Scarlett is the Person of the Week at school. Last week she came home with a giant poster board and instructions to decorate it with photos or drawings which she would then present to all three Kindergarten classes.
I was excited about her poster. It made me think of the one I created for her first year of preschool. She was two years old and didn’t help with that one, since it was technically an assignment for the parents. I’ve always loved a good art project and I jumped right into it. I wrote her name across the top in bubble letters, decorated the sides with stickers of ladybugs and butterflies, two of her favorite things, added photos of the family, and wrote a few lines about her love of music, dancing, and cheese.
That seems so long ago. When this Person of the Week poster board came home, my first reaction was to wonder how we would get her name at the top so nicely now that I can’t write anymore. I even called my sister, who was in Chicago for a family wedding, to tell her that I wished she was home to help with this project. It was sometime around then that I recognized how severely I was missing the point. Scarlett is five years old, and certainly capable of making her own poster. In this case, it really didn’t matter that I can’t write or draw or even hold a pencil the right way. I was just there for support.
She picked out six photos to include, and set about writing her name at the top in big rainbow colored bubble letters. It looked great. She added stickers of dogs, rainbows and scratch-and-sniff cupcakes. I’m told that the presentation on Monday went well, and that a good portion of her time in front of the group was spent on the photo of herself as a baby with our two cats, with a focus on the fact that the cats are now dead. Then she opened the floor to questions, which also focused on the dead cats.
When Rob got home that evening, he wanted to know all the details about her day.
“How was it being The Special Person?” he asked at dinner.
“That’s not what it’s called,” Scarlett said, through a mouthful of pesto.
Rob continued to get the lingo wrong. “Did you present your storyboard?” “Were there other Special People?”
Scarlett’s patience was quickly exhausted by having to explain the correct vocabulary to her father. There were dramatic sighs and eye rolling, before she basically shut down the conversation. I guess the Person of the Week is allowed to do that. Especially if that person is 5 going on 15, and they made their poster all by themselves and they just do not want to talk about it.
Scarlett was two years old when I was diagnosed with ALS. I used to joke that having only her was actually like having the two kids we’d planned on. There are so many facets to her personality: she could be our rugged little tomboy one moment and a girly-girl princess the very next. She was equally happy rolling around with other kids like a maniac or sitting quietly with a stack of books.
And it is now clear to me that if ever I feel nervous that I won’t live to see her teenage years, I need not fear. I’m experiencing at least a taste of them now—as are most of my friends with kids her age. These little people, they are indeed special. And luckily, Rob and I usually know how to get her back into a conversation. This time, we just asked about the dead cats.
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Saw the story on CNN a couple weeks ago and started following your blog after reading…I really look forward to your posts now! Love your sense of humor and storytelling.
I am so impressed with your strength and your calm poise in dealing with ALS while raising a very young child. But more than anything else, when I read your story on CNN and followed up with your blog updates, it struck me how natural and inspirational you are a mother to your daughter. She sounds like she is becoming the same mature, smart, practical level headed mother she sees and hears in you. Parenting is intrinsic but being a role model takes a lot of expertise. Clearly, you are your daughter’s role model and she is emulating your take charge attitude because she admires you and is trying to be just like you; strong and fearless. I will never know why or how God can take a perfectly happy married mother and give them a timetable to be with their beloved children and families when they have so much to live for – his selection process must have something to do w/ choosing people whom he knows will be the most courageous and demonstrate the most strength while leaving a legacy of love and leadership behind. I will pray for you and your beautiful family every day. Your daughter is so lucky to have such a fantastic mother – and she definitely knows this too!
Ha! I used to teach kindergarten and I know how true it is that the dead cats were an exciting focus! The focus was never what was expected. Such a great age!
Lol!!!!!! Dead cats – of COURSE that was the focus of the presentation! I have a 6 year old who is going on 30. She is my only child and sounds very similar to Scarlett… in that she is a girlie tomboy whose favorite color is rainbow.