dear santa

Dear Santa,
How are you doing?

All the kids in K's class were asked to write a letter to Santa. She couldn't wait to get it written so yesterday while I was making dinner we sat down to write it. She told me exactly what she wanted it to say and I took it down on an extra piece of paper so we could make sure it was right.

this is very important stuff you know, it had to be perfect.

As I pulled out the real paper for Santa's letter (supplied by her school, it has Santa's face on it) something amazing happened. She wanted to write it herself. Of course she had already dictated it to me and I took it down exactly, but she wanted to be the one to put the pen to paper. She knows most of her letters and can write them fairly well but she can't read yet... so she asked if I would sit with her and tell her each letter so she could write her own letter to Santa Claus. Wow. You could say I was proud... but it might be an under statement. I was amazed and continued to be amazed for the half hour we sat writing those 4 sentences.

She has written things here and there, she signs her own name, strings together letters to make strange words and asks what they are, she can write mama, daddy and love with out much help but when she put her mind to it and sat down to write that letter I realized I am dealing with a whole new thing. She's not a baby anymore (which I've known since she turned 2 and was potty trained) but now... it's just something new to be so enchanted by and proud of...

Needless to say Santa is so getting her what she wants this year...