Dear Tobin,

Third grade is done, and you’re proud to be a fourth-grader. Your tenth birthday will be upon us by the end of the summer, too. You don’t have any camps this year, because you’re still unvaccinated, but you’ve been having outdoor taekwondo, park and creek playdates with friends, and you just set up a standing online Minecraft session with a friend. I’m glad you’re such a naturally social person, because it makes me feel less bad about not having anything scheduled for you. While both your brothers would probably be happy playing video games all day, you require more action and changes of scenery. You’re always up for a walk around the neighborhood, a trip to the park, or a water squirter battle.

A couple of days ago, we went out for a walk, and we started brainstorming about your eleventh-year trip. We picked that age because when Miles turned eleven, we went to Universal Studios, mostly for Harry Potter World. That’s how old Harry was when he started at Hogwarts, so it seemed like a good moment to celebrate. You, of course, don’t want to be left out of the action (even though you went along to Orlando), but your plans are a little more elaborate that the three-day weekend we spent in Florida. You have a whole scheme planned out in which we rent an RV and drive westward. We’ll stop in Ft. Collins, Colorado, because we had a fun night there on our way to Estes Park a couple of summers ago. After that we’ll venture to Rocky Mountain National Park, then up to Yellowstone. We don’t have all the details sorted out yet, and you may well change your mind in the next year-plus, but it sounds like an interesting experience. It also sounds like a whole lot of driving, which is not my favorite, but you assure me that RV life is luxurious. You can even get ones with showers and kitchens, you’re certain of it.

Maybe in order to hone your skills for RV life, you’ve been interested in helping in our kitchen lately. I made a family favorite for dinner a couple of nights ago, a dual-dish stir fry (beef with snow peas and chicken with cashews). It’s one of your favorite dinners, and you take pride in helping make it, too. Previously, you’d just helped with stirring the ingredients in the wok, but this time you cut vegetables and did most of the sauce-making. I hope you can attend some kind of cooking camp next summer. It’s fun having you in the kitchen with me, especially now that we have extra space (much more than in an RV, but who’s counting?).

It’s hard to know what the upcoming school year will be like. We imagine that most families will choose in-person school for the fall, because COVID rates in our community have gotten a lot lower, and we have hope that a vaccine will be available for your age group in the fall. I truly wish the governor had not eliminated our community’s ability to have a mask mandate, because mask requirements in school made me feel a lot better about sending you back in person, but at this point it’s a calculated risk. It’s hard to ever feel safe, with news of more contagious variants that cause more severe illness in the news, but I guess I take a risk every time you leave the house. And, frankly, you take a fair amount of risks in the house. Who knew you could climbs so high up our walls? It’s on our list to get the interior walls painted this summer, and we won’t be able to put it off much longer with all those footprints on them. The hardest part for you will be waiting for the walls to dry before you ascend them again.

I think third grade went reasonably well for you, despite all the challenges. You seem to have done well academically, though I feel like I have the loosest grasp on your school performance out of all the kids. With Callum, I sat with him through every lesson, so I always knew what he was doing. With Miles, he required so much help managing his homework tasks and deadlines that I felt very connected to his work. You just sailed through, barely needing any help except with the occasional science experiment. One fun extra activity you did was an after-school writing class. The inspiration for the class was the new fish statues outside Hancher Auditorium, and kids from local schools who participated in various sessions of the class got to nominate names for the fish. You were very proud that your suggestion was selected in your group, so we’re definitely going to have to take a trip out there to see Fin some time soon.

I’ve been thinking about how much you enjoy live theater, and it will be so great to get back to it. If you’re vaccinated this fall, I could potentially see theater tickets under the Christmas tree for us again. It’s a tradition we had to skip last year, which was a shame, and I would love to get back to it. I have no idea what kind of events will be happening onstage, but half the fun is the adventure. You always manage to talk me into treats at intermission, too. I’m kind of a sucker for you. Something tells me that if you checked my browser history, you might find some searches for local RV rentals. What can I say? You’re irresistible. Your enthusiasm, joy, and energy make you magnetic. I want to treasure these years while you still like me and want to spend a week or more in a tin can with me. You’ll be a grumpy teenager soon enough.

Your current favorites: listening to audiobooks, playing Minecraft, watching YouTube videos, pizza, barbecue chips (ideally kettle-cooked), being outside, swinging from monkey bars, and Starbursts. You’ve also learned to scoop your own ice cream, so that’s handy (though bad for our ice cream supply).

I would say it’s going to be a lazy summer, but nothing about you is lazy. I love you, you little fireball.

Love,

Mom