Dear Dragon – Welcome to Level 8

Dear Dragon,

The past year has been exciting and stressful. You started in-person school and did fantastically. You have shown a strong sense of justice, defending your classmates and the rules. You also had a few surprise interactions; one who told you Santa didn’t exist and another who made hateful comments.

You learned a lot and did lots.

  • You learned a lot at school. Still loving art and math but discovering dance and dramatic arts
  • You still need a little help in French but you’re doing fantastically
  • Your reading is doing great, you’re devouring books
  • Your swimming is amazing you can swim very fast
  • You caught a dozen colds, including RSV (hopefully we’ll have less this year)
  • You spent all of December sick and at home
  • You played a lot of escape room video games with mum and Adrien
  • And lots more.

Our big adventure this summer was going to California and Disneyland. We went with Grannie, Granddad, and Aunt Lindsay. It was nice to have the 7 of us in a relaxing situation. It certainly helped my mental and physical health. It was also a lot of fun. We did the parks, lots of shopping, and we went to an aquarium. You and your brother were excellent. You didn’t want to leave and I understand why.

Dragon in line for the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, sticking her hand in the mouth of a snake statue.

You are growing into a strong and kind person and I can’t be more proud of you. You do your best to make sure everyone is included and feeling comfortable. You stand up for what you think is right and you don’t let others push you around.

I hope you’re having a good childhood. Sometimes it feels like the world is spiralling into hate and anger. As parents, we try to give you the tools to survive and a safe environment to use them. With in-person school and me going back to work more, there’s so much of your life I’m not part of. I worry about the things you don’t tell us and I worry about you.

Eight feels like an important number and I hope you have a wonderful year with less disease.

I love you my Dragon,

Your Papa