When my sister-in-law sorted through a mountain of schoolwork sent home with her children at the end of the year, she discovered precious treasure:  a journal entry by her youngest child and only daughter.  

Written before Thanksgiving last year, it told her what my niece REALLY thought about coming to visit our family for the holiday.

Child's Thanksgiving journal entry

“Chadanewg” is my new preferred spelling for Chattanooga.

Erin’s colorful turkey made me smile, her neat handwriting impressed me, but it was her spelling that made me want to pinch her to pieces; clearly this was her own work.  

Is there anything more appealing in a young child’s writing than the way we get to see how they hear?  It’s a window into their mind.

I immediately replied to my SIL’s email to thank her for sending it to me; I told her it MADE MY LIFE and it was almost perfect.

 

Child's journal entry

If it’s possible to appreciate someone else’s artwork more than my own children’s, Erin earned it with her post-completion edit.

Well, Miss Erin didn’t care for my “almost” perfect assessment a.t. a.l.l.  So she exercised author’s perrogative, tweaked her journal til it was just right, found a way to get rid of my annoying “almost,” and found a way to do the impossible.

She made me crush her more.

 

Pin It on Pinterest