Dear Miles,

The strangest summer yet has begun.  You finished your sixth-grade year and elementary school career with a Zoom-based celebration, which was perhaps a bit less exciting than an in-person event.  The good news was that Mubby and Skitter got to watch you give your speech.  You were one of several kids chosen to give a speech, and we were all so proud of you.  It’s a real shame that this year got cut short, because you had a really great sixth-grade experience.  You’ve gotten closer to some friends—in fact, two of your good friends were also graduation speakers.  You seem more happy and confident than in your younger years.  You seem excited to move on to junior high.

I asked you today, with the caveat that we probably won’t have a lot of choice in the matter, whether you’d rather do distance learning or go to physical school with a full mask and face shield.  You immediately said you’d take the mask and face shield and go to school for real.  I was surprised that you barely had to think about it, since you seemed pretty content over the last few months to be at home.  I can’t say for sure what will happen in the fall, but I’m glad you’re enthused about the idea of going to school, even if it means personal protective equipment and maybe some other safety-related changes.

You’ve certainly grown a lot since your first day of kindergarten.  You were shy and nervous back then, and while you are still a little stressed out by new situations, I trust that you can handle it.  You’ve had some very kind, loving, and patient teachers throughout your elementary school years, and I’m so glad it was a good experience for you.

Looking at your first and last day pictures, it’s interesting to note that you were wearing shirts for musical groups in both.  That’s something that has remained important to you.  It’s a little harder to get you motivated to participate in the Family Folk Machine online activities, since the social element of it was a big draw for you (though that’s less the case than for Tobin, who barely cares about music at all and only shows up because he wants to play with his friends).  We’re working on a video project for fall, and I’m trying to get you involved.  You’re disinclined to do anything that requires stepping away from a computer, but given your love of video-making, I hope I can find a way to draw you in.

Our house is in the most de-constructed portion of its construction, so for the time being, we’re hanging out at Mubby and Skitter’s house to give the crew space to work.  We’ve been keeping busy with playing outside with water squirters, going to nearby parks, and having a lot of movie nights.  You’ve been looking forward to the Artemis Fowl movie for months, and in fact we subscribed to Disney+ largely so you could watch it.  Then you and Tobin discovered that the entire Simpsons catalog is available there, and there’s an upcoming Hamilton capturing of the original Broadway cast…so it looks like we have yet another streaming service.  Since you probably won’t be doing any of the summer camps we had budgeted for, I’m considering it part of the “keeping the children busy” investment.  We’ll try to do a few educational things along the way, too.

Oooh, I just remembered that I always wanted you to make a diorama.  I just ordered a new pair of running shoes, and that means a shoebox is heading our way.  Probably nobody else in the family has as much of an unironic love for dioramas as I do, but having a shoebox around is a good start.

In an effort to add an element of specialness and ceremony to the end of your elementary school days, I took some “senior in elementary school” portraits of you.  The two photos below are examples.  It’s hard to get a natural smile out of you.  When I ask you to smile for a picture, you give this weird closed-mouth grimace.  I decided to just get you talking about your favorite topics—I believe I asked you about your favorite YouTubers—and tried to catch you at a moment of genuine mirth.  It took a while, but your real smile came out enough times that I got some nice ones.  I’m hoping to get a few prints made.  We’ll have to see how our home addition space turns out, because we might need some Miles to fill the walls.

It’s impossible to avoid the news these days, as protests related to unjust treatment of Black people have filled our world.  We haven’t seen too much here, though at home in Iowa City, there have been many protests, as well as some vandalism and use of tear gas on protestors.  We’ve talked about the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, and about how this has been brewing for a long, long time.  You seem engaged and interested, and I hope we can continue to have productive conversations about it.  I want you to be an anti-racist person, and that doesn’t happen in just one summer.  We need to keep justice in the forefront of our thoughts and family discussions in the long-term.

Your current favorites:  pasta, chatting online with your friends, YouTube channels discussing topics I don’t understand (I think it’s Minecraft-related but I’m really not sure), Mario Maker on the WiiU, hanging out with Callum and me during bedtime stories (your favorite is The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food), staying indoors, and pun-based jokes.  Mubby recounted one you told her recently:  “Did you know that the first French fries weren’t fried in France?  They were fried in grease (Greece).”

You’re smart, witty, and you’re even starting to bounce back better when you and Tobin banter.  I usually feel quick to jump in and try to defuse the situation, but you two are doing pretty well at accepting each other’s zingers with grace (or at least laughter).  I’m so proud of all you’ve accomplished as an elementary schooler, and I’m so excited to watch as you move on to greater adventures.  I love you, my sweet Miles.

Love,

Mom