I have to admit that I think Sophie’s pretty cool, but I worry all the time that you might not agree.

Like when she gets ahold of my phone and calls you (repeatedly) at 6 a.m., or gets ahold of your phone and fills it with self-portraits (like the one above), or when she comes to your house and nags you til you give her all your paint brushes and then doesn’t believe you the next time, when you insist that you don’t have any more paint brushes because she took them all. (Really, this happens all the time.)

I worry a lot that Sophie is overstaying her welcome at school — not so much that she’s bothering her classmates (she seems pretty cool on that front, at least that’s what I tell myself) but that she’s taking up a lot more than her share of adult time. Last week she lost her glasses at school and I winced at the thought of having to email the teacher to ask her to please look around the classroom again (and again).  I worry all the time that Sophie’s sucking her thumb then trying to hold someone’s hand. (Gross.) That’s a big fear.

And so you’ll understand why the note I got this afternoon from a friend, a dad whose kids go to the same school as Sophie, made me smile — and well up a little.  

Your amazing little daughter made my day this morning. She spotted me walking down the hall at school and shouted my name and asked me to walk her to class. Holding my hand tightly the whole way, she stopped to show me her tree painting and then wished me a nice day. I loved every second of it! Please tell her hi and thank you for me.

That made my day, I told my friend, adding that I hoped Sophie hadn’t held his hand with her thumb-sucking hand.

All dry, he assured me. All dry.