Dear Matthew,
another year has passed, you have become another year older. This year has been slightly different. Half of it anyways. A time we will remember for many years to come. Mammy will remember for sure.
On Friday you did not only turn eight years old, it was also your first day back in school after six months of no school, thanks to COVID-19. It has been difficult for everybody but we all managed so well with home schooling. We had our little routine going each morning and you did so well to finish the work your teacher gave you online each day. I think mammy and daddy could be great teachers, don’t you think? As there was no school, you also didn’t have PE but thanks to the body coach Jo we were able to join his session on YouTube each day. Another programme you quite enjoyed was the Homeschool Hub on RTE. So there was still plenty of learning going on in those six months and your school report turned out well, too.
A year on and you are probably the best eater in the family. There isn’t anything that you would turn down, apart from mushrooms. Fruit is your favourite thing and our ritual lately is that you either have a kiwi (or two) or an apple before you leave for school/creche. No doubt you like your sweets and chocolate too but we are trying to keep these treats for special occasions only, such as your birthday party.
This leads me to your actual birthday weekend you had. For obvious reasons we couldn’t have a big party like we normally would with all your friends from school and creche. This year though you wanted to have a bouncy castle, the same as in cousin’s house. Your wish is my command. And so we had the bouncy castle for three days. It felt like having your own play centre in the garden. On the Saturday afternoon we had your cousins over for a delicious BBQ. The weather held up and so mammy was cooking delicious burgers and sausages. Everyone was well fed and enjoyed your Mario Kart birthday cake as a dessert.
This Easter we were meant to be heading on our Sun holiday to Lanzarote. Unfortunately that was cancelled. Despite that we still managed to get away on a staycation for nearly two weeks in the West. We stayed with grandparents for a few days and explored some of Sligo. We then headed into the North up to Donegal where we rented a lovely lodge. You got to sleep in the same bedroom as your sister. I wish you would sleep like you sleep on holidays at home, too. haha We did so much sightseeing and you got to play with your cousins at the beach and in their cottage because they went on their holiday at the same time as us. During the last few months I took you and Chloe on a little day trip every so often. One brought us to a Lavender Farm in Wexford which had a massive Snakes & Ladder game at the back. One of your favourite board games.
Tennis was back earlier than GAA. We enrolled you in private lessons. You are improving day by day. Now that school is back, we need to get you onto more lessons or possibly go into a more advanced group. Tennis is definitely something you enjoy. We are trying to get you back to GAA. It has been months since you last played so it could be a more difficult to get on top of the training again. I am hoping that swimming will be back in the next week or two and the plan is to move you onto private lessons so you can finally move out of level two. I know you don’t like the transition from armbands to no armbands but I know you will manage and you will be brave enough very soon.
The tooth fairy didn’t make a reappearance since my last letter to you. So you lost seven teeth to date. There will be more coming soon I’d imagine. Daddy took you to the dentist the other day and you were a brave boy letting him check your teeth. All good by the way and I wouldn’t have expected anything else. Within the last month or so I had to buy you a shoe size bigger. You now fit into size 1 comfortably. It was a faster jump from 13 to 1 than it was 12 to 13. You are my skinny little rat and so size 7 to 8 still fits you perfectly. By the end of the year we will probably move to size 8 to 9. I am already stocking up. Most importantly during the lockdown you got used to the hair clippers and I was able to cut your hair every four weeks.
Since daddy got his new car in January, you are obsessed with maps. He has Google Maps built into his car and now that mammy got a new car with the same feature, you are even more delighted. You love spending time on the tablet looking for places around Ireland and figuring out how long it will take to get there. I think you will be a maths genius. It is in the genes I was told. For your birthday you received two gifts cards to buy the new Super Mario Maker 2 for the Nintendo Switch. It is all about building your own levels so you are definitely in your element there. You also quite enjoy the Lego Super Mario. Lego and Super Mario combined, two of your favourite things. Couldn’t go wrong buying you that.
Let’s see what the year ahead brings for you, what adventures we have and what memories we make. I am sure it will be a good one.
We love you very much.
Mammy & Daddy xxx
(and Chloe and the kittens Milly & Tilly) 😉
