My Letter to Ruth
Daddy loves you very much. In one month's time you will be 5, though at times you seem to be older than that. You are very independent in eating, doing chores like putting away your dishes when you are done and dressing yourself top to bottom. But you remain dependent on Monkey.
You've gone through your first year of school. And have just started again on your second year. Technically you would still be considered kindergarten, but you and Momma seem to think that you are ready to dive deeper into reading and basic math skills like adding. So, you have just started 1st grade. It seems like you are doing very well, particularly with reading. Momma says you catch on very fast, and you have almost caught up to Britt. We still need to work on your speech skills, as it is still sometimes difficult to understand what you are trying to tell us. You have alot of new things coming up this year, particularly with school. You did alot of simple kindergarten work last year, this year you are going to work more on reading and math, and history for the first time.
You do your daily and weekly chores as you ought to. Seems like Momma has given you more chores as you've gotten older. You fold towels where you didn't before, and she now has you in charge of putting up recycling where it belongs. We are starting to allow you to earn money each week, as long as you get your chore chart complete. We hope this will be a way to keep you interested first of all in your jobs, but also so that you learn how to use money and save money. You can buy things on your own now. Right now we try to teach you not only basic instructions but to learn to save, give, and spend your money wisely. Whether it's a particular item you want to save money to get, or something you see and like.
In general everything has changed and you've improved since our last letter. You handle so many of your own jobs now, cleaning up your rooms, getting dressed every day, folding your pajamas and putting them away. You seem to do things all on your own, without us telling you or instructing you in everything. One of the few things that haven't changed is that you are overly attached to Monkey. Which I think you are attached to WAY too much. Of course you accidently left Monkey at the Cook's house on Sunday. So you've had to go this entire week without her. Which should hopefully teach you, after a week of no Monkey business, to keep Monkey in the car and not forget her overnight.
You still seem to have a loving, kind and gentle spirit. But we still need to work on your attitude when you don't get what you want or things don't go your way, and to work on all of our patience. What I hope to work on with you this year is patience, Momma's favorite trait, as she rolls her eyes while I tell her this. Patience is one of the fruits of the spirit found in Galatians. It doesn't mean you get everything you want, but it has to do more with your attitude that it does what's going on outside of you in the world. You are going to need to grow more patience, with brother, sister and a baby on the way. You are now going to be older and more mature with more responsibilities. Patience is something that we all struggle with on a daily basis. It's not something you have overnight. It takes work and commitment, and a mind set of not just patience but understanding. I know sometimes not being the oldest or youngest, but basically being the middle child you must learn patience. First with your older brother who always wants to be in charge, but also with your younger sister who doesn't always understand.
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Ruth, we love you, and we can't wait to start another year with school and see you learn to read and write and do many more things. Whether it's being a bigger sister, or learning to swim, things tend to change on a weekly basis around here.
We love you, Monkey,
Daddy
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