Yay! My very reluctant writer got inspiration to do some writing practice!

This post shall be short and sweet.  This past week, a horrific stomach bug rampaged through our family.  During his time on the couch, Monkey felt inspired to share his woe with cousin Christy and friend Paul.  I was just thrilled that he was interested in doing some writing practice.

"Dear Christy, I am very sick.  I puked seven times.  Love, M."

"Dear Paul, I am very very sick.  I puked seven times.  Love, M."

Dear Santa...

Today I helped Monkeyman write his first letter to Santa.  He dictated and I wrote:

"Dear Santa,

I want a scooter, and I need a helmet and knee pads for it.  And I want a drum set.  Oh, and I want a dirtbike Wii game too.  I want a guitar.  I want my drum set to have cymbals.  Let me think some more.  I'm thinking about having a pet, like a little dog.  I can like Noodle and another dog too.  I want him to be white and brown and red and yellow.  And green.  I want a toy clock that's blue & yellow, with buttons on it.  I want it to be a cuckoo clock with a goose in it.  I want a new toy train to go on the train table on the porch.  A new hat that is red and yellow and blue.  You should give me all these things because I like you, and I like toys.  Also, I'd like my scooter to be red and yellow and blue and green.  So whenever we go to a park, I can have a scooter to ride on.  Also a toy computer with a whole bunch of games on it, with Legos on it.  Also a Lego forest with a whole bunch of guys that swing around on some ropes.  I think that's all.  Thank you.

Love,
Monkeyman

PS.  My Mommy wrote this for me but I told her what to write.

PPS.  Bug would like a toy piano, that's red yellow green blue indigo and violet and orange."

 
This was exciting to me because it's kind of his first "writing exercise" and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing what he came up with.  I did try a few times to gently steer him away from all the "I wants" but he wasn't having any part of it, he just had to get his thoughts out.  (Ah well, he's five.  Maybe a bit more decorum next year?)  I think I'm going to come up with some prompts and have him dictate some stories for me, until he learns how to write fluently himself.  I've read about others using this method, and after this exercise, he seems to be ready for it.  It was fun for both of us, and he seemed quite pleased with himself for "writing" that whole long letter.  When he decided he was done, he signed his name and we put it into an envelope which he then "addressed."  I wanted to save it forever, but he is intent on giving it to the mailman tomorrow.  (I did scan it so I have a copy at least.)  Monkeyman was planning on standing out front and holding his hand up *makes a STOP gesture* to get the mailman to stop and take his letter.  However, I assured him that just sticking it in the mailbox and putting the flag up will get the job done just as well.  Gotta love the magic of Christmas!**


**Yes, I know I'm an Atheist, but I have to agree wholeheartedly with Leanna's recent post at Life on the Hill - I have always loved Christmas and I will always celebrate it.  I love sending cards, baking cookies, putting up the tree, decorating the house, driving around looking at Christmas lights, spending time with the people who matter most to me, and finding ways to show my appreciation and love for them.  I don't need to be a Christian to do any of that stuff.  Also, although it may seem like a contradiction to let my kids believe in Santa - it is only a temporary belief.  I think a little bit of magic is okay in childhood.  Some of my fondest early memories involve the wonder of Christmas and I don't think I ever felt damaged by eventually finding out the truth.  Actually, I think that realization may have played a part in helping me realize that certain other things weren't real either - much, much farther down the road...

My favorite Mother's Day gift, or: What?! Max can write?!

My favorite Mother's Day gift wasn't an actual gift, or even the card, but the envelope that the card came in:


This is the first word my son has ever written! And I didn't even know he could do this! I have encouraged him to try writing letters, and I have various letter tracing workbooks and dry-erase things I have offered him, but he didn't really show much interest so I put them away for the time being and planned to try again later. This morning he handed me my card and I just stared at those three letters in amazement. I asked him if he did this all by himself and he said yes, and Daddy confirmed that he did not help Max write it. Then, inside the card:


He signed his own name too! (Daddy signed Emmett's name for him.) Finally, because of my praise & excitement, he wanted to "draw more letters" so I gave him some paper and he sat down to write. I left the room to get ready for our traditional Mother's Day brunch with my in-laws, and I came back a few minutes later to inspect his progress. He had written "Mom" and "Max" again, and then showed me this, saying, "Look, I wrote Emmett!"


"EMET." Not a bad first attempt, both at writing the letters E and T, but at attempting to spell his brother's name. All by himself. Dad wasn't even in the room with him either. We were both floored.

Now here's a little confession. I do have occasional moments, where my confidence wavers just the tiniest bit, and I wonder to myself, can I really do this? Am I organized enough, self-motivated enough, clever enough to educate my kids? And then crazy awesome moments like these happen, where the kid just knows stuff - new stuff - that he has seemingly plucked out of thin air. And I realize that I doing just fine, and that I couldn't keep him from learning if I tried.



Here we are at breakfast this morning. Emmett was thoroughly amused with his spoon - it was either take the pic with the spoon in his mouth, or of him screaming if we took it away... so we went with the first option. This is an exceedingly rare photo, with all four of us in it at the same time... I think this makes a grand total of three in existence. I really need to get around to doing a family portrait one of these days.

Anyways, to all of you amazing Mamas out there - HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! YOU ROCK! :)