A Letter to My Six Year Old

Dear Anna, As I put together the slide show for this post, I realize what a busy year it has been for you. Since your last birthday you have had your tonsils out, finished your last year of preschool, started playing soccer, scored your first goal, got a bunk bed, had a "starring role" in the Spring Show, ridden a horse, had your first lemonade stand, started kindergarten, and added ballet to your dance schedule. Your mind and spirit are always thirsty for more...more knowledge, more activity, more fun!

I admit to being a little relieved when school started as keeping up with you was wearing me out! You were so ready for kindergarten to start and have been thriving in the classroom. When I visit your school everyone uses the same word, "sweet". "Anna is so sweet" they all say, and that pleases me greatly! You are making friends quickly and easily and loving the new challenges that school brings. You have such a mind for math like your Daddy, and a fondness for writing. You spend a lot of your time at home now writing in your "Diary" or notes or letters.

And of course dramatic is still the most fitting word for you. How thrilled you were when Daddy built a stage just for you in the backyard this summer. (Well, OK, what he really built was a new stoop for the back door, but you saw a stage and claimed it as your own right away!) We have enjoyed the shows you and Alaina have preformed there. You were thrilled with the microphone that you got for your birthday and are looking forward to starting "Broadway Babes" next week. You are turning into a beautiful dancer and it looks like your love for the stage is going to have talent and skill to go with it. How lucky for you!

Your first interim report came this week. Your teacher described you as hard working, a great friend, and an "advocate" for "rule following for all"! I think that means in addition to being a really great kid you are also a big tattle tale! I got such a chuckle out of this as this fits your personality so. You like control and it does not surprise me in the least that you are spending your days not only controlling your own behavior, but also trying to control that of your friends. Just last week you were stressed out about the hard time your were having helping one of your friends make more friends. Despite my best efforts, you weren't able to wrap your mind around the fact that the reason he wasn't making new friends was because he didn't really want new friends. Too bad for him, you were on a mission and he was your project! He was going to have more friends whether he wanted them or not (which he didn't), if it took you every recess all week long (which it did).

You continue to be a loving, caring, wonderful big sister, and I am so grateful that Alaina has you to look up to. Everyday when you come home from school there is at least one card that you have made for Alaina in your book bag. I don't know any other little sister that gets loved with such devotion. You are still an incredibly thoughtful, compassionate kid. When you add that to how fun you are to be around it is no wonder you have so many friends. It is a blessing to have a daughter who I can take everywhere and be proud to call her mine. I am so very proud of you...not for all that you do...but for all that you are. You, my dear Anna, have a good heart, and I love you with all of mine!