Wednesday, January 13, 2010

On her own

Last December, my six-year-old daughter received a very nice door sign - you know, the one you usually find in hotels that are attached to the door knob, saying something like "Do not disturb" or "Please clean room"?

Well, hers was different because it was wooden and had a provision for a pen and a memo pad.  I thought that would be the first and last time I'd see it until I came home one day and saw it hanging on our bedroom door.  On it, she wrote:  "Keep out.  Only Mommy and Daddy can enter."  


Since we had house guests -- my brother-in-law and his wife were visiting from the US -- I was a bit embarrassed.  I didn't want them to think that I had put her up to it.  But, I was also pleased.  I have always considered our bedroom our retreat from the world and our own personal space and I was glad that she got that.  I was also happy that she had thought of and written the sign on her own.

Last week, I noticed a piece of paper on the small desk that she keeps inside our room.  Since she always keeps her desk tidy, the paper folded crosswise so that it resembled a name card stood out.  On it, she had written:  "tonorow give pon-y".  When asked, she confirmed that she had written the reminder to herself since she and a bus-mate had agreed to exchange stuffed toys - ponies, to be exact.

This is not rocket science, I know.  But I am still amazed by the things that she thinks on her own and her facility to act on them.  I am also glad that she sees the written word as a means to an end.


It's been yearsssss since I was six, but I do not remember having the same orientation.  Maybe because I always had siblings around and could always rely on them for all sorts of things.  An only child like my daughter doesn't enjoy this advantage.  Or maybe, times are just different now and children are growing up faster.

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