Chapter 2

Chapter 2
In a couple of weeks it will be my birthday, I will be six years old! My mom asked what type of party I wanted and I did not know so she suggested having a small party at our house. She asked me for the names of 4-6 friends to invite, I gave her 10 just in case she allowed this many more. She didn't and I had to make the hardest decision ever by taking 4 names off the list.

We decided to make my party theme a girly make-over/glamor photo-shoot party. My aunts, their friends and Annabelle's mom agreed to be our make-over technicians. My mom bought supplies for a nail station, make-up station and a costume station complete with different color wigs for each of the girls. I was getting so excited!

The week leading up to my birthday was hard because all I could think about was my party! In school I felt my mind wander from math and spelling to all the decorations and props that were sitting in bags in the dining room waiting for my big day. I made sure to do my work extra fast so that the days would hurry up and be over but no matter how fast I did my work the days seemed to go by even slower than normal. Mrs. Walton had to tell me to slow down and work neatly but I just couldn't help myself, I was too excited!

Friday finally came and I was even more excited than ever! I stared at the clock in the classroom and made sure not to make any mistakes because mistakes meant having to do it over and there just wasn't any time to waste on stuff like that. Lunchtime came which meant time was drawing nearer to the end of the day.

While on the lunch line waiting to get Friday's pizza special I noticed my friend Jill was being bothered by a boy named Omar. She kept telling him to leave her alone and then all of the sudden I saw Omar slap Jill in the face. I was beyond shocked and mad so I went up to Omar and told him that he has to leave my friend alone. He told me to be quiet and that he could do whatever he felt like. This angered me because I knew it was wrong so I smacked him in the face. He was completely shocked and asked why I did that and I said because he hit Jill and he said so what so I hit him again. Then he hit me back and the next thing I knew both Omar and I were sitting in the vice principal's office.

Mr. Summer was our vice principal. He was shorter than my dad but a lot louder and much more serious. Right before he asked us what had happened Omar started to cry. Before Mr. Summer could take pity on his tears I decided to tell the whole story. When I was finished Mr. Summer asked Omar if he agreed with what I had just said and Omar nodded his head. Mr. Summer told me that there was a better way to have handled the situation like going to a teacher or another grown-up after seeing Jill get slapped by Omar. Then he told Omar he never wanted to see him slap, hit or touch another person again. I whispered to Omar that he should try sitting on his hands because it works and Mr. Summer gave me a funny look which made me go instantly silent.

We were to sit in his office until the bell rang but I quickly remembered neither Omar or I had eaten lunch. Mr. Summer's face turned a fire engine red and called the secretary into his office. In less than 5 minutes yogurt, fruit and milk were brought to us. Mr. Summer apologized to us and said this was all that was left of lunch and let Omar and I eat past the bell. When we were done eating we were escorted back to our classroom.

My mom and dad instantly noticed the sad look on my face when the bus brought me home. After they asked what was wrong the 3rd time I couldn't keep it in anymore and started to cry. I explained everything best I could in between fits of tears. I think my mom was confused because she kept asking questions over and over again which made me get a little angry. I told her I didn't want to talk about it anymore and went to my room and shut my door. I heard mom and dad mumble through the door and then I heard the phone dial. My dad was calling Mr. Summer to get everyone's side of the story.

After what felt like many hours my mom and dad knocked on my door. I opened it without looking at them. My dad scooped me up into his arms and hugged me for a few seconds then handed me to mom. Dad stayed hugging me with mom and they both gave me an even tighter hug. We sat on my bed and we talked about how I could have made a better decision so that the outcome would have turned out positive. I told them I knew the right decision but I hated seeing my friend get bullied like that, I just needed to help her anyway I could plus Omar needed to be taught a lesson. Mom and dad told me they understood but was hoping that I'd decide to make a better decision in the future.

I was put on punishment and had to prove all weekend that I deserved my birthday party or else it would be canceled. This made me cry but I knew what needed to happen so I started to write a plan in my head: Make my bed, feed kitty, pick up my toys, help mom and dad without being told, stay quiet, go to bed on time, wash myself without giving a hard time and the list kept growing because I was determined not to have my party canceled!

Chapter 1

Changing things a little for the summer since Lilly is busy enjoying her summer vacation. I thought I'd start a little novel of my daughter's adventures in her point of view. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1:
Today was the first day of first grade. I was so nervous and excited, no more baby games, no more arts and crafts learning...I was entering an official school grade! Last year I had to work on keeping my hands to myself so my mom had me chant 'no hugs, no kisses' as she drove me all the way to school. I don't know what the big deal was with giving love, but she said that the school is a NO LOVE zone. How can anything be a NO LOVE zone? Everything should be based on love, I thought.

