Dear Monkey and Half-Pint,
When you first started learning to read you struggled. You didn't want to try... it was hard. Other kids were doing better then you. It was confusing. You tried. You failed. You gave up. But I encouraged you to try again. And again. And that first piece of the puzzle clicked into place, and then another, and another. Now you read above your grade level and love it.
The same with learning a bike... It's hard when it's new to balance, to peddle and to steer all at once. It was scary. You didn't like it when I took off your training wheels... but when you decided that it was time you did it. You fell. You scraped your knee. You got up and did it again, and again, and in two days you where riding down the block like a pro.
Learning to swim was scary... Yet once your heart was in it you were determined and you learned how so fast it amazed everyone!
You may never be the fastest reader, the best biker, or a great swimmer... Let go of perfection. You won't get it perfect the first time. Or the second. Or the twenty second. The road to success doesn't start with perfection.... Hard work and perseverance are the only way to get there.
In the meantime you will stumble.
You will take falls.
We will earn a few scars.
You will see others pass you by.
But those scars will add character and charm.
You will gain wisdom.
You will become stronger.
I'll be there cheering for you as travel down that road - mistakes, imperfections and all! Because you will always be perfect in my eyes.
Love,
Mom
Please check out more 'letters to our sons'! Next in the blog chain is The Brooklyn Pattons.