Dear Tobin,

A month ago, you were at the very end of your fourth-grade year. All-in-all it was a great success. You did well academically, reconnected with old friends, got to know some new friends, and seemed very happy overall. While I would love to keep you close to me at all times, I recognize that you really thrive in a social environment. I’m happy you had such a great second half of your fourth grade year. You weren’t in the same class as your best friend, which bummed you out at first, but you got to know other kids and made some good connections. Fifth grade will be coming soon, but for the moment, you’re relishing your break.

Summer is here, your favorite time of the year. The first couple of weeks were a little bit of a challenge, because you are someone who always wants to be active and busy, and it was an adjustment to live life at a slower pace. We’ve already burned through at least half of our summer activity list. Highlights include strawberry picking at Wilson’s, going to discount second-run movies, picnics downtown with food from Z’Marik’s, walking and biking around on our neighborhood multi-purpose path, getting frozen yogurt, and playing a lot of baseball. You’ve been hanging out with your old summer gang, the Screwdrivers, biking around and jumping on their trampoline. I’m glad you reconnected with them, because I was getting worn out trying to provide you with all the stimulation you need. It’s nice that you have good friends nearby who can absorb some of your social energy.

Your baseball team has been excellent this year. You finished the season with a 14-0 record, and the tournament begins this week. You’ve never played fall baseball before, but you’re talking about doing it this year. Your usual fall and winter sport is taekwondo, but I must say I prefer the outdoor focus of baseball. It’s not always comfortable—there have been some miserably cold and miserably hot nights at the baseball diamond this season—but I am glad for you to have a lower risk of COVID exposure. Even though the sources say rates are dropping in our area, I feel like I know as many people with COVID right now as I did during last winter’s surge. Fortunately, people don’t seem to be getting seriously ill, but it still has the potential to throw a wrench in our plans. We have a lot going on in July, and I would hate to see our plans get ruined.

You’re eligible for a booster vaccine, which I think we’ll get for you a couple of weeks before school starts. It’s the old version of the vaccine, which doesn’t do a whole lot against symptomatic omicron variants, but it would bolster you against serious illness. Rumor has it Moderna has a new vaccine coming soon that will address omicron, but it will likely be only for people eighteen and up. I understand why the testing and approval processes work that way, but it’s still frustrating for those of us who want to protect our kids with all the tools available.

You are trustworthy about wearing your mask for all indoor time and even outdoors if it’s crowded. I appreciate that you do such a good job with that. As you are such a friendship-driven person, I could see you being susceptible to peer pressure about that kind of thing. A lot of people have quit masking entirely, even people who have been generally cautious throughout the pandemic. Maybe that’s why I know so maybe people with COVID right now. I’m guessing it will hit our family at some point, because even though we do our best to take precautions, we also don’t want to eliminate all fun from our lives. We go to movies and school and play with friends, and masks are great but not perfect. I just hope vaccines and our generally-healthy status keeps it from being too bad.

You love staying busy with a project. A while ago, I bought a little rhubarb plant at the Farmers’ Market and planted it in our garden. The next day, half of it was gone. I did a little reading and learned that deer are known to take out entire rhubarb plants, and deer are frequent visitors to our yard. If I’d been smarter I would have put it inside the electric fence, but I didn’t realize it was such deer bait. Because ours was not entirely gone but lid with zip ties. I found that useful when I weeded around the rhubarb the other day. It’s staging a comeback, and maybe I’ll even get you to eat some rhubarb barbs if it ever gets big enough to harvest.

You don’t have a particularly broad palate just yet, but you do like to be adventurous. You’re my kid most likely to try a new food, even if you don’t end up liking it. I appreciate that about you, because it increases the odds of you getting something resembling a balanced diet. You also like helping me cook, which I think gives you an incentive to try the foods we make. You did a great job chopping herbs the other night with a big knife. Everyone’s fingers remained intact, and the herbs ended up thoroughly minced.

Your current favorites: baseball, Star Wars, biking and trampolining with your friends, the fact that the Warriors won the NBA championship, listening to audiobooks, hanging out on the balcony, premium vanilla ice cream, making your opinion known about what we should get for take-out night, playing Minecraft with your friends, and playing basketball at the park.

Every day is more exciting with you in it, my little adventure boy. I love your blue eyes, your freckles, your zest for life, and your willingness to be part of a team: baseball, friend group, and family. We can always count on you to bring laughter to any situation, and I’m so glad you’re mine.

Love,

Mom