to my son on his seventh birthday

Gatsby, GB, Geebs, Gilbert, Geebo:

You started your 6th year in quarantine and you’re starting your 7th in a new world. We know your beloved Dukie is celebrating you along with us today.

This past year we spent *a lot* of time together as we struggled through—then accepted—then despised—then mastered remote learning. Somehow, despite having me as your “teacher,” you have made huge academic leaps this year: your phonics and reading are impressive and you have a mind for math, (somehow) finding addition fun. You often ask us to add ridiculously large numbers together and then I tell you to ask Google.

All that time together allowed us to learn a lot about you this year.

You became obsessed with the Titanic, after an early-pandemic viewing that was mostly aimed at your sister but really resonated with you. As someone who saw the film 7 times in theaters in high school, I could relate… though now you know really intricate details like how many dogs were on board (12. Three survived).

You also have taken an interest in actors and have an uncanny ability to recognize voices and to say, “Hey! That’s the guy from X!” You also want to know how old everyone is and how much money they have (Tom Holland is 24 and his net worth is $15 million). Our Google Home gets quite a workout from you and your questions.

Your artistic talent really blossomed this year. Like, you are legitimately talented; I don’t even have to be nice and pretend because I’m your mom. In the past, someone would see a drawing of yours and say, “Do you want to be an artist when you grow up?” You would correct them and say, “I AM an artist.”

Now that you’re back in school, you impress your classmates daily with your drawings. You’ve even started taking commissions. Your best friends are James and Jo-Jo, our twin next-door neighbors who are also at the Academy.

You became very concerned about your fitness this year. You learned to ride a bike all by yourself; you participated in Kids’ CrossFit; you started “lifting weights.” I’ll be honest, your biceps are a little bigger.

You became a brief TikTok star with some silly videos you did while wearing your Spider-Man mask (one video of you going down a slide was watched 65,000 times).

You’ve lost two teeth but “don’t want to deal with the Tooth Fairy” (thank you because I rarely have cash.)

You and Brutus have become great buds this year. You and your sister annoy each other incessantly.

You are sweet, curious and sensitive; very in tune with others’ emotions (especially mine). You’re funny but you know it and sometimes you try too hard. You are such a special kid and we are so lucky to have you in our lives. Happy Birthday.