Notes with Zachary

One day, Zachary left me a note in the kitchen that said "The cows want electric blankets, they are cold. From Duck" This is going off of a favorite book of ours Giggle Giggle Quack by Doreen Cronin. In it, Duck lives on a farm with many other animals, and writes notes to Farmer Brown's brother who is taking care of them while Farmer Brown is on vacation, so the brother will think they are from Farmer Brown. Very cute. Why we don't own this book, I don't know, but thankfully we have the library close, and can get it any time.

So Zachary's note set off a series of notes back and forth about these electric blankets. A few weeks later, I left a notebook out with another note to duck, and Zach wrote back in the notebook. I would like to continue doing this with him in the hopes of when he is older, giving him a way to "talk" about things that he does not want to talk about, since he hates talking so much. A mom at MOPS does this with her daughter, leaving the book under her pillow, and the daughter putting it under the mom's pillow. We'll see if it works out.

This exchange went on for several pages where I tell Duck that electric blankets are expensive and ask how much money the cows have, and how with only $80 they will have to share, and Duck saying they all want their own, and me telling Duck that the cows had better get a job, etc etc.  He has no idea how much I love it all!

A few days later, Zachary's class was studying pond life and the life cycle of various pond animals.  A guest speaker came to the class and showed all the 1st graders several animals.  Midway through this unit, Zachary wore a shirt he had received from MiMi years ago from the Chattahoochee Nature Center.  This year it finally fits him.  His teacher LOVED his shirt.  She made him stand up and show it to the class and see how perfect it was for their unit.  He loved loved being singled out like that, which is a big change from just a year ago.  She later sent me an email asking if the extra attention made Z uncomfortable.  She knows about his struggle with social anxiety, but he loved it.  So much so that HE suggested I take a picture and send it to Mrs. Kemp so she could have it.

His shirt has the life cycle of a frog on it. Very cute. Thanks MiMi!

As an aside, during the first week of school, Mrs. Kemp was just floored by Zachary...not because of his performance etc, but because he has a doppleganger. She showed me a class picture from several years ago of a little boy that was nearly exactly our Z. So odd. No real relation to this story other than a small tidbit I want to remember years later.