I am the first to admit that I am not very good at writing thank you notes. I always have good intentions to sit down a write a nice note, but time slips away and all is forgotten. You see, I have a hand full of excuses that stop me, here are my top two:
- I hate my handwriting. I try to accept it, but guys, it really is bad.
- I have dyslexia. And although I became a well-loved reading specialist, I still don't have the confidence. So I sit at a computer and double check every word that I write. Every word, letter by letter. The worry of incompetence and embarrassment cripples me, which is totally frustrating.
I want so badly to be one of those people who sits in a quiet space (not a cluttered desk) and writes, real words, on real paper, with real feelings of gratitude. It shouldn't be this big of a deal.
Do you remember in school when the teacher would have you write a letter in pencil, and then mark a ton of corrections and ask you to rewrite it? And then rewrite it again and have it checked? Rewrite it, have it checked? And then, at some point, write over the pencil in ink? I hated that. Like, really hated it.
I don't want my kids to hate it.
Parker will be five at the end of March. He is writing his name, and although it is a little messy and uncoordinated - he loves writing it. I want to keep that love alive. So he wrote his name, and I wrote his words (without checking for spelling, without sitting at a computer, without bothering to perfect my letter structure).
We did it with love.
P.S. Parker is wearing his backpack because he wanted to pretend he was at school.
