When my son was in preschool and kindergarten, he had absolutely no interest in learning. Period. All he wanted to do was play with “guys” (action figures).
The beginning of this year, his 1st grade year, has been a struggle as well. He was resistant, petulant and stubborn. Temper tantrums were constant, every morning and even a bit at school.
He was frustrated. Writing was really a difficult task for him. So was spelling. He could finally read though, so that was something he was proud of.
One day, a couple of weeks ago, he suddenly stopped fighting us. Hopefully I’m not jinxing myself like I do when I write about him finally sleeping through the night…
He came home a few day ago and proudly showed me this…
“Mommy!” he postured like a peacock proudly displaying his feathers, “I wrote this all by myself. I sounded it out all by myself.”
He’s beaming. He’s so excited and proud. He finds a magnet so that he can display it on the fridge.
“Do you know what it says, Mommy?” Without waiting for an answer, “It says ‘its krisamus day’!”
Krisamus?
“Yes Mommy, you know, Krisamus…when Santa puts stuff in stockings and leaves it all over the floor in front of our fireplace.”
Yes, Santa visits our house too.
No, I didn’t laugh at his crazy spelling or remind him that we’re Jewish.
But if we can have all these crazy spellings for C(h)an(n)ukka(h), then he is right on.
Right?
I’m just so relieved that the desire to learn is there, finally. And I’m so happy at how pleased he is for and with himself.
We can work on the spelling later.
And the drawing.
He’s cute though.