Dear sweet, little bambinos,

We want to take you on a journey back in time to a few years ago. Those first few days when we held you in our arms, your wrinkled face and unfocused eyes staring back at us. At that moment, we knew you were destined to become the most amazing, unique, and special person to ever walk this earth and our dreams for you were endless. We knew you could do and be anything: next president of the United States, astronaut, or the scientist who finds the cure for cancer. Yes, that would be you (not just one of those but all three). Of course, you would also be the smartest, kindest, and best-looking. This was all obvious those first few days.

Fast forward a few years to now, when the realities of parenting have started to shape our view of the future. We still have dreams for you, they have just changed a bit. These are the 5 wishes that we have for you now:

 

1. That you don’t grow up to hate us (too much).

We know there will be days that you will hate us. That’s OK. We will hate you some days, too. Even on those days that we don’t see eye-to-eye, we love you truly, madly, deeply, and we hope that you don’t hate us so much that you never come back for Christmas.  Actually, we would even settle for some B-rated holiday like Flag Day. Just please come back or call. We are going to get lonely just talking to each other!  

2. That you learn to put your clothes in the hamper – NOT on the floor next to the hamper.

Maybe there is a weird magnetic pull to the floor next to the hamper, or maybe the lid of the hamper is just too heavy for your skinny little arms to open. Either way, for the love of whatever you choose to worship (we think it’s some weird Lego Mini Figure this week), could you please, please, please, open the hamper and put the clothes in it. 

3. That you learn to tie your own shoes, or that Velcro finally becomes fashionable in adult sizes. We have a love-hate relationship with the inventor of Velcro. When you were two and it gave you some independence, Velcro was the best thing ever. As you get older and keep refusing to learn to tie shoes, we are a little bit worried you will be the only one at senior prom with Velcro shoes. Maybe by then you will be peer-shamed into learning how to tie your own shoes. 

4. That you learn it is not appropriate to bite and hit when you are frustrated.

Pretty self-explanatory. It’s not acceptable as a toddler, and if you don’t outgrow this phase pretty quickly we are going to have some serious therapy bills coming at us. Please stop using physical violence. 

5. That you don’t crash your car as often as you crash your bike.

We know that it’s not easy to learn to ride a bike but you think it’s funny to crash into every wall you see. We have to admit, it makes us more than a little nervous to think of you driving a car some day.

That is all, our little loves. We will never stop believing in you and we know that one day, in addition to all the above, you will be able to achieve your dreams. Well, all of them except that dream you had last week about being a rainbow princess unicorn. We hate to burst your bubble, but that one is going to be really hard to pull off.

xo

mom & dad