Drawing

Evan really likes the idea of rhyming words, but the concept of “rhyme” has somehow escaped him. Last night, though, he came out of his room a few minutes after he’d gone to bed and exclaimed, “Mama, I know the answer! Bump and jump are rhyming words!” I thought that meant he’d figured out what it meant for words to rhyme, but today he asked if head and fire rhymed. Nope, not at all.

Because I’m also trying to teach Evan to read – he’s a little reluctant – I decided to show him that rhyming words end with the same letters as each other, but start with different letters. We got out some paper and I wrote words like cat, bat, rat, there are a million -at words . . . he recognizes enough of the letters that he actually sounded out a few words. Does that count as reading? At any rate, once we were done, he wanted to have some paper to write. He went in the other room and came back a few minutes later, proudly showing me that he made “the letter for June!” Sure enough, it was a backwards J. Who taught him this? Someone should take credit for teaching Evan how to write, because I certainly didn’t do it. On purpose, at least.

Next he drew the light in the living room, and the piano. Then he moved on to using crayons and this gem was the result.

evanhouseIt’s a charming picture of our house on fire and us running outside to escape.

With labels:

evanhouse2Evan asked me how to draw a person, so I showed him a stick figure on a separate piece of paper, and he took off with the idea – even adding eyes and mouths where mine had an empty face. I also showed him a dog but the majority of the drawing is Evan’s own design. As is the subject. He mentioned that the reason the house is on fire is that there’s no fireplace, so we made a fire on the rug. To be fair, we do have a chimney but no fireplace, but making a fire on the rug? I hope this isn’t foreshadowing.

Oh, and this was the first time I’ve ever seen Evan write his name. He did make the V upside down, and added an extra line on the N – for a first attempt, though (that I know of), it’s pretty impressive! He wanted to put it up on the fridge immediately but I did manage to talk him into letting me scan it first. I love this picture.

 

 


Evan on Underground Sharks

Evan gives his dissertation on underground sharks.  But don’t worry, the police are here to help!


Similar

Until recently, I didn’t really understand when people said, “So-and-so and I are just alike. That’s why we never get along.” Then there was Evan.

It’s horrifying to see all my flaws and weaknesses mimicked and thrown back at me by a four-year-old. Beyond that, it’s aggravating. I know I’m to blame for a lot of Evan’s bad habits and unpleasant behavior. I have a short temper; Evan escalates just as quickly, and within minutes we’re both furious. He shouts that he’s not my friend anymore and I mutter that I don’t care as I stomp off to lock myself in the bathroom for a brief moment of privacy.

Parenting is hard. And lately I feel like I’m doing it all wrong.

I have been making an enormous effort this past week to stay calm and patient when Evan is being his normal belligerent self. It’s exhausting! I’m crossing my fingers that persistent effort will pay off eventually, but for now I still have a surly kid on my hands. I think Jarom is both amused and frustrated by how similar Evan and I are.

Today was Evan’s checkup, and we always do ice cream afterwards. Because his appointment was at lunchtime I decided to use a little of my spending money to get Happy Meals for the kids and let them play for a while at the play area, with the condition that they could only open the toys when we left – and only if they left without fussing. When Evan went to go play, he told me, “If you call me, I will come with no fussing because I’m a good listener.” We’ll see if that actually happens. I’ve been trying to praise more than correct, which I hope will help mini-me be a little nicer in turn.

Any other advice? I’m struggling mightily!