Happy 4th birthday Haju
Hi Haju!
What a year it has been for you! You transitioned from daycare to kindergarten, which meant you made new friends with new teachers at a new place. Your mom now spends more time at her office after her maternity leave, and you are getting less mommy time. You joined the church’s youth group, and attending church means a bit more than sitting next to us with toys. Your younger brother also has grown up so much that he can be super annoying at times. Regardless, you have been a kind and warm brother.
Haju! I couldn’t be happier how you have adjusted thus far in the midst of all changes.
Speaking of changes, you are expected to do many more things on your own with less supervision at the kindergarten. Now, you have to share two teachers with 20 classmates. Quite a change from daycare! Isn’t it? The teachers likely expect you to adhere to rules more rigidly because, otherwise, they can not function as teachers.
These classroom rules (or constraints) are essential and vital for thriving relationships with your friends and teachers.
You are getting a glimpse of what life is going to be once you have a greater autonomy of your life. Although you are free, you are still bounded by relationships and rules. And you will be judged by how well you can stay within the confines of these societal boundaries. It is scary for me to articulate that you, born only four years ago, may experience stress and strain of the adult world. But there is also a far greater joy as you freely prescribe to these constraints because you cherish relationships that these rules enrich. And I freely accept many constraints that come with nurturing you because I love you a ton. I have a great great joy fostering you.
Now that you spend much more time away from us than you used to, I have less visibility of your day-to-day life, some details of your life are not as easily accessible as they once were. I still don’t know the majority of your friends at the kindergarten.
As you charter your own life with diminishing supervision from us, I want you to know that almighty God loves you unconditionally, and your momma and papa are trying to do the same. My hope is that you get to expect the sweet joy of loving someone else freely.
