Dear Artemis,

As I look through the pictures from this month, it’s hard to believe that your first day of high school was just a few weeks ago. Maybe it’s because marching band has given you early access to the space, but it seems like you’re well- and fully-integrated into City High. I attended your Back to School night last week, which involved going through your entire schedule and meeting each of your teachers. My largest impression was that the school is huge and crowded. I could barely bust through the congestion in the halls to get to the next classroom on time. I don’t think there were as many parents in attendance as their are kids present on a typical day, because none of your classrooms was full. Maybe the parents were not moving with purpose (this is a phrase your dad often uses to try to get you and your brothers to not dink around and get to where you need to be efficiently). It’s also quite a haul to get from your video production class, down in the dank bowels of the building where the arts wing is, all the way up to French class on the third floor. I need to start packing you bigger lunches to fuel all your intra-school energy expenditure.

As far as I can tell, you’re enjoying being a high schooler. You seem to really like a lot of your teachers. I was impressed by them as well—they seem to really care about their students and are invested in your success. You’ve also jumped into band life, not only by being part of marching band, but by joining jazz band as well. Previously you said you didn’t want to do it because it required getting up early, but once two of your good friends decided to join, you changed your literal and metaphorical tunes. I’m happy you made that choice. The City High music program is excellent, and I had so much fun going to the jazz band showcase with you last spring. It’s going to be even more fun when I see you there jazzing away on your trombone. The music program offers a variety of performances and trips, including a UK trip you could go on when you’re a little older. It’s funny to think that you might have an international trip over spring break, since I’m so used to planning our family’s vacations around our every-other-year trips to the Keys. I guess we’ll have to find a way to work them both into our lives.

Another requirement of marching band is participating in the clean-up efforts after a Hawkeye football game. You have to walk through an assigned section of a parking lot near the stadium and pick up game attendees’ garbage. The upside is that if you find anything good, you get to keep it. It’s not an easy job, and it requires getting up even earlier than you’ll have to for jazz band, but it’s a major fundraiser for the band program. I guess those fluffy feathers on your marching band hat don’t come cheap.

While COVID is by no means over, we seem to have transitioned back into a more-or-less normal way of life. All the kids are in school in-person now. You do wear a mask at school, which puts you in the minority, but I appreciate it. I don’t really understand why so many people are in such a hurry to toss masks aside. I get that they’re somewhat annoying to wear, but with high-quality masks, they offer a good amount of protection for a relatively small inconvenience. I really appreciate that you continue to do your best to protect our family. There are a whole lot of things in this world I can’t control at all, like the nuclear power plant in Ukraine that is in danger of getting blown apart. Every time I turn on NPR, they’re talking about that. Sometimes I have to switch to the classic rock station for a little mental health break.

You and your dad and I all got updated boosters recently, so that will give us some peace of mind as we move through the next months. It’s hard to know what the future will bring. Will the next variant cause relatively mild illness like the omicron variants? Will it be something more dangerous? Will vaccine technology move at a quick enough pace to continue to protect us? It’s hard to imagine that this huge part of our lives wasn’t even on our radar a few years ago, but we’re learning and adapting. We are back to most of our regular activities, often with some adjustments. Overall I’d say our gang is doing pretty well.

You’re a dedicated big sibling. You attended events for Tobin and Callum last weekend that I’m sure you would have preferred to skip, but you were kind and supportive. Callum completely idolizes you. You’re the first person he wants to impress at any opportunity. Just tonight at dinner, he was very proud that he ate a tomato, and he was hoping you saw him do it. You did not; it’s hard to get you to stick around the dinner table any longer than your food remains on your plate. Sometimes you flee so quickly I hardly notice you’re doing it until I hear a “Thanks for dinner, Mom” as you duck into the hallway. It’s nice that you thank me anyway. I like it when you linger, though. Tonight you told me some unusual things you learned in French class about how the numerical system works, and it was interesting to compare and contrast with Spanish and English. You’re always welcome to hang out after dinner and teach me things.

Your current favorites: Cheerios, root beer, pasta, Minecraft, holing up in your room, watching some Lord of the Rings-adjacent show with your dad, trading pop culture references with your American Studies teacher (she is also a fan of Psych and The Simpsons), and being the final word on the seasoning levels of my homemade tomato sauce. Tomato season is wrapping up around here, but I’ve got plenty of sauce in the freezer to keep your lycopene levels up for the rest of the year.

I’m so proud of you and glad that you’re finding your way in the high school scene. I know you face challenges, though you mostly decline to share them with me. I remind you frequently that I love you and that you’re important to me, so at least you have that behind you when things get difficult. When life’s hallways get crowded and no one seems to be moving with purpose, know that I’ll always elbow my way to you.

Love,

Mom