We’re working on reading and tying shoes, now. Well… E is,
anyway. And she is blowing. My. mind.
She brings home a folder with a sheet of paper and a small
book from her preschool. On the sheet of paper is a series of columns showing
the title of the book, the date, and parent(s) signatures showing that she has
read the book. The little books about Mac, Sam, Dot, Jig the pig and Meg the
dog start off pretty simple, but in a little more than a week, I am amazed at
the progress the little one is making. True, these books are not going to win
any Pulitzers for literature. But I don’t think I could be a prouder father
seeing my daughter read and seeing the wheels turning behind her eyes thinking She GETS it!
And then she starts working on tying her shoes pretty much
the same week. She always makes a big deal about helping me with my shoes each
morning and going through the motions of tying them. The last shoes that we got
for her with laces didn’t last long. (because of how fast she’s growing) I
think it also must have gotten frustrating for her.
But the other day, the wife was working all day Saturday so it
was a father/daughter day spent mostly running errands. But in an attempt to
make it more interesting for her, I asked if she wanted to get tie shoes. She
seemed into it so we went to Freddies and found ourselves staring at the long
row of shoes. Of course she navigated to the bright pink one with stars and
lights. Then in an attempt to cast of the shackles of gender programming, I explained how the store ‘thinks’ girls should wear these shoes
that are all pink and boys should wear these shoes which is why they are all
separate. But that she could choose whichever shoes she wanted. She may have
been trying to please me (or we just selected the first pair that we could find
in her size) but she ended up with some awesome converse in the navy blue
shade. I may have been projecting this choice on her a little bit. But she seemed excited regardless.
Not having any other kids to compare her to, tying shoes and
learning to read seem like pretty major milestones. And it seems like she’s
hurdling these milestones at a young age. (she only just turned 4 in January)
But then as her parents, we are going to think she’s a prodigy no matter what
she does. I think she may have handed me her booger today but she did it in a
brilliant way.
It’s times like these that make me think I’m making the
right choices as a parent. But I’m sure that won’t last long and I’ll start
pulling out the rest of my hair for having yelled at her for some stupid reason
like not washing her hands immediately after going potty or leaving her coat on
the floor.
Whatever. Enjoy
these.
