Another round

Earlier this week we received another round of correspondence from the children's birth family inclusive of Christmas cards.

The envelope contained another 2 short but lovely letters both thanking us for our letters and the artwork that we include. I almost feel a little guilty that we can't include photos and so I am trying to show how they are progressing with the hand prints, drawings, paintings and writing. What I have noticed is the start of a repetitive pattern. My letters are no better. I write twice a year. My March letter is all the September term, Christmas and the New Year following by one birthday. My September letter covers Easter, the summer and the other birthday. I do try and add as much detail as possible - what they are doing, what they enjoy and any where that they have been. What I don't include is anything about wider family - I am not sure why. Maybe because I don't want to cause any upset by talking about the family that they have which must serve as a reminder that they are no longer a part of life for their birth families. But, on the other hand, I am sure the letters do that on their own.
What has made me a little sad is that we seem to have stopped getting one of the three letters that we agreed to - oldest's birthday father has not written again. I know that I will have to explain this to him in the future, these letters are his and when he wants them he can read them and I will talk to him about them. I am not sure how he will feel about the fact that there is only a single letter from his birth father. I plan to continue writing for a little while, to prove that I made the effort for my son's sake, but eventually I will stop. I can't continue writing letters that get no response.