Dear Eliza,
The new school year is starting up, and you are at the top of your class as a 5th grader at Artondale Elementary. Your back-to-school attire is on point. Mom helped you update your wardrobe with oversized shirts, and you 3D-printed a variety of new earrings. We also convinced you to wear your brother’s high-top Nike shoes that he’s grown out of.
With the transition to fall, we are also working on getting more organized and less cluttered around the house. We started in the backyard, where we took out the cherry trees, which were growing over the house. We took out one more than we wanted to, which had rotted out, so now we have so much more sunlight in the backyard, which makes Mom happy. I also have far fewer leaves to rake this fall, which makes me happy.
Inside the house, I got on the garage, added a couple of lockers, and recreated some parking and boat space for the colder months ahead. Mom and I decided that we’ll tackle one big, arguably overdue project to add new flooring all over the house, including transitioning the carpeted bedrooms to LVP (vinyl). It feels good to invest in the house. We will be here for a while, at least to get you two through high school. Said differently, we will have to wait for a home with a different (and hopefully literal) view by then.
With school starting, your extracurricular activities have also started up. You decided to try gymnastics with some friends. After listening to a Bill Simmons podcast about rating kids’ sports, I reflected that gymnastics might not be a good fit because of the stress on the body and risk of injury. Sure enough, one of your friends broke her arm performing a fairly common technique. You said you heard the snap, and it sounded like someone slamming a table. I think we’ll get through this gymnastics session and get you back into dance.
You also started musical theater at school, which is also one of Mom’s big successes as PTA president, having brought the programming to the school. About 10 more students joined the student company compared to last year, and maybe that’s because the musical is “Finding Nemo.” You earned the part of Bloat, which has more lines in the dialogue and songs than last year. You are at school four days a week rehearsing for the next few weeks. Matteo opted out this year, but we will never forget his residency as Piglet in “Winnie the Pooh.”
I am liking all of the newness of the season. I can tell that you’re excited about your activities and feeling confident in how you’re showing up with your friends and at school. I know this school year will be a particularly memorable one because there’s nothing quite like being at the top. Enjoy every day of it!
Love,
Dad