First Day of School 2020

Well, we made it through the longest March Break in history! On Friday March 13^th, you all attended the school’s dance-a-thon – glow sticks and snacks and dancing with your friends. And then you headed off home for what we thought would be a week of March Break, followed by a two-week closure of schools to allow for some quarantine time due to Covid-19. And then you never returned. The province-wide closure was extended, multiple times, and optional online learning programs were put into place.

And now, six months later, you’ve finally returned to school! It’s a return to school unlike any we’ve ever seen or anticipated, but I have full faith in your school’s administration, teachers and staff to make the absolute best lemonade out of this massive pile of lemons. There are a lot of unknowns around what this school year looks like (or even how long it will last), but there are clearly important differences already. 

Mandatory masks. Assigned seating and social distancing wherever possible. Directional arrows on doors and in hallways. Strict cohorts (classes) and no mingling with other cohorts. Assigned places for cohorts during outdoor time. No parents allowed on school property or in the school. Gym and library closed. No field trips, visitors, extra-curriculars, assemblies. It sounds overwhelming and frankly, scary and sad. But as I saw today when I dropped you all off for your first day, your teachers will make the best of it. And if this global pandemic has taught us all anything (including your mother, who REALLY likes to plan ahead) – it’s that we need to be flexible and take what life throws at us and make the best of it; and that we are all, children included, MUCH more resilient and adaptable than we ever thought.

I can’t wait to hear what the day holds and how the year unfolds. I am so happy that we’ve managed a (hopefully safe-ish) return to in-person learning, but I am so beyond grateful that I’ve had the last six months here at home with you (and your father, who only returned to work a couple of weeks ago). It’s been frustrating and boring and lonely and overwhelming at times, but it’s also been amazing to spend so much time together as a family – I can’t think of any people I’d rather be in lockdown with.

Here’s to a weird but wonderful year of Grades 3, 4 and 6. You’ve got this!

Love,

Mama

Happy Last Day of (Online) School

It is hard to believe that this school year has come to a close already – particularly since you haven’t actually been in school since March 13! 2020 is now half over and it has been one for the history books. You may not realize the significance right now, but one day you will look back on 2020 and this time spent on lockdown and realize the global, unprecedented nature of what we’ve all lived through.

In early 2020, reports of a new global pandemic began circulating. And by the middle of March, the entire world shut down. At one point 80% of the world’s children were NOT in physical school. Entire countries are on lockdown, borders closed, stock and gas prices plummeted, store shelves were empty of non-perishable foods and toilet paper, all public gatherings (including weddings and funerals) were banned, playgrounds closed, professional sports teams cancelled the season, hand sanitizer and Lysol wipes are still incredibly difficult to find, people are wearing masks everywhere. 

It’s been a wild ride and we aren’t over it yet. While currently our region is in Stage 2 (meaning certain things can open again – like restaurant patios and salons – with certain health/cleaning/distancing protocols in place), our province is still under a State of Emergency and there continue to be new cases of Covid-19 reported every day.

On Thursday March 12^th, one day before the scheduled last day of school before March break, the government announced that schools would close AFTER March break for a two-week period. And then they extended the shutdown. And then they announced online/distance learning resources to help support students in the interim. And then they extended the shutdown again and teachers officially began teaching via distance learning. And then they called the year.

I have been struggling a bit with how much you all have missed out on this year – truthfully, maybe I am struggling with it a bit more than you all seem to be. End of year parties, the school Fun Fair, yearbooks, saying goodbye to daycare after all of these years – and of course all of the wonderful teachers and friends you haven’t gotten to see every day. I commend your teachers for being so amazing and flexible and compassionate during this difficult time, but online learning for an hour a day just does not replace the immense value you get from being in school. Luckily, you all have an easy time with school and you took on online challenges with relative ease. We had some bumps in the road, and some days where no one felt like ‘school’ but overall, you have all been rockstars and I am so proud. I am also so thankful that your father has been off work this entire time to help you, leaving me free to focus on my (new) job, working entirely from home shut away in our bedroom.

So while I am sad that you have missed so much, I am also so grateful that we’ve gotten to spend this time together. I am working, but there is no long commute and thankfully I can take breaks when I need to. We will be together at least until the end of summer, meaning nearly six months of us all being at home together. It’s hard and challenging and frustrating and isolating and lonely at times – for all of us – but it’s also so, so wonderful to be able to spend so much time together. A strange gift in strange times.

