The 8th Year

Well, kid, here we are again with another birthday letter. It has been a HUGE year and we have a lot to cover.

This might have been the most challenging year yet - not because of you but FOR you. 

Here we go....

The Infestation: For all of your years in childcare/public education, I have been diligent about lice prevention. DI-LI-GENT! I've added Tea Tree oil to your conditioner for at least 4 years and you made it through 4 years of lice outbreaks unscathed....until this year. I was less than diligent and they found you. And then we found them. And then we did family lice treatments. I bought ALL the lice treatments and we used them ALL. Dada did ALL the research and we did every.single.suggestion. I cried with you as I brushed through your hair. We are so sorry. It has been our greatest parenting fail so far and one we will not make again because now we buy specific lice preventative hair conditioner you will use until you leave for college and get to buy your own. Our showers are also equipped with lice treatment shampoo just in case we get a case of the itchies. I use it often. The good news: now when we say we need to check your head - you let us! There's no fighting or screaming, you simply let us. That's growth! The other good news: when I have lice nightmares (which is often) and wake up in the middle of the night in a panic - I don't wake your dad to check my head. And that's growth for me!

The Rona: With March came a pandemic. I never, ever imagined I would have to say that but here we are. We moved to lock down as soon as Spring Break was done and we remained home for the next 183 days. Together. Just us. You were able to spend a handful of days at Nana's but for the most part, it was just me, you and Dada. And let me tell you, we might not be the best of influences and this has been a lot of influential time together. It has been isolating and boring and LOOOONG. You've had to learn to wear a mask and attempt to distance yourself from others. You immediately ask for hand sanitizer when we make it back to the car. You have only been around other kids 3 times since March and those times were limited. We are spending lots of time apart from the people we love in order to keep them and us safe and it STINKS! You did get to see your Papa or Mawmaw for the first time since March this weekend and it was much needed. But you mostly understood how important it was and didn't fuss too much. When we mention we can't do something or we can't see someone, you whisper "corona" all angry like it's a four letter word. It's cute but probably also an example of our questionable influence. The good news: we had lots of time together - just us. We played and fought and avoided pants. We slowed down and stayed still and were just present. We hugged and laughed and yelled. Yelled a lot. So. Much. Togetherness. But we found some sassy masks and we've made it this far. We're still wearing masks but it's old hat now and seems like the norm. It will be weird when the air touches our faces again.

The School At Home: When the pandemic started, so did School At Home. And School At Home is totally lame. We did not enjoy it one bit. It solidified my conviction that I am not a teacher and that your preferred learning style is in a classroom with peers. This was the hardest, most painful part of being stuck at home. The good news: we made it through First Grade. I'm not sure we should have, but we did! 

The Racism: In the midst of all the things, you became more aware of some of the hate we've protected you from. We had heavy conversations about what racism looks like and what it sounds like. We read books and watched Town Hall meetings with Sesame Street. You heard me and your dad talking about it. You asked if we should be talking about in front of you and we said yes. Our job is to protect you. However, our job is also to raise you to be aware and recognize when people are being mistreated, abused, targeted. We want to you to understand when to speak up. We want you to be empowered enough to let someone know when they are being hurtful even if it is someone you love. Our job is to give you the means to use your voice for something better. Our job is to tell you now so you are aware and can call it out for what it is when you see it. You are not too young to be an ally. 

It has been a heavy year but there has been some light!

You have a fish named Blueberry and he's still alive! We did dump out on the floorboard of our car on Christmas day. I managed to scoop him up in the inch of water that remained in the tank. We made it back to Nana's where they were waiting with towels and more water. I'm pretty sure he's forgiven us....

You lost a lot of teeth! None at school though - I'm hoping this is your year. 

You got to go back to school! You have to wear a mask and you have to follow new rules but you don't care. You are so happy to be back and that makes my heart happy. I hope you soak in all the learning.

I hope you look back on this year and think about all the time we spent together. The car picnics. The playing at home. The video calls with far away family and friends. The 'pants optional' summer. The dyed hair and hand drawn tattoos. Some of it was hard but I wouldn't trade it for anything (mostly). The time with each other was precious even when we were yelling and crying.

So Happy Birthday, Alice. I hope this next year is the best one yet (and with WAY less unprecedented times).

Love,

Mom and Dad