Dear Freddy,
As I hugged and kissed you goodnight last night, I savored it being the last time I'd do it to a 13 year old you. Since you're way bigger than me, I have to stand on my tippy toes to hug and kiss you which gets a little awkward. What isn't awkward is that you aren't embarrassed to say you love me when you leave each morning and your friend is standing right there. You make sure to tell me you love me every time you leave the house to go ride your bike and you text me every time you're on your way home so I know when to expect you.
That's right...you finally got a phone. You were convinced you wouldn't get one until you turned 18 and moved out. But when it came to Christmas last year, all you wanted was a Super 73 or $500 shoes. Neither one was going to happen. So Daddy and I pulled the trigger and decided it was time. The look on your face when you saw it next to the Christmas tree was priceless. For a second, it felt like you thought it was a joke. Its main purpose is for you to be able to communicate with Daddy or me while at school or out with friends. When you're with the family, we prefer you not be on it. You've fought back a little bit with the rules but for the most part, you've gone along with it. You much prefer to just listen to your music or play Pixel Gun.
I was a little worried once you got the phone, that's all you'd want to focus on. I've heard stories about kids that spend all of their free time in their bedroom on their phone. You still prefer to be outside riding your bike at one of the various dirt jumps we have around here. You sent me a video the other day of you doing some jumps and they were so high! I was 1) glad I wasn't there to see you in person because I'd probably tell you not to do it and 2) glad I wasn't there so you were brave enough to do it. You get so excited to come home and tell me about the jumps and berms you build. You ride with Jackson and Bryce the most, and sometimes Jacob and Riley. You get nervous that someone is going to call the cops on you guys for building the jumps, especially now that the police department has SxS vehicles to patrol the open areas. Thankfully you're all good kids and people tend to let you be (except our former neighbor who laid into you guys one day).
School is not your favorite thing and you'd much prefer to be with friends riding bikes. Unfortunately, the C Boys on YouTube have not been the best influence (they're a group of friends that get to have fun all day). We had to bring you back down to reality a couple months ago, letting you know what you see on YouTube is not always reality. But you're not convinced you'll use anything you're currently learning at school in your adult life so it's a waste of time. We reiterated that you don't need to go to college and get a degree to be successful. The most important thing is that an effort be made, no matter what you do. And that starts now. Whether that's buttering your bread, folding clothes, pitching a baseball, signing your signature, completing a book report. As long as your best effort was made, we'll be grateful you tried.
Baseball starts up again soon with tryouts being next week. You'll still be in Juniors and are hoping to be on your friend's team (his dad is coaching). You and Arturo met at school and have become good friends. You both got almost the exact same Christmas presents and share a lot of the same interests. You pitched a lot during fall ball and take pride in being the only one who was able to strike Arturo out. First base is still your number one choice but you also like playing shortstop. The outfield is a struggle for you because you get distracted easily. A loud car goes by and it's all over.
The same thing happened as you umpired for spring ball last year. You loved the opportunity to earn money and you got your own bank account with a debit card. Lots of trips were made to the grocery store for Arizonas and Little Caesars. Your money definitely burns a hole in your pocket. Every day you would show me a new pair of shoes you wanted. Thankfully, I didn't let you buy any of them because I knew your preference would change within 24 hours. You also had a hankering for Ethika underwear. The trend last year for teenage boys was to have short shorts so the bottom of the Ethikas would show. You tried your darndest to let yours show but I threatened to have the bottom of my underwear hang out of my shorts to match you.
You are somewhat influenced by trends but you also march to the beat of your own drum. You cut a mullet right before 8th grade started. That was an adjustment for everyone! You like to wear Rhone because nobody else wears it. We've tried to instill in you that we don't care what anyone else thinks (this was repeated constantly when you thought you were the only student at your school without a phone). While you are confident in who you are, you are still a teenage boy and don't want to be labeled as weird. But a lot of people look up to you and several kids have recently gotten the North Face slippers after you wore them to school (everyone else seems to wear Uggs).
Speaking of not caring what others think, you've started going roller skating with Doodlebug and me. You put your earbuds in, listen to your music, and zone out. I appreciate that a now 14 year old boy intentionally chooses to go roller skating with his mom and younger brother every Thursday night. There aren't a lot of other boys there your age but that doesn't deter you. I know baseball will hinder our time skating in the next few weeks so I'm soaking the moments up while I can.
You eat dry cereal for breakfast every morning unless we have doughnuts. For lunch, you eat salami & crackers. You inhale Taco Bell which gives you heartburn. McDonalds is also inhaled but doesn't impact you the same way. Daddy has to remind you to slow down often, the food's not going anywhere. You wear a size 11.5 shoe and M adult clothing. You love cars and I'm always amazed by how much you know. You and Daddy were talking last week about fixing up the Falcon so it's ready to drive by the time you're 16. You think you'll be a good driver because you know how to drive the golf cart at Emily & Dustin's. But after riding on Uncle Tommy's 4-wheeler with you, I'm grateful you have two more years to fine tune your skills. You kindly pick Doodlebug up from school every day it's not raining. You look up to Uncle Johnny and would go to Utah for every vacation if you could. When we're in Utah, you insist we go to Brick Oven Pizza even though we've all decided it's not the best pizza. You love Sprite so you can mix other drinks with it. You earned a fake Stanley cup in your school's fundraiser a couple of months ago and you're always drinking water. You take a piece of my gum every Sunday after Sacrament meeting. Whenever you're sitting on the couch, you have to have Lucifer and a blanket with you. You sleep without a sheet on your mattress no matter how many times we try to put it back on. And you have to have a fan blowing on you. You've improved your mile dramatically in middle school. I believe you're at about 6:42 with a goal of getting down to 6:30 before the end of the year. You have a tiny mustache that random people call you out on. You refuse to shave it. All of your teachers love you and commend you for being a good kid.
You are a good kid. In fact, you're a great kid. I'm so grateful you joined our family 14 years ago and we get to be with you forever. Daddy and I were snuggling the other night and you said, "Well, looks like we're all snuggling!" and you hopped on the dog pile. While you are definitely growing up, I still get tiny glimpses of little Freddy. It's fun to see both versions of you. I can't wait to see what 14 year old you gets to accomplish this year. So much, I hope!
Love you tons,
Mommy
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