We still have no idea what the next school year will look like or what it will hold for you all, but I know now, without a doubt, that whatever comes your way you will all handle it with the amazing resilience you’ve shown so far. I couldn’t be prouder. Onwards and upwards to Grades 3, 4 and 6!

Love,

Mama

Lexi - Happy 9th (lockdown) Birthday!

Dear Lexi,

Happy 9^th birthday! This year’s celebration is quite different from previous birthdays… no going out to a restaurant, no big family gathering, no birthday party with your friends. No one ever anticipated a global pandemic in 2020, and our family has effectively been on lockdown for over two months now.

Despite the fact that we can’t celebrate exactly the way you would have liked, you have taken all of these obstacles in stride and we are making the best of it. I have the afternoon off work so we can play in the sunshine and bake your double-chocolate birthday cake together. We’ll order sushi and rent a movie of your choice (Scoobs is the winner I believe). We’ll have presents and calls from friends and family and the most gorgeous day of the year, weather-wise, just for my little ray of sunshine.

As always, it’s such a pleasure watching you grow and mature. You have become quite a little artist – painting numerous animal pictures and inspirational quotes and nature scenes while on lockdown. You absolutely love scooter-ing outside while your siblings are skateboarding, you still obsessively love your Pengwee stuffed animal, and you eat most things (especially sweet things) with voracious pleasure. Actually, that’s how you live most of your life – voraciously. You smile big and hug hard (like a small hurricane coming at you) and laugh loudly and bounce when you talk, and I couldn’t love you more for it. You still love colourful clothes and everything bright and it makes ME feel bright just to look at you.

Thank you for being such a shining star of love and light – our crazy Middle makes our world shine and we wouldn’t have it any other way. I can’t wait to see what this next year, and all the years beyond, hold for you.

Love,

Mama

Mercedes - Happy 11th Birthday!

Happy 11th Birthday!

Dear Mercedes, 

Today, you turn eleven! Last year felt like such an incredible milestone to me – an entire decade. And that seems like it was just yesterday. How is it possible that you change and grow so much – yearly, monthly, weekly… sometimes even daily. It is constantly surprising to me how grown up you seem – staying home alone, owning your own phone, calling your friends, making your lunch. It’s a joy to watch you mature into such a fantastic young lady; I actually really love spending time with you and having grown up conversations and laughing at your quick wit.

You are constantly dancing to TikTok videos, watching the same shows on Netflix over and over, taking over my Spotify playlist whenever we are in the car, singing wherever you go. You are writing in a journal every night now, and reading in your bed before lights out, and talking to yourself in the shower. You love your friends fiercely and you get along so well with your siblings that even their friends invite you to their birthday parties! You love understated colors and picking out new outfits and asked for a gift card for your birthday to buy home décor, because well, isn’t that what all eleven-year-olds want?

Apart from how beautiful and funny and smart you are, I love you the most because you are kind and considerate and thoughtful – when I realize how much of a sweet personality you have I feel proud, because maybe, just maybe, these past eleven years of parenting experiments have somehow managed to work out just fine 😊

Keep on being the beautiful (inside and out) person that you are – I can’t wait to see what the next eleven years hold.

Love, 

Mama

Holden - Happy 7th Birthday!

Dear Holden,

Having my baby turn another year older is always so bittersweet. I remember so many tiny details around my pregnancy with you, your birth, your first year – I was so aware of the fact that you were (100% most definitely!) my last baby, and I tried my very best to soak in every experience (even while running after two other kids, one of them being Lexi as a toddler). So to think that my once-tiny baby, with the sweet, high-pitched voice and chubby cheeks, is SEVEN is pretty mind-boggling.

You have changed so much this past year, although of course, I still see so many glimpses of that same sweet little baby boy – the unruly curly hair if I wait too long to get your haircut, the frequent “Mommy, I love you,” the tight hugs, the adorable giggles with your sisters, the ability you have to just put yourself to sleep whenever and wherever you feel like it. But now you read, everything. You teach me about math and patterns and oceans and sharks. You are better at video games than I will ever be and you can pick out makes and models of cars from quite a distance away. You can watch Home Alone or Fast and the Furious over and over and over again. You request your own songs during our Friday night dance parties. You still LOVE sushi and fight with your Uncle Matt over all of the salmon sashimi. You put away your own laundry, help clean the kitchen, pack/unpack your school bag. I have especially loved seeing you bloom in karate this year – you were a little hesitant when you started but you have totally blossomed there. It is such a pleasure watching you listen patiently, follow instructions, get stronger, learn new moves and most of all of course, have such an amazingly fun time. Your instructors all say that you are a joy to have in class, and your father and I find it such a thrill to just watch you participate and love it so much.

