Artistic Endeavors

Dear Sawyer,

Last week, your class went on a field trip the The Metropolitan Museum of Art and I got to tag along as a chaperone. You were so excited when I told you that your teacher had picked me to be one of the chaperones and you said that on the morning of, when your teacher asked the kids whose parents were coming, "Who wants to sit with their parent on the bus?," you immediately shot your hand up in the air while the other kids didn't until they realized you were raising your hand and then raised their hands, too. (Hahaha, we won't tell their parents!) That gesture alone meant a lot to me, that you are still so excited to be with me, but the sweetness continued after we arrived at the museum. As we walked through the American Wing and listened to the docent talk about different pieces, you happily held my hand and often hugged me. There was none of that cool-boy-machismo you sometimes see in 9-year-old boys; you weren't shy or self-conscious at all about hanging out with your mom. You seemed to be so happy that I was there and that made me feel so so special.

I also felt very proud of you and your classmates that morning. All the kids in our group were so attentive and well-behaved, listening to the docent and asking thoughtful questions. You personally really looked at each piece of artwork and made insightful observations about each one. And we even stopped to talk about one painting called "The Wood Sawyer," which you obviously felt a connection to! At the end of the visit, the docent came up to me and said, "These kids are amazing! No, really! They are amazing! They are so engaged and interested. We get a lot of school groups in here and some kids really don't pay any attention." How awesome are you guys?!

Also awesome is that you got to go sledding this weekend! We don't get much snow anymore (hello, climate change) and the one time we got significant snow last winter, you were sick and couldn't go sledding with your siblings. We got a few inches this past Saturday night and Daddy woke you up early at 6am so that you guys could go sledding in the park all by yourself! As it gets later on snow days, the big hilly park near our house gets overcrowded with sledders (JieJie was in a pretty bad crash with another sledder a couple years ago), so it was really cool for you to get the whole park to yourself. And you had a blast! Daddy also took you out for pancakes afterward, which made the morning even better. I'm so glad you had fun! And I was also super touched when you came in that morning to say goodbye to me. As it was so early on a weekend, I was still in bed when you came in. You thought I was sleeping and turned around to leave. When I opened my eyes, I saw you tiptoeing out slowly with your legs far apart--you were wearing your snow pants and didn't want the noisy swish-swish-swish of the pants to wake me up. Thank you, baby bear, for always being so thoughtful and sweet! I love you so much!

Love,

Mom