Dear Miles,

It’s your last month as a fifth-grader.  Now is the time when I do my periodic description of how mind-blowing it is that you’re this old—nearly a sixth-grader.  You’ve moved into some advanced tasks in school and your extracurricular activities, you’re (mostly) patient with your brothers, and you have an outrageous head of hair.  You’re confident, have some good friends, and have a good sense of humor.  You still won’t eat more than about four things, but I’ve mostly given up on that one.  If that’s your worst quality, I don’t have much to complain about.

Something I didn’t realize until recently was that your teacher, Mr. Moore, is famous for the big social studies project he assigns.  It’s something his former students still remember years later, and you were really excited to do yours.  True to your usual interests, you chose to make a short film about a pioneer family and the challenges they face as they head westward.  There was drama (maybe melodrama), comedy, and you included some cool filmmaking techniques.  During your school conference, Mr. Moore advised us that it’s important for the kid, not the parents, to do the bulk of the work on the project.  Maybe he sniffed out the notion that I live for projects like this.

In accordance with his instructions and in the spirit that I should always be following of letting you do your own work, you did the great majority of it.  I helped some with constructing your covered wagon setpiece, but you did a lot of it.  You also wrote the whole script, made a shot list with required props, directed your actors, and did all the editing.  You picked up some new editing techniques (like the lightning simulator) that you’d never tried before.  Overall, you were very proud of your project, and you got an excellent grade.

Two other big events happened recently, too.  You competed in your fifth team spelling bee and you got your fourth consecutive win.  You’re developing quite a reputation for success in that arena.  It’s partly because you like to read and are a naturally good speller, but it’s also because you work hard.  You dedicated many hours to studying for the spelling bee, and your efforts paid off.  Mubby and Skitter came to watch, and they both noticed and appreciated how relaxed and confident you seemed among your classmates.

I thought about discouraging you from entering, because it does take a lot of time, and also it might be nice to let someone else have a chance to win.  I decided not to, though, because it’s not just glory for you; your teammate(s) also get to bask in the glory of victory.  Also, baseball has been a little frustrating for you this season.  Athletics don’t come as naturally to you as academics do, and now that you’re in Senior League in baseball, the level of competition has risen.  I think you’ll stick it out for this season, but maybe this will be your last year.  In any case, I think the confidence and study skills you’ve gained from the spelling bee are more valuable in the long term.  You’re more likely to go pro as a speller than a baseball player.

Photo by Gary Clarke

You recently had your spring band concert, and you had the special situation of playing in both the fifth and sixth grade bands.  The sixth grade band was running short on low brass, so the instructor invited you and another fifth grader to play your trombone and baritone horns, respectively, with the sixth graders.  She even mentioned you and Chris as she introduced the sixth grade band, thanking you for your dedication in attending double the rehearsals and putting in extra practice time.  I got quite a few compliments from other parents, and I know you were happy with the event.  You got to be good friends with Chris, too.  He goes to another elementary school, so it will be nice to have an extra buddy when you start junior high together.

You also got to join in on the sixth grade band tour, in which you visited various east-side elementary schools to perform.  That was a pretty cool thing for you.  The current band instructor is retiring this year, so if whoever takes the position next year doesn’t continue the band tour tradition, at least you will have gotten in on it once.

We’ve had some beautiful days lately (when it’s not raining), so we’ve tried to find some outside time.  Your allergies have been bothering you lately, not as badly as Callum’s bother him, but enough that you wore sunglasses while you ate lunch the other day because you were worried I’d freak out about your red eyes.  Claritin seems to help, and you’re on the adult dose now.  I’ve got to say, the ability to swallow pills is a major life milestone.

I guess you’re growing up in a lot of ways.  Nice work.

Love,

Mom