Block Engineer

 My boy. Now you are well in to being 6 and growing as a person from day to day. You have started making better choices and your interactions become more thoughtful and more measured as you begin to understand some of the lessons me and your mother are teaching. 

But I don't want to talk about that right now. This post is about Lego!

You have now set up a permanent workshop in the corner of the front room, where the magic happens. It is a constant hive of creative activity and where you spend your time when no other pressing matters demand your attention. I find it calming to watch you tinkering away on your latest challenge, seeing you content in your concentration, the quiet before the storm of excitement when you complete the task you set yourself and want to share it with us all.

It is also where you run to whenever it is time for bed. As the hour for rest approaches there is always a pressing construction issue to be solved before we can initiate the nighttime routine. Come on, Daddy, Lego over resting, any day of the week,

And the things you build! You will see something you like, a plane, a bike, a robot, a star-wars ship, and you will ask me for an image on my phone, so you can "Check the details!" Then away you go to your "workstation" where you begin to pull apart previous creations, search frantically through piles of pieces, throwing out exclamations of frustration or requests for help to find or separate a piece. And then, within a short time, you present you artefact. And I am always amazed. Every time, the resemblance is palpable. I have never failed to see the inspiration in the completed masterpiece. A Blue Angel fighter jet plan, an imperial walker, an articulated lorry. 

A few days ago you noticed online that lego make mini x-wing toys. You disappeared off for half an hour and then returned with the beginnings of your version, but missing some vital pieces. You recruited me to the cause and I embarked on a through search of the various boxes of bricks, muttering, "I'm sure we have lots of those, I've seen them!" But to no avail, I failed you. The project was stumped. Leaving you to your crushing defeat I go about my day, failing you in moral support as I did in Engineering support. Ten minutes later, you bring me your solution. You have abandoned you first approach and come up with a better one.

You, Sir, are a master builder! 

Love you, buddy x

 

Mummy tiger and baby tiger

Mi pequeño Oliver,

Desde hace meses tú y yo tenemos este juego en el cual tú eres un bebé tigre y yo soy una mamá tigre o viceversa (la mayoría del tiempo). Te gusta ser quien juega a alimentar a su cachorro, lo proteje y juega con él. Jugamos este juego casi todos los días y es tu juego favorito entre cualquier otro juego.

Aunque yo tenga miles de cosas en mi cabeza y miles de cosas que quiera hacer; una vez que nos encganchamos en este juego lo disfruto mucho. Disfruto el tenerte cerca, tu carita de felicidad, las conversaciones que tenemos y tener este tiempo contigo, solo tú y yo.

Eres un niño hermoso, cariñoso y muy inteligente. Te queremos de aquí a la luna o más.

And then you were 5

I went to your school today, Earls Hall Primary, and watched as you beamed your way to the front of the assembly to pick up your Gold reading badge. One hundred entries in your reading journal. And it is well deserved, you are doing great in your quest to learn the joys of the written word. What I like most about it is that you enjoy it. You seem pleased when your reading goes well and it is often your enthusiasm that pushes us on to finish the book, not my insistence. Your grandmother, Nanny Denise, loved to read. She had about a thousand books in her house. I hope that you have inherited her love of reading, as it can be an inspirational thing to read a truly great piece of writing.

Some books I hope you read one day:

• Slowness
• Unbearable Lightness of Being
• The Master and Margarita
• Gormenghast 
• All and anything by Kurt Vonnegut
• etc etc ...

++++++++++++++++++++++

Recently I hear you talking to your younger brother and I hear your mother and I in your voice and your message. Of course, as with all siblings, you still have difficulty controlling your frustration at your brother's stubbornness. He is three, so he is a difficult human being. But you are getting better and better at managing him. Sometimes now, instead of shouting or pushing or arguing, you try to teach him. Or distract him. Or make him laugh. You both get up early in the morning and you set about making breakfast for you both. If Ollie gets distracted, you guide him. If he tries to wake us up, you explain to him the rule,

"Don't wake up Mummy, because then she will be tired. It isn't nice to wake up people when they are sleeping." And when that doesn't work, 

"Ollie, come and eat your breakfast, it will make you strong!" And a finally attempt, 

"Ollie, Knock Knock. Europe!"

So in general, your are becoming even more of a big brother than you have been. You are beginning to move on from confrontation to persuasion. You are growing.

I myself am having a hard time right now. I am having to learn how to share my life with a family. I am having to learn how to manage the stresses of work, a 4 hour commute, a marriage, two young kids and providing for a household. It is a set of tasks that so many in the world have to undertake, but, for some reason, I don't seem to be able to do it with a smile on my face. So I am working hard to be a better man and to be all I want to be for you, your brother and your mother. But know this. No matter what, it was never you. If I got frustrated, it was my fault. If I argued with you, I should have stopped. If I ever made you feel like I didn't adore you, I failed.

I love you very much and am proud of all that you are. The reader, the school boy, the brother, the artists, the ninja, the racing driver, the footballer, the constructor, the mathematician, the story teller, the dancer, the singer. You are Milan, the beloved, and I love you.