Love letters to my family

Dear Seeger - While I was away on business, I called you, your dad, and your brother to check in and see how things were going. (And obviously find out how much you all missed me.) It's not cool that after talking to me for two minutes, you interrupted me by saying, "I don't want to talk to you anymore. Goodbye." It's even less cool that after handing the phone back to dad, you proceeded to walk around in circles. That's what you gave up talking to me for? I thought maybe you suddenly remembered you wanted to play with your trains or perhaps Spongebob was on tv or something. But nope, you just didn't want to talk to me.

I'm sure this was just a one time incident. Right? RIGHT?? You'll always make time to talk to your mom. Right?

(At least humor me every once in awhile, okay?)

Love,
Mom



Dear Nicklas - I love that you enjoy playing your Guitar Hero World Tour game. It's great fun and I understand this. I play too so you know I can appreciate your love of the game. But here's the thing. It's not okay to practice the vocals at 7am in the morning. Today, I was awoken to you belting out Beat It by Michael Jackson. Seven hours later and I still have the lyrics in my head.

You're an early riser. I get that. And you enjoy that time in the morning when everyone else is asleep and you have the house to yourself. I get this, too. But in the future, stick to the guitar if you're going to play World Tour before everyone else is awake.

Thank you and I love you.
Mom


Dear Freddie the Puppy - Unfortunately, you live in Indiana. This is where your parents have always lived. It's where you were born and it's where you'll be raised. Indiana often experiences dramatic climate shifts. We have definitive seasons which include days of rain, snow, sun, wind, ice, and heat. Get used to it. You WILL be expected to do your duty outside EVEN when the weather isn't to your liking. Don't worry, you won't be alone. One of us will help you through it. We love you.

(And no, we won't shovel the snowy grass for you.)

Love,
the woman who feeds you and plays with you and will always give you a treat when you potty outside



To my loving husband - Thank you for humoring me and learning to play Canasta. Thanks for the great time in Florida. Thanks for letting me choose the restaurant on Valentine's Day. Thanks for playing Boggle when it really isn't fun for you. Thanks for encouraging the Get Fit Challenge. (We both weigh the lowest we've been in ten years - yay us!) And I especially want to thank you for agreeing to install the garage door opener all by yourself instead of making me shell out $100 for installation. I'm sure you're cursing me right now (since as I write this, you've started this little home improvement project) but please know that I really, really appreciate it. (It will be nice to actually be able to use the remote openers instead of just the wall unit, right?) You rock!

Love,
Your very appreciative wife