Last Day of Kindergarten

Katherine, today was your last day of Kindergarten. It seemed like only yesterday that we dropped you off on your first day… I remember the last night before school started you had a hard time sleeping; you were worried about being at a new school, with new children and new teachers. You held daddy’s and my hand tightly as we dropped you off for the first time. But you needn’t worry because you made great friends and your teachers were nothing short of amazing in leading you this past year. I watched you thrive and become a confident little girl, and every morning when daddy and I dropped you off at school you gave us both a big hug, a kiss on the heart and told you that you love us… and then you turned around and walked away – towards your friends, learning and play.

I have quietly watched you walk away many mornings, watching you as you are growing up and becoming more independent, but knowing “there is always time for a kiss and a hug” (you tell me this often!)

At your school’s year end ceremony today every child was recognized for their areas of excellent improvement. You received your award for “reading and applying your understanding of new concepts”… I am so proud of you! You have discovered a love of learning that I hope stays with you throughout every day of your life.

You are teaching me that life is ever-changing;  to live every day with confidence, love and compassion… and that “there is always time for a kiss and a hug”. I love you always and forever.

My Superhero

Katherine, today was superhero day at your school… the challenge was to show up with your super powers, and dress the part too!

You didn’t hesitate long to decide that you wanted to be “Superhero Katherine”. A couple of years ago, I made you a superhero cape (pink, of course!) and that’s what you proudly wore today – along with a beautiful pink shirt with lots of hearts on it (and your superhero mask of course… every superhero needs a cool mask!)

You explained to me that as Superhero Katherine your superpower is LOVE. And you giggled as you told me that, because now it was time for you to share your real secret with me… “love isn’t just my fantasy superpower, it’s my real power”. Yes, it is my little girl – LOVE is truly your superpower – I see that in you every day!

You are teaching me that we can all be superheros (and maybe we should all wear a cape once in a while to remind us of that). When you were dressed in your real-life-superhero costume this morning, you looked up at me and said “I wish I could fly and a trail of hearts would come from my cape and spread all around the world”. You leave a trail of hearts wherever you go! I love you always and forever.

Christmas Concert

Katherine, last night was your Christmas Concert at school; it was so special to see you and the fellow students in your school perform. Your class sang a beautiful song “Lullaby of Love” and your class mates and you were dressed as sheep, cows and donkeys for your part of the Christmas story.

You were the most beautiful donkey I have ever seen! I know you have been practicing and practicing your song, and the most special part was to hear you sing your solo! I can’t tell you how proud I am of you!

I remember the moment you told me that you had a solo part in your class song “mommy, I’ll be singing by myself, in front of the whole school – just me!” As the day of the performance came closer, you were a bit anxious about it, and a few days ago you told me that you got it all wrong during your rehearsal. That’s ok; and I want to share a little secret with you… I do the same all the time when I’m preparing for a presentation and practice.

But when the big moment came, I saw you confidently sing your solo, not worrying or thinking; just being present, sharing your love and trusting yourself – and it was beautiful! 

You are teaching me that we can do anything we choose to, we just need to believe in ourselves. I am so proud to see you grow into the confident little girl you are becoming; you inspire me every day! I love you always and forever.

Your First Day of Kindergarten

Katherine, this week was your first day of Kindergarten. It’s a big step, you’re going from casual afternoons a few times a week at preschool to full day Kindergarten. It’s a big step for you… and for daddy and me. It’s your transition to becoming a more independent little human (you keep telling me that you are a “human” whenever we call you a little pup, a little monkey or anything else).

You look dashing in your school uniform, you are so proud as you carry your backpack all by yourself, you are so excited as you line up to go to the class room with your friends…. and I am watching you with a quiet smile, so proud of the confident “little human” you are becoming.

At the end of each school day this week you greet us with a beaming face and wild hair as we pick you up from your classroom – you’re clearly having the time of your life! Each day as I ask you a few questions about your school day the answer is always the same: “I don’t remember – I was having too much fun”. But at night, when we snuggle, you often start telling me little stories about your day… my favourite time of the day!

You are teaching me that you’re ready for bigger adventures in life, it’s the start of discovering the world on your own.

My little wish for you:

May you always trust in yourself,
may you always share your big heart with others,
may you always find fun and joy in all you do
…. every day as much as you do today.

I love you always and forever.

Sparkly Eyed Moments

Katherine, this afternoon you kept asking daddy and me if we could go the playground. It was already late in the day and we were on our way home. The playground wasn’t in the plan, but we eventually gave in and made a surprise stop at the playground for you during the drive. I love it when you tell me “my eyes are sparkly” as your face lights up and beams with excitement (and your eyes really become sparkly).

We agreed on only “a few minutes”… which turned into almost an hour of sparkly-eyed playtime. Daddy and I settled on a bench as you climbed your way up to the really tall slide where you gave us the biggest wave before you raced the way down. Followed by more climbing and more waving as your adventure continued, you explored every structure on the playground and eventually made your way to your favourite… the swing!