My teacher's name was Mrs. Walton, she was almost as short as all of the kids in her class. I thought she had very pretty yellow, white and brown short hair. She spoke to us in a very serious way and told us she expected us to know what the 2nd graders knew by the middle of the school year. I hope she realized we needed to learn the 1st grade stuff first. Oh, and she also told us she was having a baby! I LOVE babies!! I cannot wait to feel it kick!

Most of my friends from kindergarten were in my 1st grade class. I was so excited to see everyone that I forgot the no hugs and no kisses rule. During reading circle I held Annabelle's hand the whole way through without being told keep my hands to myself. After recess I just had to hug Bella but just as we went for the embrace Mrs Walton reminded me of the NO LOVE rule. So I decided to start chanting 'no hugs, no kisses' to myself but I was reprimanded for talking back...whatever 'talking back' means.

The ride home on the bus was a little scary. It was so noisy and everyone was going crazy I felt like I wanted to get off at the first stop. I was waiting for the bus driver to yell at some of the kids but instead he just turned up the radio music louder. When I saw my mom and dad waiting for me at the bus stop I couldn't have gotten off the bus fast enough.

My mom and dad were excited for my first day of school and couldn't wait for me to tell them about my first day. I told them everything except about me getting reminded about the NO LOVE rule, there wasn't a need for them to get upset with me on my very first day of school.

I rode the school bus to school on the second day of school. The ride was a lot more quiet. I'm not sure if it was because everyone was half asleep or because we had a very mean, very yell(y), very serious bus driver who refused to put the radio music on. I ended up taking a quick nap until the bus stopped moving and everyone was told to 'Get out!'.

Class was a little different on the second day, we actually did a lot of work. One of the biggest rules in the classroom is no talking while doing schoolwork. My friend Jenna whispered to me because she needed help on her math so I went over to her to help but once I was there Jenna raised her hand to Mrs. Walton and said I was bothering her. I thought that was a very mean thing to do but before I could say anything to the teacher I was given a warning and sent back to my chair. Then Jenna gave me a silly looking smile and continued doing her work. I was so confused as to what had happened I decided to draw a picture since I was the only one done with the schoolwork. I didn't get very far with my picture because Mrs. Walton came over and gave me another worksheet to work on...by the time the entire class was done I had been given two extra worksheets and my mind was going a little dizzy.

The first few weeks of school was basically the same except I kept forgetting the NO LOVE rule so I was warned, reprimanded and a letter was sent home to my mom and dad. Mom asked why I wasn't remembering to keep my hands to myself and the only thing I could think of was because I felt lonely, which was the truth. Mrs. Walton gives me so much work to do by myself by the time my classmates are finished with their work I just need to feel 'needed' so I try to hold someone's hand or try to cuddle them. Mom and dad told me they would be instilling strict punishments if I did not remember to keep my hands to myself; punishments like no play dates, no dessert and toys taken away. Since all those things were very important to me I decided to make a stronger effort even if it meant sitting on my hands all day long!

I like to make my friends laugh

One day a friend was sitting and crying at recess. I went to her to ask what happen and she said some kids were being mean to her. I gave her a hug and then did silly things to try to make her laugh. She laughed and I was happy she was not sad anymore!

LILLY

This is me:

L-Loving
I-Important
L-Loud
L-Likeable
Y-Young

The Lady with the Watch (intro)

A few weeks ago I was browsing some writing exercises for Lilly and found one on a homeschooling blog. The assignment was to choose a picture and answer questions based on the picture. The questions were designed to get her thinking and to help set-up for a longer story version. Here are the questions and her answers:

(The picture is of a mysterious hooded lady holding up a pocket watch to her face)

What does she like to do on Saturdays?
-Sleep

What is the secret she doesn't want anyone to know?
-She had a baby

What does she think she does well?
-Read

What is she NOT very good at doing?
-Spelling

What is her favorite memory?
-When she was little

Why is the watch important to her?
-It tells time

Who is her best friend?
-Belle

What does she want most in the whole world?
-A boyfriend

(Stay tuned for the complete story, hopefully coming soon...)

I love my art teacher!

I love my art teacher because she is fun, teaches me lots of cool things to do and because she likes what I do! Today I gave her a flower I made in school out of tissue paper and I told her how to make it. She gave me a big hug to thank me and said she'll probably do that project in one of her classes. I like her smile and she shows me how to do things by being nice. She is always kind and she likes to laugh. I love my art teacher!

The sleepees

One day the trees fell asleep!
Then the frogs came and fell asleep!
And, then the birds fells asleep.
They all fell asleep because they were tired.
Have a nice sleep!

The end.

1234

This one was a direct note to me because Lilly was feeling lonely because I was sick from bad food instead of giving her attention.

