Creative Problem Solving

Calder is still learning to write his letters. In the absence of any kind of preschooling we have gotten him various workbooks to practice with and we frequently make him write stuff out for the hell of it. Like, "Oh you want some juice?" hands over a piece of paper and pen "Write the word 'juice' and I will get you a cup." Obviously we help him with the spelling but once we have identified the correct letter together, Calder is on his own to write it out.

Some things, like his name, he can spell on his own. This is nice for card giving occasions because it's one less thing that I have to do and letting him go to town on the card interior gives it that special je ne sais quoi that grandparents go bananas over. Recently, Calder learned how to spell his sister's name too so for this most recent round of Father's Day cards, we let him sign for both of them. Of course, Calder is four so his writing skills aren't always perfect. He still mixes up letters/writes them backwards/adds on bazillion horizontal lines to an E. Usually, a mistake in lettering will end up with Calder throwing down his writing implement and shouting "I quit!" so I was a bit surprised when I went to collect the card for my Father-in-law and saw something that looked like this:

Instead of having a tantrum and giving up after making a mistake, Calder, in his own words, "drew a M 'stead of a N so I made it a camel." That's some quick thinking right there. And I was proud. Proud of his creativity and proud of his attitude about the whole thing. Maybe we aren't totally ruining him after all. I just wish I had taken a photo of the actual drawing, my Paint job doesn't even begin to do the artwork the adorable justice it deserves. Enjoy your Wrem camel, Papa. Happy Fadder's Day.