A Lesson from my Son

I have this problem/stumbling block/, call it what you will, but whenever something I am working on does not seem to be "Good Enough" I will often find a reason to move on from said task and spend my time on something else. That happened to my blog way back in April. But, I am finding that my newly found quiet evenings have given way to some extra time and a need to "talk" or write and share the great things my boys are doing, and with no one to share these moments with in the evening until Friday night, here I go again......


Cash sat next to me yesterday with his pen in hand flipping through the pages of an alphabet book. He has about 10 of these books I picked up at Target for a buck each. Some are addition which he is very in to right now, letter writing, object discrimination, and other activities that earn him computer time. He practiced a few B's, moved on and practiced a few Y's, moved on. After a few minutes I asked him what he was looking for and he told me "I want an easy page." I knew that "easy page" really meant a page where he did not make a mistake, where his letters looked very close to the letters already lightly outlined for him as a guide. An easy page. The mom sayings kicked in "We sometimes need to practice to get better." and "Writing letters takes time to learn, look at all the letters you already know!" He didn't respond but rather kept flipping pages determined to find one that suited his needs. He eventually gave up stating that he was very tired and went to find something else to do. Later I thought about how much alike we were. I do the exact same thing, maybe not look for the easy page, but the pages where I will succeed and my letters will not go outside the lines so to speak. I just knew I might as well put those books in the recycling, he wouldn't go back to them, but I was wrong. The next day he would pick up his pen and continue on searching the pages, trying letters that yesterday may have been too hard, and picking up pride along the way in the process. He inspired me to think about things I had given up and should try again, this blog was on of them.

Speaking of writing, when I started back to work I began to leave Cash notes most mornings on this whiteboard not only to let him know his mom is thinking of him but also to hopefully inspire him to write as well. Sure enough after a few mornings I came home to find he had written me back a letter, he read it to me and while I couldn't make most of it out, I did recognize the "Mom" above my Love, Mommy, priceless.