Kid

Dear Dragon – Welcome to Level 6

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Dear Dragon,

In some ways, this has been an exciting year, and in others it’s been a lot of the same.

You finished senior kindergarden and were really sad to say goodbye to your teachers. You learned a lot of things this year.

  • You can count and recognize numbers in both languages.
  • You’re an (eggs)pert at cracking eggs.
  • You can recognize your letters in both languages with only a little trouble with U in French.
  • You learnt to read this summer. It was slow and you didn’t want to, but now you’re pretty good at it. Your French reading is also doing well.
  • You helped me garden.
  • We played all of Yoshi’s Crafted World together, and most of Kirby and the Forgotten Land before I hurt myself.
  • You learned to play multiple songs on the piano.

You’ve learned a lot more, but that’s what’s on the top of my head.

Excitingly, this past year has seen both you and your brother fully vaccinated against covid-19. It’s a big relief for evertyone.

We had planned on putting you into in person school once your brother was vaccinated, but we missed the deadline and you’re in digital school again this year. It has its advantages; mostly the class size and extra sleep. You have about 12 kids in your class which means you get a lot more attention and help.

You had your first playdate in almost 3 years and it went great. It was a friend from your digital class. We’re hoping to bring you for a day at Can-Con and it’ll be nice to do things with you out of the house.

You’ve grown so much this past year and I love who you are. Every day I get to spend with you and your brother makes me happy. I hope that when you look back on the past 3 years that you have happy memories of us being together as a family. I know I will.

Happy Birthday Little Dragon!

I love you,

Papa

Dear Dragon – Welcome to Level 5

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Dear Little Dragon,

It’s been a fantastic year for you. You’ve grown a lot. Physically about 3 inches, emotionally you’ve matured a lot.

You finished your first year of école and learned a lot:

  • Counting to 100,
  • Your letters, the sounds, and the alphabet,
  • The days of the week,
  • The months of the year,
  • Numbers,
  • How to use a computer for meetings,
  • and a lot more.

You’ve learned a lot of non-école stuff too:

  • You’ve gotten very good at video games, understanding how to move your characters and use items etc.
  • You’re great at baking with me, measuring, dumping, and stirring.
  • Making up games to play with Pegasus.
  • Acrobatics. You do awesome flips.

Potty training feels like a distant memory, you’re doing amazing. I’m so glad we don’t have to fight with you as often, although you still hate being told to go pee.

When you were barely able to talk, you pointed at the peanut butter jar and said, “Walmart.” I asked how you knew and you pointed at the logo on the side. When we went on trips you’d point out stores that you knew, or billboards for shows. You’re still doing things like that and with even more nuance. You can recognize the graphics and style of a Miyazaki film from the tiny Totoro and understand that it’s the same company, not a series.

The past year has seen you get a little pickier with your food. It’s no longer just not wanting to try new food, you’re starting to have very definite likes and dislikes. You love sweet dips but can’t stand gravy, you love chicken nuggets and strips, but can’t stand stuffed chicken. You love spaghetti and dislike lasagna and chilli. You also don’t like food that’s messy that you have to eat with your hands, like pizza or tacos. I’m starting to wonder if you’re not a fan of melted cheese.

We did a lot of cooking and baking together, you and I, for your homeschool. It was a lot of fun and I liked your excitement at making new things.

I feel like I’m getting a clearer picture of who you will grow up to be. You’re sweet, confident, stubborn, clever, and empathic. You’re a lot like your mum and that’s a good thing. I look forward to seeing who you are later, but I’m not in any rush. I’m loving who you are now.

I hope your fifth year sees a vaccine for you and a return to society for all of us. I can’t wait to do another convention with you and travel. I love the way you see the world.

Happy Birthday Little Dragon!

I love you lots!

Papa

Dear Dragon – Consequences Suck

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Dear Sweet Dragon,

You are a fantastic kid but you’ve inherited every stubborn molecule from all sides of the family.

Our biggest struggle with you right now is how much you love your brother. That doesn’t sound too bad, except for the fact that you never stop touching, pulling, holding, squishing, hugging, or loudly singing/roaring/screaming at him.

You still don’t know your strength and he can not tell you to stop. He will occasionally make noises of annoyance but he’s not consistent enough for you to listen… even if you were inclined to listen.

So our current largest battle is getting you to respect his bodily autonomy and ask before touching him. You need to ask us, since he’s too young to reply for himself. Unfortunately, you refuse to listen or forget to remember… not sure which.

Note: Compared to hitting him or any other kind of mischief you could get into, this isn’t terrible, but it is very frustrating.

So last night you harassed him to the point of him being upset and us having had enough. We told you to not touch him or you were going to bed. Less than a minute later you saw him drooling and whipped around, grabbed his burp-cloth and wiped his face. I thought you’d hit him when I saw his head fall back but mum says he must have been surprised because you’re always gentle.

Either way, your face registered an, “Oh shit” moment and then you pretended not to notice.

We sent you to bed. You were not pleased. You cried yourself to sleep once at 9:30, then at 11:30, then at 2:30, then at 9, and finally you woke up at 10 and cried yourself into puking. Your tummy hurt so much that food was hard to handle.

This is hard on you and I hope you’ve learned to listen and respect others’ bodily autonomy, but I’m not so sure. Time will tell.

Something you might not realize right now, or even when you read this;hers’ really hard on us too. We love you and you’re a wonderful human being. Punishing you is hard.

I love you so much,

Your tired Papa

*Addendum added 2019-10-13* Okay Dragon. I didn’t go into details because I didn’t think it was relevant.

Here’s what happened when you were sent to bed.

  1. You got changed into PJs.
  2. We took you to pee and have water.
  3. We tucked you in and explained why you were going to bed early.
  4. We told you we love you.
  5. We let you try to sleep once you stopped crying.
  6. When you called for us we went up and did 3, 4, and 5 again.

We never leave you alone to cry and we refuse to force you to stop. We’ll comfort you and snuggle you but it’s okay to cry. (even if your crying almost always leads to gagging or puking.)