Dear Diary
Report cards came out last Friday and my son is brilliant. Brilliant, of course being a subjective mom's interpretation of grades that run all over the place. Our town has this incomprehensible grading system of B, P, M, and E. B=beginning a skill, P=progressing on a skill, M=meeting expectations, E=exceeding expectations. Doodles had a healthy mix of Ps, Ms, and Es. Brilliant, right?
Anyway, I didn't need a report card to tell me that the area Doodles needs to work the most in is his writing. But of course writing is the subject he likes least and the one he is most reluctant to practice.
Except on Friday, I had a brainstorm. A genius idea! I dug into the attic and found, from 1976 to 1978, my diary. With Strawberry Shortcake on the cover and a lock on the outside. And I read Doodles a few pages. The one that made him the happiest was this one:
(And I cringe reading this. How, at the ripe old age of 9 1/2, did I not know the difference between "loose" and "lose"? I blame my parents.)
Doodles needed a diary. Can I tell you how hard it is to find a locking diary that isn't adorned in Hello Kitty or flowers or fairies? I thought I found a really cool one, but the price was, um, off putting. But I did find one that wasn't great, but wasn't "girly."
The boy is addicted. Every few hours he jumps up and yells, "I need to go write something in my diary!" I'm dying to peer into his journal, but I respect his privacy. And, the fact is, I really don't care what he writes. I just care how he writes. I want to know he's spelling because and not becos, that he's using capitals at the beginning of the sentence and punctuation at the end. I do, at least, know he's writing neatly. As he sat down, I reminded him, "Now, you need to write well enough that your grown-up self will be able to read your handwriting," and as I saw him go, he was making beautiful well-formed letters. So that's half the battle. I plan on going at some point today to buy him a copy of Harriet the Spy. I think that will help to fan the flames.
And who knows? In thirty-five years, perhaps in his blog, he'll scan in a page from his diary to show what he was up to as a kid. I just hope he spells "lose," right.
Anyway, I didn't need a report card to tell me that the area Doodles needs to work the most in is his writing. But of course writing is the subject he likes least and the one he is most reluctant to practice.
Except on Friday, I had a brainstorm. A genius idea! I dug into the attic and found, from 1976 to 1978, my diary. With Strawberry Shortcake on the cover and a lock on the outside. And I read Doodles a few pages. The one that made him the happiest was this one:
(And I cringe reading this. How, at the ripe old age of 9 1/2, did I not know the difference between "loose" and "lose"? I blame my parents.)
Doodles needed a diary. Can I tell you how hard it is to find a locking diary that isn't adorned in Hello Kitty or flowers or fairies? I thought I found a really cool one, but the price was, um, off putting. But I did find one that wasn't great, but wasn't "girly."
The boy is addicted. Every few hours he jumps up and yells, "I need to go write something in my diary!" I'm dying to peer into his journal, but I respect his privacy. And, the fact is, I really don't care what he writes. I just care how he writes. I want to know he's spelling because and not becos, that he's using capitals at the beginning of the sentence and punctuation at the end. I do, at least, know he's writing neatly. As he sat down, I reminded him, "Now, you need to write well enough that your grown-up self will be able to read your handwriting," and as I saw him go, he was making beautiful well-formed letters. So that's half the battle. I plan on going at some point today to buy him a copy of Harriet the Spy. I think that will help to fan the flames.
And who knows? In thirty-five years, perhaps in his blog, he'll scan in a page from his diary to show what he was up to as a kid. I just hope he spells "lose," right.
1 Comments:
That is hilarious and genious! Scan more!
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