December Calendar

We have a calendar on our refrigerator.   It’s a laminated sheet with no specific information.   Each month (or so) I update it with sharpies of various colors to let the children know what important events will be happening during the month.  

My son likes the calendar and checks it regularly.   He told me yesterday it was out of date—what with it being December 6th—and could we update it?   I told him we’d do it today and to prepare for it, I got out the sharpies and acetone pads and waited for this afternoon when my son was free to tell him it was time to change the calendar.   And here’s what happened…

My son completely cleaned off the old information (tough with sharpie) and then, on his own, started to write in the numerical days of the month.   We showed him which day of the week the first of December was on and then he just started writing the dates.    He wrote the entire month, and then continued to the sixth of January until the calendar ran out of space.

Then he wanted to draw pictures for things like his birthday, his birthday party day, when his sister was going to Detroit, when Christmas was, what day New Years’s was on, when the last day of school was and how long they’d be out of school.  

There were a lot of things to write up on the calendar, and, I was informed, we didn’t have enough colors in which to document everything.   So I went to my Sharpie stash and brought out additional color options.   And my son kept drawing.   He had ideas of what to draw for each thing.    I could tell his hand was tired because he would shake it from time to time, but he was going to finish the job.

After he was done he looked at his work and then walked off to have his bath.    Here’s the point I’m going for in this though: this is a child we were told might not make it to first grade next year because he was behind.   I’m not going to go into the ways in which he was behind, because they’re many and some are a bit subtle, but he just wasn’t moving along at the pace he should have been.

But that same teacher who told us he wasn’t far enough along—his new teacher we are all immensely pleased with—now has changed her mind.   My son is thriving with her as his teacher.   He’s matured, he’s interested in work, he’s excited about going to school and he is (I think) in love with his new teacher.  

My son has made so much progress in two months with his new teacher.   What happened tonight wasn’t even remotely possible two months ago.   My son didn’t even want to write a single letter.  I love asking him what he did at school and he likes telling me.   It has been a big change—for the better.

The Big Boy Update:  My son got a chemistry set from his aunt, uncle and cousin for his birthday.   Can we say, “obsessed” folks?   He is so excited about making crystals and doing the different chemical color flame tests.   Tonight they made another round of crystals.   He’s definitely into science.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter has been helping me wrap presents.   If, by some chance, you get a present in the mail from us this holiday season and the wrapping is a combination of crumpling coupled with excessive amounts of tape, you’ll know who my helper was that day.