Being a mum  of two pre-school aged boys, I have learned to embrace mess, dirt, noise, shouting,
disruption.  I can certainly say that we do not live in a quiet household!!

Elliot, you still look to your elder brother to learn from and copy and are his little shadow a good 90% of the time.  While you may copy many, many things he does or say, I am noticing that you are
trying to find your own way of saying what you want to say and do what you want to do, while still
playing with your brother.

Ryan, you are the leader of the bunch and are teaching your brother mostly good behaviours.  You
are helping him to pronounce words and learn how things work or the quick way to do things.  We
are lucky that you treat him well and love him as your brother.

Each of you is learning to be YOU and while I hope that you are individuals in your own right, I hope you realise how important it is to have a brother and that you will be there for each other through
​celebrations and despair and everything in between. 

xx

You are getting pretty awesome at amazing me with what your brain is absorbing over the last few
months.  You are learning such diverse things - what makes thunder, why clouds are white or grey,
what camouflage means,  New Zealand has more than 1 million people in the country and even what type of car 'Bumblebee' turns into.  Your brain is a huge sponge that is taking in everything around
you - I love it!

You can read the alphabet and learning about capital and lower case letters, so I thought I would
help to teach you about directions and how to work out if things are either 'left' or 'right' by using
your hands to create a capital 'L'.  

You will take many directions in life.  Some directions will be good ones and others won't, but you
will learn from each path you take.  Sometimes you will follow others down a path and other times
you will be the leader and lead others down a path.  At times you may be one or the other.  You can be both, it's OK as some days you will want to be a leader and other days you will want to be a
follower.  BUT, if you are following, do it because you want to follow - it may be that you want to
​follow to learn from the person who is leading you, but try to follow someone who does good things to you and to others.

Keep up the good work, my "little genius"   xxx

We moved house this month.  This has been a long time coming and a big change in our lives.  We
do not lead transient lives like many people do in other countries and I lived in the same family home with my parents for over 20 years.

We only moved around the corner as I am really happy where we live.  We have friends here, we
have family here.  This little community is our home and where you boys are making new friends and discovering a new world. 

 This new world will seem so big to you both for quite some time.  There will be plenty here to keep you happy and entertained for years to come.  As you reach your teenage years you will want more excitement and more challenges and may look forward to reaching out and discovering something
new and different.  That is what life is all about.  Just know that your father and I will always be here
for you both, the door will always be open to you both, and we are both a phone call or message
away should you need to talk to us or need us for anything.

I always say to you both that to keep this family happy and working we each have a very important
job to do - daddy looks after mummy; mummy looks after Ryan; Ryan looks after Elliot; and Elliot
​looks after daddy.  That is our circle that keeps our family ticking and loving each other.

xx

Dear Ryan, you are now 4 & 1/2 years old which means that I have 6 more months till you go to
primary school.  We've been calling it "big kids school" for a couple of years now but very soon, you will be one of those "big kids".  Crazy!!!

This year, you have really developed friendships at your daycare and we have been talking about
how to make new friends and how  we can be friends with lots of different people.  You have a little gang of dudes at your daycare - Nicholas, Archie and Noah.  Some days you like playing with them
and other times you don't.  That might be because they do not feel like playing the same thing as you, or might not be feeling well, or want to play with someone else.  It's a hard thing to learn as on those days you have felt sad, but you quickly get over it and are best of buds the next day.  Some of these
friends will be going to the same primary school as you and some may not, but that's ok.  People
move through our life all the time, and while it would be nice to have them in our lives forever, it just doesn't work that way.  People choose different paths to us, and we choose different paths to them.  But we learn from having them in our life - no matter how short or long that may be.

Remember to be as kind as you can to all the people who do pass through your life.  Your Jenma
always said to be, "you may not like the person, but you can always say hello and then move on".  I
don't get on with everyone, very few people do, and that is OK.  But say hello, try to be nice and then get on with what you are doing.  

You are quite a caring little soul, sometimes that can make you quite precious and sensitive, and
while that might mean that not everyone will want to be your friend, remember that I love you.  I'm
​proud of you.  You have a kind and caring heart.  Never loose that.

Mummy xx


I am lucky to share a love of photography with other 'mother's to sons' in a blog circle.  Please be sure to click through to our follow our circle.  Next up is Janecka Lucia, a mother to 3 son's from Ohio, USA and here is her letter to her sons.

Ryan,

You are my little boy who is very quickly turning into a little man.  

Over the Summer months you have really grown up and are listening more and learning to accept changes around you and to live alongside your brother and parents so we have a household that communicates with each other, respects each other and loves each other.

Don't stop wanting to make me happy.  I love it that you are considerate towards my feelings and you get sad when I'm not happy or feeling angry.  Consideration of others is a beautiful trait to have and although it may cause you some hardship later in life as people abuse your caring nature, don't stop doing it.  Thinking of others makes us a beautiful person.

You love animals.  You love playing with your toy animals and you enjoy watching animals on TV and you are intrigued by animals that live around you.  You used to love watching this TV documentary series called 'Africa' over and over again.  Each episode explored the different parts of the African continent and the animals that lived in each region.  I don't know of many 3 year olds who knew what a 'Shoebill' bird was, but you did.  It made me laugh.

At bedtime you normally go to bed with one or two of your soft animals.  You called them your "special cuddlys".  Some nights you stick to your favourites and other nights you swap it around and introduce a new animal into the mix.  You cuddle and talk to these animals before you fall asleep.  This week you have taken to spreading the love to every soft animal toy you have and putting them all into your bed.  There is hardly any room in there for you!!  But you make a nest in amongst them all and snuggle down for a peaceful night's sleep as you are surrounded by your special toys, safe in your bed in your home.

Mum xx

I am lucky to share a love of photography with other 'mother's to sons' in a blog circle.  Please be sure to click through to our follow our circle.  Next up is Janecka Lucia, a mother to 3 son's from Ohio, USA and here is her letter to her sons.