My oldest child turns six this month! I always write a note to go in his journal, and this year is no exception. I hope you enjoy this letter to my son on his sixth birthday, called “Never Stop Growing”, and feel free to use it as a template with your own child!

I really believe that all parents should try to write to their kids in some form or another. Here’s why.

Dear Kiddo,

Oh my beautiful kind compassionate silly child. Kindergarten is done! We’ve made it! I’m so proud and I can’t believe it. So much has happened this year. Let’s see.

Since starting kindergarten in fall 2018, we have:

  • Continued reading in English and Spanish
  • Said goodbye to our 17-year old kitty, Myra
  • Moved houses and towns
  • Changed schools, twice!
  • Helped Grandma and Grandpa move into our new neighborhood
  • Made new friends
  • Written your first poem
  • Gotten into the Gifted and Talented program
  • Found a love for ants, bees, math, space, and cooking
  • Ridden on a school bus
  • Read over 1000 pages in books either by yourself, with your sister, with Daddy, or myself
  • Discovered lots of new parks and playgrounds

And look at how you’re growing!

It’s the most amazing feeling to have my own child reading to me. You are a voracious reader and it makes me so proud that you love to grab a book and read to anyone who is listening. I hope that reading is always a reward for you, an escape and a cherished pastime. You love to read everything and listening to you battle through Fox in Socks was hilarious!

You love to build with your Legos, too – give you a few minutes and you can make anything from a piñata garden security system, to a colorful and symmetrical spaceship. Creative toys like that will build your brain as well as make you feel accomplished, and of course they’re fun too! 

And your Pokémon birthday party was an absolute blast. You played with water guns, worked with your friends for over thirty minutes to complete the Pokémon scavenger hunt (done by your creative and hardworking father!), and had an amazing time with the people who love you. 

As you’ve gotten older this year, I feel like you’re really starting to settle into who you are. What makes you tick? What are you passionate about? What do you think you want to do with your life? (I promise to never ask you the question “What do you want to be when you grow up” because I never want you to grow up, and because I want you to always be growing and learning and improving who you are.) 

I love that you are growing into your own, and starting to decipher what matters to you (and what doesn’t). You’re beginning to learn what qualities you want in a friend, and what character traits you want to avoid. 

It can be a challenge to look for classes, camps, and activities that matter to you; I do want you to have experiences which teach you and introduce you to new things, which can also help you learn about what you want to do with your life. But I never want you to be the overbooked kid, or the one who is forced into something he hates. We are still figuring all of that out, together. 

And I want to expand your comfort zone without having to shove you over the line too fast. We’re working on all kinds of things, from you being more comfortable in the pool, to gratitude, to reading in English and Spanish. 

I hope you always ask questions. I hope you chase what you’re passionate about. I hope that you surround yourself with people who make you think, people who love and respect you, people who make you a better person. I hope you live a life that’s true to you, that’s fulfilling, that leaves the world in a better place than before you were born.

I never want you to settle. I never want you to hesitate to do the right thing, especially when it isn’t the easy thing. I never want you to waste time with things – and people – that don’t align with your morals. I want you to know yourself, and know what’s best for you. And I want you to never hesitate to say “No” to those toxic situations, toxic habits, toxic people.

So as I really start to see you as a big boy who is quickly growing into a young man, I hope that you never stop growing. I hope you never stop learning, never stop asking questions, never stop trying to be a better version of you. And you know that I will always be on the sidelines cheering you on, ready to give you a pep talk or a hug or a kick in the ass if you need it. I’ll be your number one fan for always, and no matter what. 

I love you more than the sun and the moon, more than the sea and the sky; more than all the plants, all the animals, all the things, and all the people on this Earth.

Love,

Mama

Want to know how to get started writing to your kids (and why you should)? Read up here.

If you’d like to see the other letters to my son, you can see when he turned three, four, and five.

I also have letters to my daughter from when she turned one, two, and three.