Last night I went through a whole giant tin of old letters. It was kind of an eye opening experience, to say the least. People don't write letters anymore; they just call or sometimes they email. You can print emails out (and I have, gods help me, I have) but it's not the same as the 20 year old letters I have stored away, written in ballpoint on yellow legal pads, replete with collaged cartoons and little drawings and the word love in big, big letters. The contents of this tin made me, mostly, happy. Well. Most of it. I was kind of horrible when I was in my 20s, and to everyone who put up with me then, I apologize now. I didn't treat y'all very well on an all too frequent basis. But I swear I've changed! Mostly. Now get my coffee.
And in there, too, was a letter that I must share despite filial strictures on the mentioning of certain young men in this blog - I have corrected the spelling, but the text went as follows:
Dear Mom,
I have run away because I did bad in school and I do not want to face your wrath.
love,
M
ps I took some food and let the dogs out.
Not every 9 year old in the world knows how to use the word wrath and it was nice to reread that right around now, as we're rapidly approaching that particular 9 year olds 16th birthday. He still mentions running away occasionally, although my wrath doesn't seem to faze him as much, alas. It's more my ridiculously strict rules, like "You cannot drop out of high school at age 15" that are an issue now. I am draconian; poor young M. But you know what? I can still trust him to let the dogs out.
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5 comments:
This makes me want to dig out the box in my closet that has all the lovely letters I've saved.
My favorite running-away letter was written by my oldest when he was 8:
"Dear Mom, I have runned away because I don't like you no more.
Love, R.C.K.
PS. Leave crackers and peanut butter by the back door in case I can't find nothing to eat."
The best thing is always the PS. If I ever find I need to run away again, I have to remember to leave a PS at the end of my note. It's wonderful the way kids think a letter just isn't quite done until they've added that all important, vital PS.
My 9-year-old said to me the other day, "Mom, why are you being so stern?"
I stopped cold. Stern? Didn't know she knew that word much less how to use it correctly. Sometimes, kids are so cool.
I keep thinking about running away, but I'm pretty sure that what stops me is not having a really good PS. Somehow, "Don't forget to turn off the stove if/when you cook" just doesn't do it.
Edgy Mama: Isn't is wild when they do that?
Though unintentional hilarity can result when they mix up words. My daughter had to write an essay on the court system in 5th grade, and used "prostitute" instead of "prosecute." As in, "The district attorney's job is prostituting crimes."
I enjoyed that post.
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