Mama's Helper

Dear Mackenzie,

I was doing laundry last week when you came up behind me and said, "Mama, I do the laundry. I do the laundry for you so you don't have to and you can take a break."

Then today, I was unpacking the groceries and without me even having to ask you, you went over to the bags and started handing me things. You even managed to pick up the half-gallon cartons of milk and give them to me! Your arms were shaking and you almost dropped them but you used all of your muscles and picked them up! Thank you always for being so incredibly helpful!

Love,

Mom

Early Bird

Dear Mackenzie,

You woke up at 5am today crying about being thirsty. I gave you water and thought you'd go back to sleep after you drank it but no, you asked me, "Can you change me [out of my overnight diaper]?" I said that it was really early and that it was still dark out and when I asked you if you wanted to go back to sleep, you replied, "No, I already sleep. I done." And that's why I am currently drinking my third cup of coffee today! (And you did go back to sleep at 8am and took a three-hour nap!)

Love,

Mom

Pig Tale

Dear Mackenzie,

You were playing with your Olivia stuffie this morning and I made the mistake of calling her Peppa. You looked at me and said, "She not Peppa! Her name is [slows down for emphasis] O-lib-eee-ahh. You call her the wrong name!" Hahaha! It was just so cute the way you corrected me!

You were also cute yesterday when you were telling me about the new girl who joined your class this semester. You said, "My new friend was crying. I hug her and I give her water." Thank you for being so kind!

Love,

Mom

Helping Hand

Dear Mackenzie,

The first word I would use to describe you would definitely be "independent." Your older siblings all like to be coddled a bit but you have always insisted on doing things by yourself. "I do it" is one of your most spoken sentences! But you are not above asking for assistance and say "I need help" when you can't do something on your own.

The second word I would use to describe you is "helpful." Whenever I am doing laundry or cooking, you ask, "Can I help you?" For the laundry, you always want to help me sort the socks, hang the wet laundry on the drying racks or deliver the folded clothes to your siblings. Today, you started helping me transfer the clothes from the dryer (I take them out of the dryer and hand them to you and then you drop them into the laundry basket) and then helping me carry the basket back to my room. You looked so happy and excited when you were helping me carry the basket. And you are always eager to help turn off the lights when we leave a room, hand me a towel after I wash my hands, give me the toothpaste or rinse cup when we brush your teeth, clothes a drawer after I take something out of it, carry the bag when we buy something from a store, give me my purse when we're leaving a restaurant or someone's house . . . Thank you for always being such a good assistant!

Love,

Mom

Hot Ones

Dear Mackenzie,

Cute/funny things you said recently:

Me: What do you need?

You: I need Mama!

-Your teacher often directs Alexa to play songs for your class in school and you were clearly channeling your teacher when you were sitting in my room playing one day and I heard you say, "Hey Alexa! Play 'Hello Reindeer.' Alexa! Play Christmas songs!"

-You remember the most random things sometimes. Months ago, you cut your finger on the foil lid of a yogurt container and you weren't even eating yogurt yesterday when we were in the kitchen and you brought it up: "Mama, remember when I open the yogurt and I cut my finger and you gave me a Baby Shark Band-Aid? Which finger was it? The pinky or da dumb?"

-I have a t-shirt that features four iconic 80s cartoon characters: Rainbow Brite, Strawberry Shortcake, Jem and She-Ra. When you were looking at my shirt yesterday, you pointed to each character and said, "You like da one with the rainbow, JieJie likes da one with the straw-bee, I like da one with the star earrings and Daddy likes Hot Girl." Hot Girl?? Huh? Ohhhhh, She-Ra kind of resembles Hawkgirl from your DC Super Hero Girls book. Hahahaha!

Love,

Mom