The List

Dear Max,

When we found out we were going to be parents your Dad and I made a list of the things that we wanted to instill in our children. I wanted a list (trust me, this wasn’t your Dad’s idea) in order to keep us focused on what is most important to us and our family. Plus, I really love making lists.

I guess it’s kind of funny that we have bullet points on the way we intend to raise you, but I think it will keep us grounded as we plot the course of growing together as a family. On days when we might be stressed or other outside influences cloud our view of any given situation we can think back to the list to be sure we’re staying on track when it comes to the choices we make. The list just contains general ideas on what we hope to pass along to you. Most of the ideas are very simple things about encouraging you to be curious and to have a desire to see the world and teaching you to give to others that don’t have as much as you. Some are going to take fortitude on our end…like telling you the truth when you ask tough questions and letting you stumble now and then so you learn how to pick yourself up. Others are funny… #12 on the list is something about letting you eat dirt on occasion. Just wanted to let you know that we take raising you seriously and not too seriously at the same time. I guess there’s no exact formula to raising a brilliant, well-rounded, thoughtful, happy kid, but we’ll do our best. Hopefully we’ll come up with a more detailed plan later, but the list is all we’ve got so far.

My whole heart,
Momma

We took you to Operation Breakthrough to donate a couple of your old toys after Christmas. We wanted to start a tradition of giving back at young age (#7 on the list). You won't remember this day, but we hope it is laying a good foundation for you in the future. Plus, we've been practicing how to share and you've recently grasped the concept of handing something to me when I say "May I have it?", so this was a good opportunity for you to practice your new skills in the real world :)

Max wanted to hold onto the bag the entire car ride.

He's thinking "wait...there's some good stuff in here"

But we assured him that there were many other kids that would be so happy that he shared.