Daddy gave you a good push to get you started and then stepped back and today was the first time I saw you keep the swing in motion by pumping your legs. You had been practicing for a long time, but today was your day. You managed to swing as high as the swing would go… or as you put it “watch me fly all the way up to the sky!”. Not taking any hands of the swing, you came up with a creative elbow wave to wave at us with bright, sparkly eyes and I couldn’t stop smiling as I was watching you.

You are teaching me that no matter what time of the day it is, there is always time to play; and there is always time to create sparkly eyed moments. I love you always and forever.

Happy Birthday – The Big 5

Katherine, my birthday girl, my big girl…  you are 5 years old today! I am smiling as I am writing this for you, because I am so proud of you for the person you are becoming. My caring girl, my smart girl, my pretty girl and of course my curious girl. If there is anything to be questioned, you will be there to ask the question. I have lost count how many “why” questions I answer in any given day, but I love it that your questions often make me pause because you ask about a problem I had never thought of.

Santa had brought you a big toy Ferris wheel, and it has 7 little cabins. Part of the toy is a ticket booth where the little toy figures can buy their little toy tickets. The only problem with it? There are only 6 tickets that came with it… that made no sense to you (and after you mentioned it, daddy and I had to agree… and we’ll now have to ask the toy maker). In the meantime you solved the problem – you simply made an extra ticket; and while you were at it you also made some toy money so they little toy people can pay for their toy tickets.

Today was your special day and when you woke up you exclaimed that today was all about you! It was your day, and I feel grateful that I put everything else aside today to spend your special day with you – it became a special day for me too. We made cupcakes from scratch together for your birthday party and I have to say you’re becoming quite a little baker! We had lots of fun decorating them (originally we had planned on blue sprinkles for the blue cups and pink sprinkles for the pink cups, but you had a much better idea in mixing both colours because “it looks like a lot more fun” – and you were right).

In the afternoon you had a very special birthday party with your friends, a Frozen Minnie Mouse party. You couldn’t decide on either, because you like both Frozen and Minnie Mouse, so from that came the big idea to combine both (I am grateful for the master party decorator at the indoor playground – who knew that Queen Elsa and Olaf love wearing mouse ears…). I love seeing that sparkle in your eyes when big ideas become reality… you truly believe that anything is possible. Keep dreaming big!

On the drive home after your party tonight, the conversation became more serious. You were telling me that today was all about you and I told you, yes it was, it was your special day and I really enjoyed spending the day with you. You paused for a moment and told me that you wanted the day to be about me too, it should be special for me too. I couldn’t stop smiling as I was replying to you that it was very special because we got to spend it together.

You are teaching me that days aren’t special because of a special date in the calendar, but because we make them special, with who we are and what we do. You are still little, but already you’re making difference – with every thoughtful question you ask, with every idea you have, with every smile and every hug you share. I feel so blessed to have you in my life; words cannot express the joy you have given me. I love you always and forever.

The Little Moments

Katherine, I treasure the time we spend together… watching you grow up is my greatest joy.

Sometimes there are things that happen that feel like big moments that make me so proud of you – like this morning when you were spelling “petshop” (your choice of word, not mine!) with stickers on a Minnie Mouse sticker collage you were making and you only needed help with 2 letters in the sequence as you were spelling it out.

But more often than that, it’s the little things that happen that just make me smile.

Last night for example… when we had a little accident with our Sodastream machine with which we make sparkling water. You always fizz up the water with the machine – after daddy loads the bottle, he lifts you up so you can reach the button to “make” the water… well last night somehow the bottle wasn’t properly clicked in and as soon as you pushed the start button all three of us froze in a split second as we realized that instead of the carbonation going into the water, it pushed the water out of the top which started to spray everywhere across the counter. Daddy and I dashed for kitchen towels and as we turned around we watched you quietly reach for the roll of paper towels and clean the front of the counter as water was running down. Those are the moments that make me proud of you.

You live your life with confidence and joy, which comes out in everything you do. We were at the grocery store today and you picked out a roll of Christmas wrapping paper we wanted to buy (you took your time looking through ALL the different choices before picking the green one with the reindeer) and at first you were proudly carrying it through the store. A couple of isles over you stopped and asked to climb into the cart. After you settled in, you explained to me that the shopping cart was now the boat and the roll of wrapping paper was the oar. As we walked up and down the isles you were rowing as you were quietly singing “row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream…” and when I stopped too long to get the things on our shopping list, you urged me to move as the crocodiles were getting closer. As people were watching you, you smiled at them proudly which promptly got them to smile back.

You are teaching me that the little things we do make a difference. You make our world a little better place every day with what you do and who you are - with every time you lend a hand to help someone, with every smile you share with someone; and with every plastic bag you’ll randomly pick up in a parking lot and carry to a waste bin (because as you were telling us that it’s not good for a car to drive over it). These are the moments that make me very proud of you. I love you always and forever.