Sammy Beans at Four and a Half

Dear Sam,

I will try to keep this letter under a million words, but it will be very difficult. Because I feel as though I have so much things to say right now, so much things to say.

You're in Pre-K now at the same school as Abe, and things are going swimmingly. In fact, your teacher constantly tells me how great a helper you are, and that you love to follow rules. Yes. You. You love to follow rules. Apparently this is a new development in you, because before (as in, all of the time you were alive) you were not a fan of the rules. But, I will not complain. Double high fives for your good school skills.

You have also developed an affinity for all things crafty, and your favorite color is "all of them" or "rainbow." You have also been introduced to the wonders of pipe cleaners and you cannot. get. enough. You come home with no less than three pipe cleaner crafts per day. You have so many crafts/drawings/glitter/popsicle stick art that I have started throwing away the bulk of them. (I know, I am such a bad mom.) However the first time you saw one of your drawings in the trash you FLIPPED YOUR SHIT and demanded it be removed. So now, I have to hide them in the trash. It makes me feel shady, but you know, I cannot have a Drama Sam every night.




You are also very social, and seem to know EVERYone there -- even the older kids. You walk down the halls, fingerpointing, waving, and high-fiving. My favorite story to tell about you is one morning when we were walking up to your school, you saw one of your little friends walking with her dad. She was so cute with tiny little pigtails. As you got closer you shouted, "BEV-er-LEEEEEEE!" like some middle-aged man reuniting with an old flame in a divey bar. It was very, very funny.




One day we were eating dinner. That sentence sounds so nice and quaint that I wish that was all there was to that sentence. But it should be more like: One day we were eating dinner -- you in the kitchen with me, and Abe in the family room because both of you were acting so crazy and making each other laugh so hard, I was so tired of telling you to stop because I was sure one of you was going to choke on your food that I had to separate you. So, anyways, you were sitting next to me, and this is how the conversation went over some pasta:

SAM: (in the tone of a tiny Andrew Dice Clay) So, you know the five little turkeys?
ME: Ummm, yeah. I think. What about the five little turkeys?
SAM:  You know, they like, sit on a fence or something.
ME: Yes. That's it?
SAM: Yeah, like, they sat on a fence. And I think that's all that happened.

I would also like to note that you have been cast as Juan Diego in the Pre-K's skit of "Our Lady of Guadalupe." It is only one of three speaking parts, and even though Mary is the mother of God and all, I think Juan Diego may be the lead part. I am so excited about this, and ask you about it every night. You, on the other hand, don't seem as thrilled and never want to run lines with me.

But school is cool with you, and I catch you in the backseat sometimes practicing your letters in the air with your fingers. It is quite delightful.

You still want to sleep in my bed every night, but I tell you no. It's only a special occasion kind of thing on the weekends. But, you are much smarter than me because you end up in my bed five nights a week. You wake up every night to go to the bathroom and think that you have peed all over yourself and your bed is wet (at least that is what you tell me) so you climb on in with me. Last night you came into my room, looked at me and said, "My butt itches." And hopped into bed. Seriously. I cannot make this up.


You're my little buddy. Whenever I want to have dance parties you are ALWAYS DOWN. Whenever I want to watch a random Disney musical, you are there, man. You walk with a skip in your step, and you light  up a room. It's pretty hard for anyone not to smile when they are around you.

I love you my S-A-M, Sammy Beans.

Mama