An Open Letter to my Son

You are loved

For the boy you are

For the man you will become

And for the precious son you will always be.

 

To my precious little boy,

Thinking of what I want to say to you already puts me in tears.  Happy tears of course but makes me so emotional trying to find the right words to express how much I love you and how special you are to me.  I wanted to write this letter to you because there are a few things I want you to remember and never forget.

We are so proud of you.

When we first found out we were pregnant with you, the joy and anticipation of your arrival was the only thing we could think about. Watching and feeling you grow inside me was such a miracle.  First you were the size of a chocolate chip (hence your nickname “chip” throughout my pregnancy and we would use the poo emoji when referring to you via text) then you were the size of a watermelon.  Time flies! When you were born, I didn’t know who you’d be, but I knew you’d be my everything and our life only got better.  You have given our life so much purpose.  Watching you smile for the first time, take your first few steps, say your first words, taste new foods, reach every milestone, and seeing you being such a happy boy, gave us so much pride in you and also pride in ourselves.  Everywhere we go, I proudly watch you and I think to myself that you are the most beautiful boy in the world.  You do silly, innocent little things that make me laugh and also show me how kind your heart is.  You are such a sponge and so smart.  You watch us do things and so eager to try to do it yourself. You love figuring out how to put things together and equally eager to take them apart.  These past two years have been everything to us and we couldn’t be more proud.

Continue to follow in your dad’s footsteps.

You are so much like your daddy and you two have such a special bond.  In fact, I had to beg and bribe you to start saying “momma” because anytime I’d ask you to say momma, you’d echo back with “dadda.”  Your daddy doesn’t think you two look alike, but I see so much resemblance you in the two of you.  You both have the same hair colic, same bright blue eyes, you both love to wake up early in the morning, you both love to say hi  to everyone, and you both stub your big toe on EVERYTHING.  It melts my heart when I watch you two play.  Your daddy works so hard for such long hours but he will always find time and energy to play with you.  I needed this because with me being pregnant and with your energy, I couldn’t keep up!  He is the best daddy and the best husband. I hope more than anything you find someone who loves you as much as you love them and that you love them like your daddy loves me.

Always be kind and do the right thing.

When I imagined becoming a mother, I envisioned the hard times raising a child would be in our fast-changing society. Life is amazing, but it can also be tough.  I realize I can’t keep you away and protect you from all the bad things and trying times, but I hope to raise you to be kind, respectful, brave, and humble.  You will be faced with a lot of temptation in life and you will know what you should or shouldn’t be doing.  These temptations are never worth it in the end.  This temptation will come with peer pressure and has consequences.  It takes a lot of courage and bravery to do the right thing.  Never have too much pride to ask for help. We all make mistakes and a lot of times these are the valuable lessons in life.  If you are ever tempted or find yourself in a hole, I hope you know I will always be here for you to help make the right choice and will help you get through whatever may come from your choice.  We might not always have the answers to everything or the things you want to hear, but we will always be here for you.

You are so blessed.

Life is full of challenges, struggles, and what I like to call, “life humps.”  As your Boppa Ross always says, “Your gratitude will ultimately determine your attitude.”  We as a family have so much to be thankful for: our health, amazing friends and family, and everything that we have already been so blessed with in life.  If you ever get down, please remember this and count your blessings.  You are full of spunk and I love how much you laugh.  I hope you are always able to find your smile because your smile is contagious.  I don’t even have to touch you in order to tickle you.  I just have to move my hands toward your belly and you giggle yourself silly.  Right now, it’s so easy for you to enjoy the simple pleasures in life: you always dance when you hear music, you always point out airplanes and the moon, and you always wave at random people who pass by, and always spark a smile to anyone that’s having a bad day.  We are blessed in so many ways and remember that you always have us to come to and remind you of the positives in your life to hopefully turn any frown upside down…even if I have to ‘pretend’ tickle you.

Keep your little brother close.

I believe the best gift we could ever give you in life is a sibling because you instantly have a best friend.  Your time with your sibling will outlast your time with us as parents.  You guys will know each other better than any other friend and siblings will always be the truest form of love and because they will always be apart of you.  As we welcome your new baby brother to our family we can already tell you are going to be the best big brother.  Sure, you guys will fight and feel like you hate each other at times but you’ll also experience some of your best memories together and will always love each other.  Be sure to protect your brother, help guide him in the right direction, and make time for him. He will do the same for you.  It’s so easy to get caught up in life but remember to make family a top priority.

We love you unconditionally.

Your daddy and I have treasured our time with just the three of us.  You made us parents and that is the best gift we could have ever asked for.  We will hold all of our memories close to our heart and look forward to making new memories.  We will repeatedly tell you how fast time flies and miss the days when you needed us: needed us to bath you, put your shoes on for you, and help you get stuff out when they are “stuck”.  We also look forward to the days when you don’t need us and start a family of your own.  When you hold your own baby in your arms for the first time, you will have an overwhelming feeling of love that takes over your body.  Please remember that love and that feeling because that is exactly the amount of love we have for you.

You have been our biggest joy in life.  You are our best friend and always will be.  I hope you will continue to grab our hands to show us things and miss us when we aren’t there.  We are so blessed to have such a great family and that is such a rare gift that not everyone is fortunate to have.  Thank you for being you and making our lives so much better.  We love you unconditionally and always will.

I love you always and forever,

Mommy XOXO

To see how becoming a parent has changed me CLICK HERE.