Faux parental pride

I can't believe I'm about to do this, given that I don't have kids and therefore shouldn't be bragging about cute kids on my blog, but oh my god I just got the cutest and simultaneously weirdest-feeling email in the world and I feel the need to share.

The email is from my littlest French host brother, Emilien. The reason that it felt so weird to me is because this is the first time he's ever written to me. He was two when I lived there, and still wearing diapers. He was so little that he didn't understand that I wasn't really his sister. He's now eight years old and apparently he can write emails like a grown up person. The email that he sent read,

hello,Jess je fais du foot et je suis défenseur de milieu mon copain Corentin dit qu'on est une équipe de poubelle!!!!

je fais du piano avec François et je travaille très très bien j'ai une chatte

C'est bientot NOEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bonne nuit je vais au lit


For the non-French speakers, allow me to (loosely) translate:

"Hello Jess [you probably understood that part given that he wrote it in English], I'm on the soccer team and I'm a middle defender [not sure if this means midfielder or what] my friend Corentin says our team is garbage!!!!

I'm taking piano lessons with François and I'm doing really, really good work. I have a cat.

It's almost CHRISTMAS!!!! [some exclamation points omitted]

Good night I'm going to bed."

Plus, of course, the amazing illustrations. Holy god is it weird to hear from him and know that he wrote the email himself rather than dictating to his parents. I'm still used to receiving adorable but indecipherable crayon-drawn pictures from him with backwards capital letters laboriously printed across the top.

I know it's tough to watch kids grow up, but when you see them once every couple of years, it's completely unimaginable! Still, the email is adorable. Or am I the only one who thinks so?