This year I told my son he had to write his own submission. He's been putting it off for a while. I've been telling him to think about what he wants to say. Yesterday I said it was the day he needed to do the writing. I suggested he go and get the prior year's book to get some ideas and to get an idea of how much he'd need to write.
He balked and fought me. He wrote the two most pitiful sentences—embarassing honestly—and told me he was done. I won't repeat them here because he would be very upset. I asked him about the prior year's book and he lied to me and told me he'd looked through it.
I suggested he could use my laptop to type up what he was thinking, that typing might be easier for him. He needs to learn to type, so this wasn't that much easier, but he tried, arguing and complaining the whole time. He wrote another two sentences that were indicative of not trying.
While this was going on, his sister was on her braille writer. She wrote up a full page on each of her family members, including the dog. When she was done, she read it aloud to me and I typed it up. I don't think she realized she wasn't going to be part of the family album.
I don't know if it was demoralizing to my son to have his younger sister so effortlessly write a comprehensive, clear, grammatically correct submission, without misspelled words. My son didn't even spell my or my husband's names correctly (because he was intentionally not trying).
It was about this time that I lost my temper—badly. His sister was trying to put her feet on the coffee table where the laptop was, intentionally, even though I'd told her to move well away. She was interrupting us and calling us mean because she wasn't getting all the attention. And my son was fighting with all his might to do nothing and make me feel like I was a bad parent for even asking him to do the writing in the first place.
After I calmed down I sat at the computer and asked him to talk—just talk—about him and his family, what he liked and what things he wanted to share with his school mates. And he wrote a beautiful submission. He's slowed down with the writing, it's hard for him with the hyperactivity and inattentiveness. I made a deal with him that he would be done with the submission, but that screens were going away for the week during weekdays. He wasn't happy, still wasn't when I reminded him this morning, but I think it's the right decision for now.
The Big Boy Update: This is what my son said for his submission that I typed up:
Hello, my name is Greyson and I am nine-years-old and I try to be as happy as I can be. I like playing video games and sports. I have many friends, but I have one best friend, Rayan. We never get in arguments. He is very kind to everyone.
My dad’s name is Chris and he and my mom are real estate agents. My dad is forty-one. My mom is named Courtney and she is forty-nine and she likes arts and crafts and coffee. The things she needs to survive are food, water and coffee. I have a dog and her name is Matisse. She is a Wheaton Terrier. When my mom goes to Starbucks, she brings Matisse and she gets her a Puppichino which is a cup of whipped cream. It’s so cute! :D
My sister’s name is Reese. She is eight. She is visually impaired and is in second grade. She used to go to my school.
This summer we went on a sailing trip with our friends for ten days straight. We started at St. Thomas, then we went to St. John and went to a floating restaurant named Lime Out we had to swim up to. Then we went to St. Croix where there was really warm water. Then we went to back to St. Thomas and had dolphins swimming beside our sailboat. Living on a boat is very exciting because you get to go on adventures in the ocean.
I’m looking forward to being a third year. I hope I get to learn about math, language and history.The Tiny Girl Chronicles: This is what my daughter wrote about her and her family:
I am seven-years-old and almost eight-years-old. I’m in second grade. I am very flexible. I like to sing and run around. I like to swing and my friends are nice. I have a dog named Matisse. I love her so much. I like to climb trees. I like to bike and play on my scooter and I also like to play with my friends almost everywhere I go!
My dad is forty-one. His job is a real estate agent. He likes to play video games. He likes to build things. He is the best to me. He has a good job. He likes to have fun! He plays and watches things around him. He goes for runs and walks around the block or park full of trails. He plays with me on the swings. He likes to go slow on the swings a lot when I am outside.
My dog, Matisse, likes treats, bones and toys too. She is super cute. She gets groomed. She likes to run around too. She likes to go for walks and runs around the block with me and friends and my mom. She has fun. She eats dog food, people food and drinks raw milk for dogs and water. She has a dog bed in her dog cage. She has frozen dog cheese to eat when she is good. Also, when she’s good we give her doggie ice cream. She is the best to me. She loves to play with my grandma and eats lots of cool ice. She is one years old.
My mom is forty-nine. She is the best. Her job is a real estate agent. She has a room full of art because she likes art. She likes to help me and play games. She likes to go places. She loves coffee. She is small for her age. She is a fair person and she is silly. She is really active. And she likes to sing like Reese.
Greyson is eight and he is my brother. He likes to play video games. He likes to watch T.V. He loves his toys and friends. He doesn’t have bangs. He likes our next-door-neighbors. He is big for his age. Sometimes he is happy and sometimes he is not happy. He likes our dog. He doesn’t want to learn braille.
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