I think it’s safe to say most people are a little OCD. In my
family, there are a few members who are a little more OCD than some. Sometimes
I’m that way. There are things I like just so. I do find putting things in
order to be therapeutic and relaxing. But I have a feeling I’m just a tip of an
iceberg. My daughter’s tendencies go a little deeper.
Like fastening one’s shoes. She isn’t always particular, but
there has been more than once when she won’t budge an inch until her shoe’s Velcro
is perfectly aligned. As if getting out the door isn’t time consuming enough
with two kids…
Or doing puzzles. If the piece in hand does not go in the
first place she tries it, a good response is a growl of frustration as she
throws it across the room.
Sometimes I shutter to think of her future. I work for a
landscape architecture firm and one of the big perks is an endless supply of
huge sheets of paper being tossed out as first drafts. I brought home a
playground plan several weeks ago. Last week, I took one of the pages and laid
it outside so the kids could finger paint for a while. Later I showed Emry one
of schematics of the playground – a colored one with the various shapes marked
“swings”, “2-5 play area”, etc. I tried to explain to her it was the design for
a playground. I wasn’t sure she understood until a few days later when she was
scribbling on a sheet of paper. At first, I thought her oddly colored shape an
attempt at a circle. But then she pointed to it and said, “Mama, this is my
playground. The swings will go here. The steps and slides here…” Strangely
enough, it was almost the exact shape of the area the real playground will be
on. And while most kids draw the actual swings or slides, she’s drawing design
schematics. Future landscape architect? I shudder to think of how many drafts
her designs will go through. For…
Last week we started working on learning to write. We’ve
been doing “school” since the fall, but over the last month she’s shown
tendencies of wanting to learn to both read and write. While a phonics book is
on order, I downloaded some writing practice sheets including one with her name
on it. She knows how to spell her name and she is forever writing an “E” (often
with extra horizontal lines) on everything. So, I thought she may as well
really learn to write it. She was delighted! But when I watched her
meticulously trace the letters, my heart skipped a beat.
The next day she attempted to write her name on a page she
was coloring. She wrote both the “E” and “M” but when I complimented her, she
scowled and responded, “No, Mama, it’s not right!” Granted, her “E” had an
extra line and she writes her “M” by writing a small line with the big hump she
then divides with another line. But she is only
three-years-old, so I wasn’t going to quibble about the finer points and
again told her she had done a good job. “No, Mama!” she howled again. “It’s not
right!” I wanted to groan.
Then, a few days later as she meticulously traced the letter “O” on a worksheet several times, I
felt I could throw in the towel then and there. Is it harder to teach a
careless child to read and write or one who has to do everything perfectly? She
was so focused, so intent, so careful as she traced. And while they were not nearly
perfect, they were brilliant for a three-year-old who has never traced the
letter “O” in her entire life. But if she puts this much time, effort and
precision into her penmanship now…
I have a feeling twelve years of school is going to be a loooong time!
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