To My Son, Before Kindergarten III

Okay. This is a hard one.

I’m sitting down to write this a few days early, in anticipation of the emotional mess I will be on Tuesday night - the night before Kindergarten actually starts. I hope I’m wrong. But I’ve been struck a lot lately by the enormity of the chapter I’m closing as my youngest enters school. So I’m going to play on the safe side.

Dear Son,

My baby. The final Rammer. You are just so many things. You were the sunshine smiles on the hardest days of the pandemic lockdown. You were my excuse for quiet rocking time when doing elearning with three small kiddos started to get to me. Honestly, from the moment we came home from the hospital, I was so keenly aware that you were my last baby. It allowed me to enjoy and relax into being your mom in a way that I hadn’t been able to do before.

And now we’re here. You finally get to be a student at the school you’ve been at for events and fundraisers and everything else since you could barely walk. You get to go to the bus stop and be a big kid for real. I know you are ready. We’ve all been joking you were ready last year. But gosh, I am going to miss my little errand buddy. I’m going to miss random trips to the library, and you insisting on carrying the receipt out of Costco. I’ll even miss our drives to and from preschool, with you asking me a hundred questions.

Now, you will ask your teacher a hundred questions. You will make new friends and love gym class and high five your brother in the hallway. And I can’t wait to hear about it when you get home. The Rammer family bubble will always be here for you – to listen, and give you a space to recharge. But like all of your siblings before, there are some things I need you to know.

1.     You are such a little hype man. You are enthusiastic and excited about everything – don’t let anyone dim that light. Keep loving life and finding joy. It’s contagious and people will always be drawn to it.

2.    Being the youngest of four has made you wise beyond your years. But please, don’t rush. Be a Kindergartner. Talk about kindergartner things. (Avoid bringing up youtube shorts in conversations, ok?) Don’t be in a hurry to get big just because you see all the cool things your siblings are doing. Your time will come.

3.    Speaking of time, remember to take the time to be kind. I see you hurry through life a lot because you are always ready for the next fun thing. (My little adrenaline junkie!) But I want you to be sure you are looking for ways to include others, and to have good manners. You don’t always need to be first in line. I promise you will get a turn.

4.    Work hard. Let me say that again. Work. Hard. So many things in your life seem to come very easily to you. And that is awesome. But trust me when I say, they will come easily until they don’t. And if you haven’t learned how to work hard, you will struggle. Get used to putting in the work. It will pay off.

5.    Like all the Ramquists before you, I must tell you that your friends at school will most definitely have different rules than we do. That’s ok and they are not wrong. Different families need different rules. But sorry kid, if we haven’t changed them by now they are probably written in stone. You’ll live.

So there we go. This will be a monumental week for us both. Being at home with you and your siblings for the past 11 years has been the privilege of my life, but I am excited for this new phase. I know you will love school and will be so excited to tell us everything, in excruciating detail. Lorelai and I will be waiting for you to get off that bus with your brother.

I love you so very much, Baby.

Love, Mom