February 11, 2008
Dylan -9 years old!
Dear Mr Dylan,
Astonishingly, I now have a 9 yr old son. One who is not only so grown up to look at, but one who is beginning to be interested in what he looks and smells like. I'm not entirely sure how that happened so quickly.
Last night you moved downstairs to your new bedroom for the first time. You have had mixed feelings about moving down to your new room. The lure of your own TV offset against not wanting to be further away from your mummy and daddy. The big boy vs the young boy. When you've asked me for advice on 'when' you should move, I've been unable to offer any positive opinion about it. We need to move you kids downstairs because there's not enough room upstairs. I don't want you to be downstairs because it's so far from me. Finally you decided to go. We spent the day moving your furniture and belongings and the room looks wonderful. You slept happily down there without issue. I felt like you'd moved out and couldn't sleep at all!
Over the last year you've definitely matured emotionally. You don't agonize quite as much over things as you used to, although you definitely do have a tendency to do it a little too much. You are very afraid of making the wrong decision, always have been since a tiny little boy. As your mum, I find this quite upsetting, because I don't want you to make life harder on yourself. I want you to be confident, I want you to be happy with your choices. It is hard to see you torture yourself over small things and big things alike. Hopefully you will grow out of this, you are already to some extent.
I worry alot about you because being the mum of a 9yr old boy is very new territory for me. I have never had a 9 yr old boy before :-) I worry that I am too hard on you, that I will mess you up in some way by handling things badly. I'm sure every parent has these same worries, but I do worry about it. But I think I must be doing something right because everyone that meets you compliments you and says what a lovely sensitive thoughtful boy you are, how loving and kind you are to your siblings, how intelligently you can hold a conversation, and what a wonderful boy you are that I must be SO proud of. And I am - I am SO PROUD of you.
This year you became a big brother again and despite your initial reaction when finding out that you were going to have a sister of 'Oh no my life is ruined!', you absolutely adore her. You are a really loving caring brother and you are acutely aware of her needs and love to hold and cuddle her.
Your interests remain firmly in various Nintendo and XBox machines. We have to limit your time on them although you're still more than happy to read a book which is good! I was just reading back over your letter last year and recalled that we were having trouble convincing you to do your homework. I'm thankful to say that you now knuckle down every night to get on with it - there is A LOT of it too, Maths and English every evening and monthly book reports too. The only thing we struggle a little with is the book report but you're getting there. When I say struggle, it's perfectly within the realms of your capabilities it's just that you prefer not to do it :-)
It's impossible to sum up an entire year in a few paragraphs big boy but I am so incredibly proud of you and the young man that you are becoming. As you grow you become less physically dependent but more emotionally complicated. You're still young enough to want a cuddle now & again but I can see that this won't last forever, almost like a ticking clock counting down to a point where you won't need your mummy in the same way anymore..... terribly terribly sad for mummy but also very exciting to see you discover your world and become a strong person making decisions for himself.
I love you, my big 9 year old man.
Mum (Mom) xxxx
Posted by katie at February 11, 2008 04:05 PM