Learning to Write

It's been an exciting month for Savannah as she has really started to recognize her letters and attempt to write them in earnest! I must admit, I have been a little concerned because she seems to have taken longer than all my other kids to get to this point. I am quite relieved that she has figured it all out prior to our upcoming kindergarten registration day!

I first realized she was progressing when I received a note slipped under my door that read "MOMCOMEOUT" (spacing and punctuation always seem to lag a bit). Samuel had apparently helped her by telling her what letters to write.

Shortly thereafter she asked me to help her compose this note to her dad.....

It says "I saw a beak and guts"

We had been out in the yard that morning and she noticed the remains of a cat's encounter with a very unlucky bird. She was so excited about what she had seen that she wanted to write it in a note and pass it under the bathroom door to her dad while he was taking a shower.

Then there was the note that lovingly spelled out my name in giant letters laid across my bedroom floor one day. Hey, I like being MOMY! (Or was that YMOM?)

But I have to say, the true test of my motherhood came when I stumbled across this carving in my nice living room end table.......

Notice the sideways S; it totally gives away its penman. You see, I have a little girl whose name starts with an S. Try as she might, she cannot seem to get it to go upright! She will yell at it and get mad, but no amount of ranting can make her S go the right way!

I realized I have evolved as a mother when I caught myself getting misty-eyed and thinking "This is my last sideways S.....this is the last time I will have a child carving in my furniture." After watching five kids learn to write, I am just now realizing there are certain stages kids go through as they develop in the writing process. One of those stages seems to be that they write on EVERYTHING! And inevitably, the word that they write first is THEIR OWN NAME! I have names scribbled in marker on walls and books, carved into wooden furniture and stair railings, and written in pen on clothing. I really tried, but I couldn't conjure up even a little bit of anger with my little one. I called Chris in and we laughed about it together, then tried to put on our stern faces so we could properly reprimand her. After a stern reminder that we write on paper, Savannah settled herself down at the table with a supply of paper and crayons. We can't wait to see what she comes up with next!