Dear Sammy,
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, a holy day that starts the season of Lent that ends on Easter Sunday.
Easter celebrates a time a long long time ago when God made a group of very sad people very, very happy. When I was your age, we gave up something we loved during Lent so that we'd feel a little of the sadness those people felt, and when Easter came and we could do that thing again (like eat candy) we'd be happy and maybe we'd understand how happy the people a long long time ago became.
You're right. That doesn't make sense - so Pops and I don't do that anymore. Instead, we try to discover something that will help us to know how much God loves us every day, so that when Easter comes, we'll be so full of love, it will overflow (like an Easter basket!) and maybe someone who doesn't know how much God loves them will begin to understand.
Here are some of the things Pops and I will do. We will take pictures of nature because God loves everything! I will ride my bike more and Pops will go running because the wind on our faces feels like God kisses. AND (here's the big one) we will make each other salads with teeny tomatoes and fruits that are purple because God made those but we'd both rather eat chips.
During Lent, at school and at home, you'll probably make pictures of Easter eggs, baby chicks, rabbits, and flowers - Lots of flowers! They are all reminders of how much God loves all of life which is why he created so many, many living things. God created you, dear Sam, and It is my hope that when Easter comes you will know just a little more than you do now how very much God loves YOU (and your brother and your Mom and your Dad and Pepper and... name everyone you love :-).)
Love,
Marmee
The Boss of YOU!
Dear Sam,
Yesterday I thought about you all the time I sat in the dentist chair getting a tooth fixed. Man, Sam, sore teeth really, really, really hurt and getting a sore tooth fixed hurts too. To stop thinking about the hurt, I thought about you. Remember the conversation we had about “The Boss”? You said boys were the boss of girls and I said that “The Boss” is the person in the house or school or gym or work who has the most responsibility. Then you asked me what responsibility meant and I said a person who is responsible keeps themselves and others safe, and that they make decisions that help themselves and others. I told you that a good boss asks for suggestions, and lets other people have responsibility. You said you had a lot of bosses; your mom and dad (and me that day) and all your teachers and you seemed to understand that Miss Patrice was a good boss because you thought ALL the teachers were “the boss” and you didn’t know she makes the final decisions about what is safe and what is good learning.
We talked about you being a “good boss” of your brother when you stop a game before one of you gets hurt, or you yell for your parents when he climbs too high or runs toward the street, and how you get frustrated because he doesn’t understand that you are “The Boss” of the trains when you set them up, and he doesn’t play by the rules of a game because he doesn’t understand what rules are yet.
What we didn’t talk much about was you being boss of yourself. While the dentist fixed my tooth, I made a long list in my mind of all the ways you can do that - You CAN decide what clothes to wear, what fruit you want in your lunch box, when to put away a game, what books are on your bedroom book shelf…I could go on, but your parents are “good bosses” and I’m sure that they will help you come up with a list on your own.
But TEETH, Sam! That’s a big one! If you can decide today, at four and one-half years old, to brush your teeth really well twice a day, every day for the rest of your life, in 62 years you will be able to play with your friends instead of sitting in the dentist chair all day on a sunny afternoon.
Yesterday I thought about you all the time I sat in the dentist chair getting a tooth fixed. Man, Sam, sore teeth really, really, really hurt and getting a sore tooth fixed hurts too. To stop thinking about the hurt, I thought about you. Remember the conversation we had about “The Boss”? You said boys were the boss of girls and I said that “The Boss” is the person in the house or school or gym or work who has the most responsibility. Then you asked me what responsibility meant and I said a person who is responsible keeps themselves and others safe, and that they make decisions that help themselves and others. I told you that a good boss asks for suggestions, and lets other people have responsibility. You said you had a lot of bosses; your mom and dad (and me that day) and all your teachers and you seemed to understand that Miss Patrice was a good boss because you thought ALL the teachers were “the boss” and you didn’t know she makes the final decisions about what is safe and what is good learning.
We talked about you being a “good boss” of your brother when you stop a game before one of you gets hurt, or you yell for your parents when he climbs too high or runs toward the street, and how you get frustrated because he doesn’t understand that you are “The Boss” of the trains when you set them up, and he doesn’t play by the rules of a game because he doesn’t understand what rules are yet.
What we didn’t talk much about was you being boss of yourself. While the dentist fixed my tooth, I made a long list in my mind of all the ways you can do that - You CAN decide what clothes to wear, what fruit you want in your lunch box, when to put away a game, what books are on your bedroom book shelf…I could go on, but your parents are “good bosses” and I’m sure that they will help you come up with a list on your own.
But TEETH, Sam! That’s a big one! If you can decide today, at four and one-half years old, to brush your teeth really well twice a day, every day for the rest of your life, in 62 years you will be able to play with your friends instead of sitting in the dentist chair all day on a sunny afternoon.
