Letters

I need to preface this post by saying that I have the BEST firstborn child EVER! Sure he's a little whiny, a little anxiety-riddled, and overly cautious, but those traits could never overshadow all the awesome things about him.
He's responsible, honest to a fault (even when it gets him in trouble), protective of Noah and Josie (he's especially good at protecting Josie from Noah), funny, sweet, extremely friendly, outgoing, imaginitive, smart as a whip, obedient (a trait that I appreciate more and more the older he gets), easily forgiving, gentle (he's SO good with little kids - they all just ADORE him), equal opportunity (he'll be friends and play with ANYONE - age, race, gender, etc. don't matter to him), and endlessly loving.

I could literally go on and on about all the great things about him, but these are a few of his best quality traits. I love him so much and am grateful everyday that he's my son. All of us (me, Noah, and Jo) all get so excited to see him when he comes home from school. He brings such a happy spirit into our home and we all feel it the second he bounces in the door.

On to the story. A few nights ago I was upstairs feeding Josie when Clayton called me to come downstairs. I went down and found him and Noah sitting on the couch looking very somber. I asked what they wanted and Clayton told me that he broke the ceiling. 'What?' I asked. He took me into the guest room and showed me where one of the ceiling tiles had fallen down. He confessed that he'd done that and he was 'really REALLY sorry'. (BTW - he's such an honest kid, he totally could have blamed Noah and I'd have believed it). I could tell by the look on his face that he really was sorry (and the look on Noah's face suggested that he had 'sympathy sorrow'). I told him that I was very disappointed but that I appreciated that he told me right away. I then told him that his punishment was going to be telling Daddy what happened when he got home. This crushed Clayton. He idolizes Justin and I could just imagine how upsetting it was for him to think about telling Justin what he'd done. So I suggested that he write Justin an apology note and put in on the garage door so that he'd see it when he came home. This perked Clayton right up and so this is what Justin found when he came home from work that day:
Allow me to translate:
Dear Dad,
I'm sorry for breaking the roof.
Love,
Clayton

A few hours later I headed to the store. When I came back I found something for ME on the garage door:
Again, translation:
Dear Mom,
I'm sorry for dumping your books.
Love,
Clayton

I chuckled to myself (the books he'd dumped were a couple of Justin's old textbooks that sit abandoned on a low shelf in the basement) and turned to Justin. I showed him the letter and asked if it was Clayton's idea to write it. Justin good-naturedly rolled his eyes and as he explained to me that it was, in fact, Clayton's idea to write my apology note he handed me one more:
One more translation:
Dear Noah,
I'm sorry for unstapeling the bed.
Love,
Clayton

I've created an apology note monster (and I love it)!! I'll end this post with one more letter:
Dear Clayton,
I love you so much. You make me smile every day. I can't imagine a better oldest kid. Noah and Josie are so lucky to have you as a big brother. Dad and I are so lucky to have you as our son. I feel so blessed because I get to be your mother. I'm sorry if some days I fail to make you feel as special as you deserve to feel every minute of your life. You light up my days!
Love,
Mom