6 years + 10 months = 82 months

Dear ChellBell, today you are 6 years and 10 months old. And tomorrow you will finish the first grade.

What a week.

When I was six, leaving Mrs. Betterton's first grade class, I knew how to write with a pencil on a big chief pad; how to add; how to spell short words like hen, made, and boat ("when two vowels go a-walkin' the first one does the talkin'); that I was going to marry Donny Osmond; that a trip to McDonald's was a special treat; and that it was definitely time for a summer break.

Leaving Mrs. Martin's first grade class, you know that sharpies are your "preference" for writing; how to multiply; how to spell courageous and what that means; how to download songs onto an MP3 player; how to google information on your computer; that you would like David Cook to be your boyfriend; how to solve one side of the Rubik cube; which fast food place has the best toy this week; and that it is definitely time for a summer break.

It's amazing to see how much more you know at the ripe age of six. A lot of grown-ups wonder if kids nowdays are growing up too fast. I just think the world is moving faster, so we can't set your grow-up milestones at the same place and pace that we had at your age.

But some things are the same. You tattle. You cry when you don't get your way. You don't like bed time and always ask for a glass of water or have a sudden fear of the dark. You don't like to get up in the mornings. You like sugar more than vegetables. All those things that I did at six.

And we both know when it's time for a summer break.

People say that time moves faster the older you get. This year has definitely flown by, almost in a blur. I see all the ways you have changed and grown in these past 10 months known as The First Grade. I blinked and you learned how to read chapter books, count by 3s, and keep a journal. You weighed over 50 pounds and lost a tooth.

It would be easy to want to keep you as this six year old in the first grade, starting to test the water of life with your big toe, but still holding on to your Mama's hand, because you're just not sure about jumping in. But there's an amazing world out there for you to get to know. Not too fast. I don't want to rush it. But I don't want you to miss it.

Love you, ChellBell. With all my heart. Through thick and thin and everything in between.

(What time is it? Summer time!)