"She's got it! Yeah baby, she's got it!"

I just had to post how proud I am of my Reese. Some of these reading lessons are HARD. Can you imagine someone showing you a foreign symbol, then expecting you to draw the symbol holding a pencil with your toes? That must be what it was like to learn how to write the letter s as a kid. I remember taking reading lessons from a little old lady we went to church with, Sister Miller. If I was cooperative, I could choose to listen to a read-along Disney book (remember those? The tape would "beeeep!" when you were supposed to turn the page) or I could work on a plastic canvas needlepoint cootie catcher ornament when we were done with the lesson. I loved reading lessons, and I loved Sister Miller. I wish I could remember learning how to write though, so I could empathize with Reese's frustrations.

She is such a perfectionist (wonder where she got that from?) and tends to be extremely hard on herself when she makes a mistake. Notice the little "x" over one of her lower case "A's". Reese INSISTED that the "a" be crossed out, because it was unacceptable. I'm not sure what made that particular "A" less acceptable than any of the others, but it really bothered her and she couldn't move on until something had been done about the black sheep on her page. Once it was crossed out, she was ready to concentrate again and was excited and happy and begging to work on more letters. I wonder if introducing her to the beauty of an eraser would be a good idea. I imagine she will be excided to be able to correct her own "mistakes", but I also see her stressing over every minor detail and erasing until her paper wears through. I kind of like that she is forced accept that we all make mistakes right now, and that there are mistakes made in the learning process. Leaving the mistake on the page might drive her a little batty, but she is a kid. I think it's good for her.

So aside from her obsessive need to do everything right on the first try, this kid is a rockstar. She LOVES reading lessons and she LOVES that she can push sounds together. Once we have covered something she remembers it. Her memory is a VAULT. She fogets nothing. It is funny because she knows this is a unique gift that she has, and will sometimes pretend to forget something, just so she can ask us the same question multiple times. "What was that girls name again? Why was she here?". We figured out quickly that she was only after our attention and simply couldn't think of another way to initiate a conversation. Answering the same questions over and over again got old. fast. We started asking her "what do YOU think?" in response to her questions and so far, the solution is working well. I love the way her mind works. There is a motive for EVERYthing she says. I used to pride myself on having a good memory for minor details. I think being pregnant and lack of sleep turned my brain to mush, because now I can't remember anything, and have to keep a calendar just to remember what I'm supposed to be doing and where I am supposed to be. I wish I had Reese's memory-she is incredible!

When I have too many thoughts, I jot them down on a list. I use lists for EVERYTHING. When there is no paper available, I tell my list to Reese. She can repeat it back to me hours later after only hearing it once. She is amazing. Grocery lists, to do lists, what we'll be doing next thursday afternoon, etc. I love her for it. She's like a little palm pilot.

Aaron returned a RedBox movie at Walmart and took Reese with him. Now, we ALL know that when I ask Aaron to pick a few things up at the store, he NEVER gets everything. I always send him with a detailed list, and even then we are talking only a 50-75% success rate.

Then I sent Reese with him, hollered, "Hey, could you please pick up a strawberry cake mix for me? And I need a chocolate cake mix, too...but not weird chocolate cake mix like devils food or german chocolate, just the regular kind, and get frosting for each, make sure the strawberry frosting is pink, not white or speckled. I hate confetti frosting. Oh, I also need ice cream cones, rainbow sprinkles and chocolate sprinkles. Get another package of blueberries 'cuz I'm going to use the last of these in the pancakes, but only get them if they are $2 or less, and get more strawberries too, please- if they are still on sale. Actually, if the blueberries are $1, get 2 packages. Get Robetussin for you, but don't get any for the kids, we have tons in the cabinet, you went crazy last time they were sick and bought too much." He looked blankly at me. I realized what I had just said and laughed at my ridiculous list. He backed out of the driveway and through the window said, "yeah. I'm not going to remember ANY of that." and drove away.

Reese did.

Aaron returned from walmart with EVERY item I had requested.
Thank you, Reese. Your mind is a miracle.
I hope that has you master these reading and writing skills, you will experience all the joy that the gift of literacy has to offer.