Rachel, the schoolkid

This past Saturday, we were watching a movie late at night when Drew heard the little patter of footsteps downstairs. Turns out Rachel was trying to go to the bathroom and needed help unzipping her pajamas.

All was well until Drew discovered the cache of BOOKS next to her bed. She had gotten up out of bed after he'd tucked her in, grabbed a whole bunch of books and was trying to read them by the light of her night light!

I was astonished.

Drew gently chided her for doing that, although secretly we were both extremely pleased. But he told her she needed her sleep and if he caught her doing that again, he'd take away the night light.

***

Tonight was another reminder of how much Rachel wants to read and write. I was bustling around getting dinner ready after taking the day off work because I was sick. All of a sudden I realized Rachel had started writing in a notebook of mine -- the capital letters E, O, and T! I was so proud. "What does that spell??" Rachel said. I told her it wasn't a word, but that if I added "P" at the beginning it would spell "POET." She was very impressed.

Later, I peeked into the living room to the most gorgeous sight -- Rachel, in jeans, a sweatshirt and her flip-flops (she insisted on changing into them when we got home from preschool) lying on her tummy, using one of her colored pencils to trace letters in a workbook Drew bought her a couple of weeks ago. One foot was in the air, another on the ground, as if she was doing...homework!

She stayed like that for 20 minutes. I took pictures.

***

The whole writing thing really makes me thing about letters and how kids process the act of writing. I was watching her trying to write letters and for a moment I was in her shoes, trying to decipher these squiggly lines and make them mean something --- kind of like Man's ancestors. She looks up to Drew and me because we can write, and it's something we totally take for granted, when in fact we went through the same process she did. And if a kid has anything wrong with them -- bad brain chemistry, developmental delays -- the act of writing can be agony. I feel for them and am glad we have a kid who appears to be developing normally.

***

Today's Rachel-speak:

At dinner tonight, she said she had a bad day because Devin and Sadie, her friends at preschool, didn't want to play ball with her. When I asked her if she'd asked other kids to play with her, she said she had and no one wanted to play with her, either. "I was lonely," she said sadly.

Then she added:

"Somethings Devin and Sadie call me baby and I say no pretending and no real. And usually kids don't like to be called babies, you know. Especially me."

On why she doesn't like dogs:

"The problem is, the reason I don't like dogs is I'm worried they're going to eat my food. That's why I'm afraid of dogs."

Apropos of nothing:

"Elephants are so strong. Especially Mommy and Daddy elephants."