you are now a reader.  A pretty good reader, if I do say so myself.  You have brought home your take-home book and read it every night without fail, and with no lost or damaged books!  You have brought home library books each week, all about dinosaurs.  You comprehend well, you read with inflection in your voice, and you are pretty good at reading to your sister.  I love to read, and am so happy that this is finally something that we enjoy to do together.

You are a math whiz.  Kindergarten math is mostly estimates, patterns, comparisons, and simple arithmetic.  But you are good at all of it.  You say your favorite subject is math, which is amazing to me because I NEVER liked math.  I still don't!  I really hope you're good at math, it will be so valuable to you!

You have learned to make friends.  You are a nice guy.  Kids like to be around you, and that is awesome.

Your handwriting is getting much better!

You always smiled and waved to me when I was working at the school (I love that).

You always showed me everything in your backpack.  SO important!!!

You learned to sleep in on Saturdays and value the precious weekend.  Thank you.

You learned to wake up with an alarm clock so I could sleep longer.  Thank you, again.

You have grown up a lot this year, and I know how excited you are for first grade.  It's going to be an exciting summer, and pretty soon you're going to be in school all day!  I am so proud of you and everything that you are becoming.  You make me very proud. 

Love,

Mom

You on your first day of Kindergarten.  Such a big boy!

You and your teacher, Mrs. Walker at Shelley Elementary.

Holding your Kindergarten diploma!  You did it!

Dear Gibson,

Sometimes you talk in your sleep.  Sometimes you walk around in your sleep.  Sometimes you do both.  Last night around midnight, I heard you talking upstairs.  I got up to the kitchen, and you were standing there with no pants or underwear on - just a T-shirt, and saying, "tell them I don't want to take off my tie."

"Your tie?"  I asked.
"Yeah - I don't want to take it off."
"Which tie?"
"The red one.  Tell them, mom!"
(To the people who were taunting you) "Gibson doesn't want to take off his tie."
"Thanks, mom."

After that, we walked to your room, you put on some new underwear, and went right back to sleep.  Of course, you have no recollection of this event, but it was really funny.

Love,
Your tired mom