On my own
Oooo
On my own
I feel bad or sad
one day
one time
On my own
Oooo
I feel like
Oooo
Our time love said
Bye goodbye
It fell me down, down
Oooo
Back in my home
la la la la la
Bye, Bye for now, Bye.

The birthday bully!

There was a mean bully at my friend's birthday party yesterday. She was not part of the party, she was there to play at the place by herself. It started with her yelling at me and all my friends. She took off her sock and slapped one of my friends with it and then called her an idiot. I went to her to tell her she wasn't being nice so she called me an idiot, too and then told me to shut up or she'd slap me, too, and then she pushed me out of the way so she could go first on the ride. My dad jumped in the ride and told the girl that she is never to touch me or anyone else again. Then the worker at the place took the girl out and gave her a 'time-out' to be with her mommy. Her mommy told her she was to apologize to all the girls. She never did so I went over to her to see if she'd apologize and she then called my mom and dad idiots. So we all left her alone. I think she was sad because she didn't have any friends and we all were willing to be her friend and play with her because she was by herself but she kept being mean and she kept going in the toddler area where she wasn't allowed to go but she didn't care. She pushed me so hard she bruised my back, my mom put medicine on it but it still hurt. I wish that girl wasn't so mean and I didn't want my friend's birthday party ruined because she was a bully. But we all had fun. The cake was soooo yummy!!

Motivation at work!

Lil woke me up before the alarm this morning then asked for pancakes (which I burned but she ate anyway), got dressed without me telling her, did her hair all by herself (complete with lopsided clips), put her backpack on, grabbed my car keys and waited while I tried to get the sleep out of my eyes and change out of my pj's. I asked her what was all the rush and she said, 'We are finishing science centers today and I don't want to miss anything!'...she amazes me!

Yesterday was a good day!

I lost my tooth yesterday. The roots broke then mommy told me to pull it out so I pulled it out and it came out. There was a lot of blood but I put tissue in the hole and then there was no blood! I was so happy when my tooth came out. The tooth fairy put $2 in mommy's purse and I bought books from the book sale. Thank you tooth fairy! And thank you for letting me keep all my teeth. I have three teeth in a small container and someday I'll give them to the tooth fairy when I feel like I want to give them to the tooth fairy. It feels weird not having a tooth to wiggle because it wiggled for almost a year! I am just happy that it finally came out! Yay for the tooth fairy!

The Tale of Sunny Bunny and Cotton Ball

Written by Lilly (edited by mom)

Once upon a time there was a girl named Sunny Bunny. One day she went for a walk. On her walk she saw a fox, a fox with fox pups! Sunny Bunny was scared. So she ran until she found a house.

Sunny Bunny tapped on the door. Out came a girl named Cotton Ball! Sunny Bunny and Cotton Ball had tea and some pie.

When it was time for Sunny Bunny to go home Cotton Ball said, "Wait! What about the foxes?"

Sunny Bunny said, "Oh No! I can't go home!"

Cotton Ball had an idea! She told Sunny Bunny to wear a coat of kitchen utensils in case the foxes go after her. That way she would have weapons and a coat of armor to protect herself.

Sunny Bunny liked the idea so the two friends said farewell to each other and Sunny Bunny went home. The end!

Test on the OO sound...

Going through Lilly's take-home assignments I happened to find a test she did. The test was to write one sentence using words with the OO sound...Lilly always has more to say (taken from actual test, which she got an A on):

I went to my room and saw a big pink balloon. I went to the moon and had food there, too. I went to my room, it looks like a ZOO!

LOVE GONE LOST (about a dog)

I fell down, my cries...cause of that. But by the time I went back to life in my home by the sea...Love makes me happy but sad makes me sad. Mad makes me mad. (Ooooo) Come back! I am sad but, just...I can't feel my love! (Ooooo) There you are back in the room! Just go! (I can't see my love.) Just go! (I can't hear my love!) Baby, come back! Love. The end!

Edited by mom to add an interpretation: First, a synopsis...Lilly was watching My Dog Skip with me and I forgot that it had some deep stuff in it...she was shocked when the little boy hit his dog and then when the dog gets attacked by the bad man and ends up in the hospital she was struck with every emotion imaginable...so here is the interpretation in quotes:

I fell down my cries...cause of that. (she literally fell to her knees when she started to cry)

But by the time I went back to life in my home by the sea...(not so sure what this means but I'm thinking by the time she gathered her emotions she started to cry again)

(And basically the rest is self explanatory...she is explaining her emotions on how those scenes made her feel...I'm very proud of her because this is mature stuff coming from a 6 yr old and she was able to verbalize it in such a creative and deeply personal way!)