Dear Tobin,

The school year has begun, and you have jumped right into a high-action lifestyle. Lately you’ve been getting up early to go for a run before school, sometimes with your dad, sometimes with your friend Jack, and sometimes by yourself. I really admire your dedication. You’re adjusting well to your new class. It doesn’t have your entire friend group in it, but it has enough of your close pals that you’re generally satisfied. Almost every day after school, you play with friends. You have soccer several days a week, and you’d probably be playing fall baseball, too, if I let you. That would just be more than our family schedule could handle.

One thing that has been good for all of us is the arrival of your Apple Watch. It’s very handy for you to text me with your after-school plans, and I can see where you are using Find My iPhone. It’s a relief to me to be able to keep better tabs on you, and of course you think it’s cool to have a not-quite phone. Given your personality, I could see you overdoing it with a true phone, so this is a good compromise. It’s also harder to lose something that’s strapped to your body.

As a sixth grader, you have more opportunities and responsibilities. You’re a member of Safety Patrol, which is a group of sixth grades tasked with helping younger kids cross the streets around the school safely before and after the school day begins. You recently had your first week on duty, and you loved it so much. Somehow it’s not surprising that you enjoy power, but I think you were friendly about it. Callum and I got a kick out of letting you guide us past the parking lot entrance as we walked home. You were bummed out when you found out there were six teams, so it won’t be your turn again for over a month. It might be a little less pleasant when it’s very cold outside, but the faculty sponsor provides hot chocolate on the chilly days. I’ve heard talk that the program may be ending this year, because sixth graders are moving to the junior high next year. I guess it remains to be seen whether fifth graders are mature enough to handle the job. In any case, I’m glad you got to be part of possibly the last class of Safety Patrollers.

You got really into swimming this summer, and our local pool closes after Labor Day. Labor Day happened to be a hot one, so you convinced the whole family to go out and celebrate one more summer splash. You’ve gotten very competent at swimming and brave about going off the diving boards. You’ve also expressed interest in snorkeling on our Florida Keys trip this spring. I’ve been wanting to take a trip to Pigeon Key, and their website indicates that there’s good snorkeling there suitable for beginners. Maybe one day we’ll do a bigger-deal snorkeling trip, but this could be a good way to start. You may need to put a new wet suit on your Christmas list.

After much campaigning on your part, we’ve decided to let you stop masking at school. In my ideal world, you’d mask forever, but you really didn’t want to. Very few people mask anymore, and you’re such a social person that I think the weirdness factor influenced you. Your dad and I just got our Covid boosters, and I’m working on getting them scheduled for you kids. It’s true that Covid isn’t the deadly threat it used to be, and Callum’s doctors reassured us that even kids like him on immunosuppressants generally do okay with Covid. I guess it’s just a matter of when at this point, but I’d still like to avoid it as much as I can. It generally hits adults harder than kids, so if I get it, who will take care of you and your siblings? You might have to get the Chomp Delivery app on your Apple Watch.

I still ask you to mask in crowded situations like the trampoline park, and you grumble about it, but I can deal with your attitude. I’m also planning to ask you to mask at school the week or so before our spring break trip, because there’s no way I want to miss that. I think you’re excited enough about all the swimming and fun that you’ll handle it okay. What would be hardest on you is the isolation required after a Covid diagnosis. You crave human interaction so much, it would be very difficult for you. Artemis, who is a much more solitary person than you are, handled it just fine when they had Covid last March. I think you’d start bouncing off the walls of your room after about eighteen hours, though. Maybe that would be a good learning experience for you. You’ve been texting me a lot ever since you got your watch, and I feel like we’d end up doing a lot of FaceTime. That’s okay. I like your face.

Your current favorites: the Percy Jackson book series by Rick Riordan, online gaming with your friends, playing the video game Bloons with Callum, helping with cooking tasks, playing soccer both on your team and informally with friends, and being a fun and adventurous person.

I’m glad you’re having such a great start to your “senior in elementary school” year. We’ve started making some plans about going out to the soccer field for me to take pictures of you to commemorate this time. I’m not saying you’re forgettable, because you’re definitely not. I just want to always remember your smile, your spirit, and the little-boy sweetness you still have. You’re a treasure.

Love,

Mom