You are doing so well in school, which is another not-so-small delight for me. I was worried about you at the start of the year because you were put in a Grade 2/3 split class and being the absolute youngest of the Grade 2s I was concerned you might get a bit lost. But during the annual reorganization, they actually moved you to a Grade 1/2 split, which is a much better fit. The teacher is lovely, you are with great kids, and you have learned so much just in the first few months of the school year. Your reading has exploded, and your printing and spelling have taken off as well. It’s always such a relief when I see you adjusting to change and new surroundings with ease.

Above all else, you remain our wonderful Class Clown. You still say funny things to make us all laugh – except now the jokes are just a little more sophisticated and mature. As I say to you frequently – you are my very favourite little boy in the whole entire world. And no matter HOW old you get, that fact will remain true.

Happy birthday my sweet bugs – love you to the moon and back times infinity.

Love,

Mama

Alexis - Happy 8th Birthday!

Dear Alexis,

Happy 8^th birthday! It is hard to believe that there was ever a time that you weren’t this bright, loud, curly-haired little girl, but I still remember the events surrounding your birth like it was yesterday. I remember how small and squeaky you were (we called you Pipsqueak actually). I remember how the nurses told me that just-born babies like to sleep a lot initially, but instead, all you wanted to do was eat (and eat and eat and eat). I remember you being whisked away to the NICU for a few hours after I held you for only a second and feeling utterly helpless that I couldn’t be with you. I remember your father and I sitting alone in the recovery room, feeling empty that I didn’t have you in my arms, and being so relieved when your scrawny, bald little body was returned to me. I remember introducing you to Mercedes for the first time and witnessing how quickly she fell in love with her baby sister.

As the years pass, the moments in between those first few days and the present become blurry – I thought I would always remember how you mispronounced certain words, or what your hair looked like after a nap, or how proud you were when you learned a new skill. But certain moments will always stand out in my mind so clearly – you taking off all of your clothes and dancing on the coffee table; the stubborn way you insisted on calling your brother Baby Cry when he first came home; the phase of wanting only Daddy to change your diapers (thank you for that); the way you used to growl when you ate; how you rolled over ridiculously early and the way you used to chase Duke around with a maniacal grin.

Above all else, one thing remains – the feeling of absolute delight I have in watching you grow into this amazing kid that I just love so much. I say it often, but it remains true – you clearly knew you were destined to be a Middle before we did. You have this effortless way of moving through life – easygoing and stubborn, independent and so very loving, feisty and committed to the things you love (cartwheels, ice cream, YouTube, friends, spelling, your curls, being as colourful as possible).

Your presence is a gift to us all, and we are always so very grateful to watch you walk through life with the spirit that you have. Don’t ever lose that spark!

Happy Birthday Lovebug.

Love,

Mama

Mercedes - Happy 10th Birthday!

Dear Mercedes,

Happy 10^th Birthday! It is impossible to accurately explain just how much you have changed all of our lives – myself, your father, your grandparents, your aunts. Before you, we were a family, a great family – but you are the one who changed us all. You turned us into parents and grandparents and aunts. You made us realize the full depth of love we were capable of, and just how it feels to have a piece of your heart permanently walking around outside of your body. Of course, I love your brother and sister just the same, but there will always be something special about the firsts with your first born. I will never forget how I felt in the last couple of weeks leading up to your arrival – impatient, anxious, nervous, and excited beyond belief at getting to meet you and finally learn all about you. I had no idea just how perfect of a mix of your father and I that you would be –his skin tone, my face, his body and feet, my excitement about writing, and a personality (and hair) all your own.

The downside to being the first born is that we basically continually experiment on you. In fact, I’ve told you often that just as you are learning how to be an 8 year old, 9 year old, and now 10 year old, we are learning how to parent that age also. We make mistakes, to be sure, but we always try our best and I hope you always remember that every decision we make is because we love you and want you to grow up to the best version of yourself that you can be. Not the one who gets the highest marks, not the one who wins the most awards, not the one who always wins the race… but the one who is kind, and considerate, and inclusive, and a little goofy, and can be sarcastic and take a good joke like the rest of us. You are well on your way, and we can’t wait to see what the next decade holds for you. 

I won’t lie, I am a LITTLE nervous about navigating the pre-teen and teenager years ahead, but as you will be figuring out your path in life, your father and I will always be walking, and learning, alongside you.

We love you – Happy First Decade!

Love,

Mama