Dear Callum,

You are such a smart and funny little guy. You’ve really been thriving at in-person school. Your dad asked you the other day whether you prefer online or in-person, and you said you like school so much that “Sometimes I wish recess would end so I can get back to learning.” You’ve made good friends, aced every spelling test you’ve had, and been accepted into the enrichment program. You were so excited to tell me when I picked you up from school the first day you had enrichment class. Later, when we were talking to your dad, I suggested that you tell him your big news. You said, “I’m in enrichment! And we had a sub for P.E.!”

You’ve really been enjoying all the special activities and events that come with in-person school. Your class got to travel to another local school to join other second-graders as a visiting author-illustrator spoke. Her name is Juana Martínez-Neal, and you were so inspired by her that you decided you also want to be an author-illustrator. You drew a whole bunch of pictures of the same thing, the titular character from Martínez-Neal’s book How Alma Got Her Name. I don’t know if repeating the same drawing was a technique Ms. Martínez-Neal told you about in her talk, like maybe as a way to build consistency, but it’s certainly a practice you embraced. You’ve also been interested in painting and writing in your journal lately, so I guess you’re on track for the author-illustrator life.

You’ve been having a great time being part of Family Folk Machine. You had a special set of ukulele lessons as part of the group’s educational component, and you were a proud singer at our concert. When your siblings were your age, they were already taking piano lessons. That all got horked up by the pandemic, and their beloved piano teacher no longer offers lessons. However, Tobin’s bass teacher also teaches other stringed instruments, so maybe a higher-quality ukulele and some lessons on that could be in your future. You did a great job with your introductory skills, and it would be fun to see and hear you strumming away. Plus, a ukulele is a lot easier to toss into the car than a trombone or saxophone or piano. You could be very entertaining at family gatherings.

Halloween was a good time. You came up with the idea of being a plague doctor and never swayed from it. We talked about how they looked scary but they were actually helpers, and you found the idea very appealing. I think the image has been floating around popular culture in these pandemic years, though I don’t know exactly where you first saw them. I found a pattern to make a plague doctor mask, and between that and a repurposed Hogwarts robe, you were very cute and creepy. “They won’t know if I’m a trick or a treat!” you said.

You and Tobin attended a trunk-or-treat event hosted by your dad’s workplace, and you also went around the neighborhood. You even went to the house on the far end of our street that always goes all-out in terms of yard decorations. It’s out of our usual walking zone, so we’d never visited it before, but you and Tobin and your dad made a special trip. I stayed home with Artemis to answer the door, but I bet it was fun to get an up-close view of all the skeletons and inflatables we’d driven by so many times.

You are a kind and tender-hearted little pup. The other night at bedtime, I was about to start our nightly ritual of saying goodnight to a stuffed animal of your choosing. That day, you had gotten a special temporary tattoo as some kind of reward in school, and you were really excited about it. I suggested that I could say goodnight to your lizard tattoo. That was partly because the ritual involves me giving the selected stuffed animal several kisses, and it usually happens after I’ve put on my thick overnight lip balm. Things can get linty. Kissing your forearm sounded like a better proposition. I asked you your lizard tattoo’s name, and you got a little teary and said you didn’t want to name it, because that would make it sadder when it comes off. Perhaps I overemphasized its temporary nature when we were talking about the difference between tattoo-gun tattoos and the rub-on kind popular among elementary schoolers. I did eventually get you to commit to the name Flame with the promise that we could get more temporary tattoos in the future. I’ll have to put those on your Christmas and birthday lists.

You’re also very kind and sweet to me. You like to keep a water bottle by your bed, and a couple of nights ago I refilled the water before you asked me to. When you found that it was full of fresh, icy water, you said, “I really appreciate you filling my water bottle.” Then you looked at me earnestly and said, “I really appreciate your existence.”

Your current favorites: Twix bars from your dwindling Halloween stash, playing board games, your school friends (especially Connor, Griffin, and Kash), The Magic Tree House and Humphrey book series, making Scratch games with Artemis, waffles with butter and syrup, chicken thighs, steak, six centimeters of Kool-Aid or lemonade with ice, dancing and skipping everywhere you need to go rather than walking, and being a snuggly little cutie-pie.

I’m so proud of how well you’ve adjusted to the new challenges in-person second grade has brought. You’re a joy and a great source of laughter. Have a good month, my sweet Callum.

Love,

Mommy