Thursday, October 14, 2010

Mail call


I love Love LOVE mail. The day Ainsleigh left me the first note she independently composed, I knew I had arrived as a mom. Never mind that I was pregnant with my third baby at the time. But she had thoughtfully placed her words on a page and left it for me to read. And I loved it.

For weeks I've been encouraging Donovan just to write, even if he doesn't know how to spell. "You know sounds! Who cares if it isn't spelled right. You'll learn that later. Write SOMETHING down! You'll know what you're writing!" (this is often my approach to blogging, in case you wondered)

And last week, he presented me with his very first note. Not a picture with words on it. Just a note. I love how he approached me with a slight trepidation that signaled he might be a little nervous about my reaction. Personally, I was just giddy we have advanced to the ability to compose notes. The content is beside the point. But also even more entertaining when it is something they feel passionately about. Behold:



The composition thrills me. First, the Mom with a giant X through it. That, alone, says much (read my dad's comment to the entry when Ainsleigh wrote her first note, and you will see that this is an inherited trait). Then his name, in case I wondered who had written it.

Then, the meat: Mom is mean.
This is beautiful. What kid doesn't think this? Obviously I did something really awful to motivate him to pull out pencil and paper, because merely TELLING me wouldn't have been enough. Oh no. This was going on my permanent record. Or something. (Also, I think I told him that 45 minutes of video games was enough. Truly cruel.)

As I positively beamed, while taking this all in, Donovan's brows knit together in understandable confusion. He may have wondered if he had spelled it correctly, because I was not exhibiting the dramatically remorseful reaction he had hoped for.

"Mom is mean. This is wonderful, Donovan. I love it. I'm going to take a picture of it and keep it forever."
"REALLY? But Mom. It says MEAN."
"I know. But you wrote it! It's your first note. It means you're getting bigger. I'm really proud of you."

That was when he asked if he could have the note back. I told him I'd give it back only if he promised not to change it.

"I want to add something. I forgot it before."

After a moment, he handed it back and there was the last line:
(smiley face) I LF YOU.

I hugged him. "I love you, too, little buddy. I can't wait to see what else you're going to write."

7 comments:

Alice said...

I love mail too! (that might be why I like to order things online.) I can't wait for notes from Finn:)

Lisa said...

So sweet :) Some of my favorite memories are when I thought my parents would be mad at me and then they ended up happy. I bet he'll remember that :)

Joel said...

Props to Sarah. She took these pictures. I'm so proud!

Nataluscious said...

I love the way you handled that. But more importantly, I love that Dono wrote his name. Because if you're going to write something about someone (particularly negative), you have to have the chutzpah to sign it. And Dono definitely has chutzpah.

Margo said...

This is such a precious note and post. I was just talking to Jarren today about keeping better track of our day to day dealings with the kids. I love how you reacted and his love back. Sarah, you are a wonderful mother.

Melin said...

i love kid notes, kid pictures. I CAN NOT get enough of them----that one was great.
you are very mean.

Angie said...

You are so good at focusing on important moments. Tyson wrote me a similar note a few weeks ago but I didn't record it. Your a good mom!