My Five Year Old

Dear Dylan,

You were so excited about your birthday this year, more so than any other year.  You have been telling people everywhere we go, "My birthday is coming up!  I'm going to be FIVE!"  You aren't all that excited about the presents, though.  When we asked what you wanted, at first, you said "I don't know".  You finally did come up with one thing you wanted - a handheld Sudoku game.  You are so interested in numbers these days.  Your ability with numbers amazes your dad and I.  You can make your own sudoku puzzles, and you convert letters to numbers and make complicated equations that way.  You are doing addition and subtraction with double digits, and starting to multiply!  I don't know how they are going to keep your interest in kindergarten next year!

Your daddy and I are looking at schools now.  What a hard decision!  You are very smart, but you also love sports, and we have to take that into consideration.  Your favorite sports lately are football and hockey.  You were playing golf and tennis, until the weather got too cold.  You love to watch the Steelers games with your daddy, and usually manage to keep interested until the last quarter.  You ask a LOT of questions about the game.  Actually, you ask a LOT of questions all the time!  I often feel like I'm on a quiz show.

I have to admit that four was a tough year for me.  The constant questions were exhausting and the negotiating!  You know how to tell time now, so that caused me some extra stress.  "MOM!  WE HAVE TO LEAVE IN TEN MINUTES!... MOM!  WE HAVE TO LEAVE IN NINE MINUTES!... MOM!..."  My rule with TV is that you get to watch one hour of TV a day.  You know that, so now it is "That video was only 54 minutes, so I get 6 more minutes of TV!"

I have to admit that I did some negotiating myself.  "If I play ANOTHER game of Chutes & Ladders with you, you have to play Uno with me!"  I'm trying to get you to learn to compromise and not always have things your way - something that is often difficult, as you like to be in charge.

You can read Level 1 books now, but you don't always want to.  You would much rather have me read to you.  You love when I get new books from the library, but you don't like going and picking them out! "That's not really fun", you'll say.  You are not at all materialistic, but you are spoiled rotten with experiences.  You want to go somewhere "fun" every single day!  You are also completely spoiled with attention!  I know someday I will miss the cries of "Play with me!", but right now, I get very little done.

The thing that I love the most about you is that you are almost always happy.  Your science teacher is always commenting on how much she loves your smile, and how you smile all the time.  You are a pretty easy going kid.  Not many things upset you... except losing!  You have become SO competitive this year, and you hate to lose.  You never give up, though.

Probably the thing I want to remember most about you at four years old, was how much you loved your daddy and I.  You were always drawing pictures of us, smiling and holding hands, with "I LOVE YOU MOMMY AND DADDY" written in large letters.  More than anything else, you just wanted to spend time with us.  I've cherished every hug, kiss, and opportunity to hold your hand and have you climb into my lap for snuggles.

I love you, my sweet boy!
Love,
Mommy