The lad’s school did a letter to Santa as a writing exercise this week. Here’s the Lad’s, hot on the heels of the Great Smiley Conjunction:
Literally:
“Daer Santa how ar yew dewing? How is Rewdof going Hav all ov the Randeer Baen good I wood lic for crismis a teloscope From [name]“
Standard-Englishified:
“Dear Santa,
How are you doing? How is Rudolf going? Have all of the reindeer been good?
I would like for Christmas a telescope.
From [name]“
Dear sweet child.
He also painted me a flower. Just for you folk who think he draws nothing but ogres and dragons:
That’s a lovely flower. And what an excellent Christmas request! Are you going to be able to go with the flow? I can just imagine him in mad scientist / small child enthusiasm mode, finding out all sorts of things about the stars and the planets, and telling you about them.
Deborah’s last blog post..So banal
Deborah: Our shopping’s long since done ‘n’ dusted, but I might be able to put in a good word with the grandparents. Or check out the Quokka, or something. Do people sell gently-used telescopes?
Oh bless.
I read the “forcrismis” bit as licorice. Which is a good idea for stockings.
Maybe binoculars might do? He can use them during the day as well, which might help convince him?
A child after my own heart (though at first I thought he was asking for liquorice too…)
Deus Ex Macintosh’s last blog post..Unwarranted Intrusion
It’s like looking at my Own Junior Grendel’s work. I suspect they are at similar stages of handwriting development. Topics are radically different however – Our Santa letter specified Ben 10.
Grendel’s last blog post..NY Times on Coffee
Ben 10 has featured as a draw in our junkmail catalogue readings; it seems he was temporarily eclipsed by the idea of a telescope on this particular day.
Ah that is great. I was reading “lacrimosa” for a moment there.
I can remember my uncle showing me Jupiter when I was ten. Even though he was a cranky uncle and I took far too long to get the hang of the eyepiece for his liking, it is a very fond memory. Hope the grands come up trumps so the lad will hae no need o’ lacrimosing.
ebay?
dies illa,
Qua resurget ex favilla
Judicandus hoMO REus.
With those words, I can only hear the Mozart in my head. First work I ever sang with a large choir. Transcendent.
I love the use of “ov”.
You are a much more disciplined mother than me to resist the telescope request in such an adorable letter. What are you? Vertebrate or something?
You sang that? You are my idol then. I just saw the Milos Forman film a gazillion times. Transcendent is exactly the right word. Which is why this atheist is pulling out a lot of church music for christmas; Palestrina and Byrd and Tallis .
That letter is so adorable – definitely a keeper. Asking about Rewdof? *loves* It’s so much fun to look back at spelling and handwriting and artwork as they grow older (mine is 10 now, and I’m still collecting his artwork and stuff). :D
@ su – I’m with you on the church music. I’m not an atheist, but definitely not Christian (I’d call myself Buddhist if pressed to give a short answer), and most overtly religious stuff really bothers me. But I adore Dead White Men church music, and I also love “traditional” carols rather than the more modern secular ones – all the ones about Jesus and Mary and angels. (I only want to hear them once Thanksgiving has passed here in the U.S., though). Still, I have to laugh at myself for this little soft spot in my heart for such cheesily religious music. (Well, the Dead White Men stuff isn’t cheesy – just beautiful. Especially when sung in Latin). :)
very, very cute.
Incidentally, his handwriting is better than mine :-(
How adorable! The literal transcription could completely be straight out of Chaucer.
My sister sent me my 10yo niece’s list of interests on her Hotmail page. Also adorable and wonderfully geeky. We have raised her well!
“Chocolate, games, cheats for games, friends, cats, sushi, awesomeness, Shakespear, books, Ghibli Movies, computers, Romeo and Juliet, Invader Zim, Piggies, remote controls, anime and manga, E=mc2, pillows, roses, ninjas, did I say books? Christmas, presents, family, lamas, chairs, drawing, pens, quils, jewlls, amythest, tigers, avacadoes, clowns-esppecialy ones with sharp teeth, jokes, carpets, blue, purple, aqua, red, scarlet, Cludeo, Backgammon, Chess, Solitare, Ipods, cars, candy”
Everytime I think of “clowns-esppecialy ones with sharp teeth” I laugh … and then look nervously over my shoulder.
Kids rock.
Amanda’s last blog post..Oh, I wish I was on some Australian mountain range …
…As in, “If I do not get my telescope I might be lachrimosa…”
That’s not a flower. That’s a triffid!
Hm. I do not reject this hypothesis outright.
I hear you! It’s been fascinating watching his writing develop. At one point he would write left-to-right to the end of the line, then right-to-left on the next, alternating: boustrophedon writing, as in Safaitic, Hieroglyphic Luwian, or very early Greek writing.
At another stage he wrote in allcaps, with a dot centred between words instead of a space, as an Ancient Roman inscription. It’s like he’s evolving writing almost from scratch, instead of being taught it; a sort of orthographic “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny”.
Ooo, linguistics. Shiny!
Deus Ex Macintosh’s last blog post..Unwarranted Intrusion
That’s one adorable and clever kid you have there. :D