Christmas is for Sad Times
Dear Sammy,
When you visited our house after Christmas last year, you knew right away that something was different. “Where is Zak?” and “What is died?” you asked. I don’t remember what I said, but you seemed to accept my answers and we went off to play. When Pops and I visited your house this summer, you asked again. You remembered that in the past Pops would “sleep in the car” (our little motor-home) so Zak wouldn’t be afraid, and now Pops was sleeping in the house. This time, your mom answered your questions, and you seemed satisfied, because you didn’t ask again. What I suspect is that you will ask again and again as we visit back and forth because questions about sad things are never really answered.
Mommy told me that when you were two years old you didn’t like the book Go Dog, Go because on one page in the middle it looks like the dog might get hurt. (He doesn’t). And when I visited you at Halloween, Mommy was surprised that you and I read We’re going on a Bear Hunt because you didn’t like the picture of the big sad bear at the end of the story. If I had known that, I wouldn’t have picked the book, but I understand now why, even though you sat very still on my lap and laughed at the funny parts, we talked so much about the bear at the end. You, Sammy, are a person who cares about the feelings of others, and you are very aware of your own.
This is why I think you know that something very sad happened a few days ago; not that your parents told you about it, or let you watch it on TV, but because you notice little things they did and ask about them. Maybe you saw Mommy wipe away a tear as you were making Christmas cookies, or instead of just cuddling with you while watching the Steelers, Daddy shut the game off and took you for a run.
My guess is you asked a question that was hard for them to answer, but they did, because they love you and they want you to grow up to trust your feelings and to ask hard questions. Your parents know that sad is not bad or good, but a feeling that gets smaller when we tell someone about it. They also know that it is good, but hard, to be happy and sad at the same time.
Christmas time is a very happy time of year.When you say “Merry Christmas”, most people will say "Merry Christmas" back. But if they don't, it's okay. By saying "Merry Christmas" you reminded them that even if they don’t feel happy today, they will soon, because God loves them like Mommy and Daddy love you.
Love,
Marmee
When you visited our house after Christmas last year, you knew right away that something was different. “Where is Zak?” and “What is died?” you asked. I don’t remember what I said, but you seemed to accept my answers and we went off to play. When Pops and I visited your house this summer, you asked again. You remembered that in the past Pops would “sleep in the car” (our little motor-home) so Zak wouldn’t be afraid, and now Pops was sleeping in the house. This time, your mom answered your questions, and you seemed satisfied, because you didn’t ask again. What I suspect is that you will ask again and again as we visit back and forth because questions about sad things are never really answered.
Mommy told me that when you were two years old you didn’t like the book Go Dog, Go because on one page in the middle it looks like the dog might get hurt. (He doesn’t). And when I visited you at Halloween, Mommy was surprised that you and I read We’re going on a Bear Hunt because you didn’t like the picture of the big sad bear at the end of the story. If I had known that, I wouldn’t have picked the book, but I understand now why, even though you sat very still on my lap and laughed at the funny parts, we talked so much about the bear at the end. You, Sammy, are a person who cares about the feelings of others, and you are very aware of your own.
This is why I think you know that something very sad happened a few days ago; not that your parents told you about it, or let you watch it on TV, but because you notice little things they did and ask about them. Maybe you saw Mommy wipe away a tear as you were making Christmas cookies, or instead of just cuddling with you while watching the Steelers, Daddy shut the game off and took you for a run.
My guess is you asked a question that was hard for them to answer, but they did, because they love you and they want you to grow up to trust your feelings and to ask hard questions. Your parents know that sad is not bad or good, but a feeling that gets smaller when we tell someone about it. They also know that it is good, but hard, to be happy and sad at the same time.
Christmas time is a very happy time of year.When you say “Merry Christmas”, most people will say "Merry Christmas" back. But if they don't, it's okay. By saying "Merry Christmas" you reminded them that even if they don’t feel happy today, they will soon, because God loves them like Mommy and Daddy love you.
Love,
Marmee
Hey! You have the same nickname as our country!
Dear Sam,
A long time ago, the whole wide world was fighting. Not wrestling the way you and Daddy do because you love each other, but being very mean, trying to hurt each other. It started when the leader of one country decided to bully the people in another country, and it got complicated. The leader of OUR country, President Wilson then, tried very hard to stop the fighting, but at the same time wanted everyone to know we might have to go to war. He asked Mr. James Montgomery Flagg to draw a picture to help people get ready, just in case.
Under the picture were the words “Uncle Sam wants you!” and ever since, when people think of our country, they think first of “Uncle Sam", and that is how
Uncle Sam became the nickname of our country, the United States.
Before we were states, we were colonies, owned by another country, England.
Some very, very brave men wrote a letter to the very, very mean king and of England and said “Stop! We are not going to let you be a bully, anymore.” Only they said it in more beautiful words that you will memorize someday, and I hope will believe with all your heart.
The letter begins…” When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights……
Today is the anniversary of the day they sent the letter, a long, long time ago. We call this day the “Birthday” of the United States, and as the brave men hoped we would, we celebrate it with patriotic songs and shows and parades. Here is one of my favorites – We’ll sing it together soon.
Love,
Marmee.
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