Dearest Beloveds,

This story has echoes of "when I was your age we walked to school uphill both ways in the snow," but that can't be helped. I want to share this story with you because maybe it will make you feel that sense of time and change that I felt with Aunt Louisa told me that when she was a child there was an actual cow, named Betsy, who lived in the CowBarn.

A cow slept in the building where your father and I spent our honeymoon.

Dearest Beloveds,

I now understand why Tia and I both had the same pogo stick, the same jumping ball, the same wooden flipping ball toy (which I still have for both for you).

Dearest Beloveds,

Your Momma has always been a bit of a snob about being raised in Washington DC. Not outside the Beltway, not for me. Capitol Hill, thank you very much. (Such a fun ego surge as I write that.)

And now we are raising you two children in the country.

Dearest Beloveds,

We seem to be hitting a lot of milestones this month. Dragon, you are no longer Dragon of the hair. You are now a lean mean streamlined Dragon with shorn hair - ready for business. About two months ago this conversation happened at breakfast.

“Time to brush hair!”

Dearest Beloveds,

I have recently been reminded, thank you again Amma’s Circle of Love Letters, about the myriad faces of faith. I feel like I spent many years thinking that faith and surrender were intellectually weak and hokey. Boy was I wrong. They are difficult to intellectually rationalize and not easily grasped by the thinking mind - but that is not a strike against them (as I thought at one point).

My dearest Beloveds,

Dragon, you reminded me this week of a consistent pairing that happens with parenthood. The trace bit of sadness and heartache that accompanies the excitement, thrill and pride when you master a new skill - the both and of life. In this instance you told me that you no longer want me to sit with you when you go potty.

Dearest Beloveds,

Your Momma has learned a very important lesson this month. Again. I am sure I have learned this lesson before, but this month I seem to be getting a really heavy dose of learning on this. Here is the lesson.

Make room in your life always for unforeseen obligations. Try not to be so busy that you don’t have space for the unexpected.

Hello my beloveds,

We have settled into our routine of school time from 8-10, then playing and summer doings the rest of the day. We have breakfast, then dishes, then the Dragon plays while the Bean and I focus on learnings. One of the joys of homeschooling is that you can teach in July and take October off and you can also teach cursive.