Happy First Day of Fourth Grade!
We had a good summer this 2019.
It ended today. Not by way of weather, of course. We Houstonians like to send you off to school when it’s still triple digits outside.
But in the way of lazy mornings and unpredictable schedules. That ended today. For the first time since you’ve been in school, I was actually sad to see it go. I love a good schedule so summer’s have typically thrown me for a loop, but this was a good break for us all.
We spent time together at the farm. We celebrated the Fourth of July with a bang, literally. I snuck in another mommy and me trip with little bit. And we tried to knock out our Summer of Fun list with laser tag and bowling and escape rooms and more.
So today, you entered the fourth grade. You were all so excited, which makes my momma heart overflow, even though the baby had been dreadfully ill since Saturday.
You have two incredible teachers. We’re entering our fourth year in a school we know and love housed right in our church home and nestled in our neighborhood. This looks utterly different from my own fourth grade. I was going into my fourth new school, in a new area, after having moved to a new state. I was so shy and nervous and didn’t have many friends and our family didn’t have much money.
Normally, I don’t even think about where I was at your age, but it hit me today. This is probably why it’s so important to me that you be gracious and friendly with the “new kids.” Be everyone’s friend. You have five new kids joining your grade this year, in a fairly small school, so it’s important to make them feel like they belong and have people to eat with and laugh with and hang with at recess. It’s why I try to have everyone over to swim before school. Thanks for humoring me and for being sweet inclusive kiddos.
You are each learning at such different rates and growing in different areas. Do not compare yourselves to each other. This will serve you well in life as you grow older. Once you’ve mastered not comparing yourself to your siblings, maybe you can avoid comparing yourselves to friends or students or co-workers. You are an individual and God made you who you are. You are not supposed to do things like others – you are supposed to do things like you.
Fourth grade is a big year. I’ll try to say this without crying on the keyboard, but you only have one more year after this before becoming middle schoolers with lots of different teachers and more intense homework and sports. This is a great year to grow good habits. Do your homework. Don’t procrastinate. Then you can be truthful with those at school and never have to come up with excuses.
Have fun! You are each so much fun. We laugh so much. From spelling crazy words in Scrabble to tripping over the box in the laser tag room to careening down roller coasters. The world is SO MUCH FUN. I know it can be scary. And overwhelming. And of course there’s bad and hard things. But you know what? You are nine years old so you just GO HAVE FUN!
Know this one thing more than any other: Daddy and I love you so much it we can’t even put it into words. We want so much for you. We will always be your people no matter what happens. So when you have an incredible day and win and award or have a blast with a friend, we CANNOT wait to hear all about it. But when you fail or struggle or have a big fight or get terribly embarrassed, we CANNOT wait to hear all about that too.
While we are sad when it happens, we are your people. We are your team. We are here to pick you up and help you dust off and keep moving forward. And would you please be each other’s team too? Don’t ever side with a friend over your sibling. You are their person when you are at school or on a team or in a tough spot. Back them up. And we’ll back you up.
Go be curious. Learn a lot. Love everyone. Forgive mistakes. We believe in each one of you and thank God every day that He trusted us with you three.