Thursday, January 5, 2012

Adventures with Scribbles

I think Natalie watches too much Spongebob.

Why do I think this?

Because she believes this is actual writing:



As in, it says actual words since it’s depicted like that in the show.

The other day Natalie scribbled this out and handed it to me.

“This is lovely,” I said, because it’s easier to tell children that what they create is lovely even though you may have no idea what they’ve just given you.

“Read it back to me,” Natalie replied sweetly.

I looked at the swirls in confusion. “Well darling, I can’t, because this says nothing.”

Natalie was immediately insulted. Her jaw even dropped open. She’d fit right in with those Real Housewives. “Yes, it does!”

I shut my eyes for a few seconds. Clearly it was going to be one of those days.

“Natalie,” I said, opening my eyes. “This is a bunch of scribbling. It doesn’t say anything.”

Natalie stomped her foot down. “Yes, it does!”

Oh man, I was going to need an extra Diet Coke.

“What do you think it says?” I tried a different tactic.

“It says,” Natalie said primly, pressing her fingertip along the gibberish. “I love you and I want some grapes.”

“Actually, it doesn’t. If you’d like me write that out for you so you could see—”

“IT SAYS I LOVE YOU AND I WANT SOME GRAPES!”

“You know what, Natalie? It does say that. My bad.”

So fine. I’m a bad mother. She’s going to go into Kindergarten, scribble something out and insist that she’s written something legible.

Go me.

30 comments:

  1. It's all good. Just let her teacher deal w/ it! jk! :o)

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  2. LOL Sean is 10 and I still have to ask him- "well, why don't you read that to Mom? I don't have my glasses on"...

    Good luck.

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  3. Not to worry - they don't teach cursive writing any more anyway!

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  4. I just pretend it's a secret spy message they have given me and I've lost my decoder ring.
    If I convince them to draw me a map....I can get a 2nd cup of coffee.

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  5. I've learned over the years to just humor them. All in due time right?

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  6. Glad you finally were able to read it.

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  7. I think you did perfect. Once she got you on the right language page it's totally understandable!

    I would never mess with the force of Natalie!

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  8. Annabelle will write random letters on paper like, TFGRS and then ask me what it spells. After about the 10th time I make her stop because she is driving me crazy!

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  9. And then her teacher can deal with it. LOL

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  10. looks a little bit like my signature, honestly.

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  11. What do you expect from a girl who changed her name to NA? :-) Augie and Vi don't want to write real letters either. I think it's a phase they go through just before they are ready to write.

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  12. I am eagerly awaiting the days where this happens to me. :)

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  13. Ha! Kind of reminds me of the teacher on Charlie Brown. Wah wuh wah wuh.

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  14. I can totally read that! =) She's so adorable!

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  15. I'm with Kara...cursive is no longer taught in school, it is just reviewed. She'll be fine when she hits Kindergarten and the teacher tells her it doesn't say anything. Kids just never take that stuff from their own parents ;-)

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  16. I'm pretty sure that's what teachers get paid to do. :)

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  17. She's using her imagination. I,think its ok to indulge her. She'll get it eventually.

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  18. Isn't that what the preschool teachers get paid for? Teaching kids this kind of stuff?
    Don't fret, they will have seen worse :)
    xxx

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  19. And the mother of the year award goes to....

    ;)

    Thanks for stopping by my blog recently. I am lovin' what ya got goin' on here. Good stuff.

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  20. Hahhaha. When she's right, she's right.

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  21. She'll get it eventually... I would have done the same exact thing you did. LOL

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  22. When she gets to school and IF she is lucky to have some grapes...Dont worry the school won't care if she can spell the word "grapes" ...they will worry more about making her feeling guilty that she has grapes...and then they will make her give them all to the "grapeless"...lol

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  23. I hope that you at least got her some grapes to help smooth things over. :)

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  24. She will forget all about it by then...don't worry so much. I'm sure your child is incredibly smart, just like you.
    Sandy

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  25. If she is serious about wanting to write, this stage won't last long. Bella wanted to write so badly and did these scribbles too. I had to pretend to know what it said. (I'm a good guesser, lol!) But she knew that it was really scribbles and wanted to really learn to read and write. So she did!! She was writing real stories by kindergarten and spelling things phonetically.

    So have that diet Coke and don't stress out!!!

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  26. Early Childhood Education major here... Don't worry! This stage is normal! There is nothing wrong with her, or you! She will start writing in no time. The stage she is in now actually shows that she is about to begin writing actual letters! :-D

    Go have a diet coke and stop worrying!

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