leah bought a hannah montana diary yesterday evening. we had taken her to the newly opened KFC on durbar marg to celebrate her orange team's decisive, triumphant win at the lincoln school kickball championships last week. as ms. leah was co-captain (with preeya), she was more than happy with her team's achievement during the elementary school's annual 'kaliedescope' adventure. she was adorably shyly proud when she told us. as only an eight year girl can be...
so, against our better judgement, we promised her a KFC treat (and to our own chagrin...). she'd seen it on the street. (it's impossible to miss...) we patiently stood in line for a half hour yesterday after work w/ all the jostling and queuing that is ever so patently south asian. as expected, there was that unsettling aftertaste with this food. leah said she didn't particularly like the chicken (good!), but in true leslie-chan fashion loved the french fries!
afterwards we stopped at the bluebird department store for her to buy a holiday season gift for a classmate (the under 500 rupees rule) and, not surprisingly, ms. leah came out with her own HM diary with the friend's gift.
the beautiful thing is that leah really, really wants to write! we came home and did her math (a bit problemmatic...), then memorized some of her spelling (actually, not so bad...), but the whole time she wanted to take breaks to write in her diary and, of course, discuss w/ me where she should hide the key (as it's a locking book).
hiding the key was rather important, given all those peering eyes who want to know the intimate secrets of leah's third grade class. imagine that! (they'll never find out on this blog, that's for sure!) so, she came up with a suitable location (the little jewelry box grammy gave her... shhhhh!!!), and then huddled on her bed to write away to her heart's content, occasionally looking up to ask me to help her spell a word or two -- but, mostly, scribbling away on her own about her deepest secret pleasures.
leah did look up at one point and asked, "daddy, why is everything made in china?" she'd read on the side of the case that the diary had been made in china, even though the cover was splattered with hannah montana photos. but she was back her scribbling almost before i had time to think of an appropriate adult answer.
for it was a father's joy to watch little ms. leah rose as she covered nearly two full pages of her new diary all on her own. of course, she did worry a bit that she wouldn't be able to read it when she's older since she knows that she can't spell correctly yet -- but, after thinking about it for a moment, not longer, she figured she wouldn't worry too much about that right now as she had so, so, so much more to say...
this morning, on a chilly wednesday, that's the word from the eastern front here in budhanilkantha, where winter has set in. i've graduated, too. now i'm wearing long grey gym pants out to the morning bus stop with leah instead of my usual revealing, decorative boxers.
even lyle noticed this morning when he said a bit ironically and teasingly as he gave me one of his famous out-of- the-side of his eyes glances i sat down by him near the street corner tea shop, 'a little colder now, keith, eh?'
2 comments:
that is so touching ! later I'm sure she won't be consulting with Dad or Mom on where to hide the key.
I still have my schoolbooks from kindegarten and 1st grade which my dear mom managed to keep all these years - I can intepret what I was expressing phonetically at the time, as your daughter will be able to.
I am a terrible speller by the way which I understand is a common afflication among kids from international schools - can speak more than one language but can't spell properly in either, ha ha
leah's not spent as much time in her private journal since those first days, but i'm sure you're right that she'll remember what she was saying/writing even years later. it's the joy of expression and the privacy of reflection that is most important. my college-age teenage sons are reading my journals from college and after to better understand their father, as well as the pressures that they are going through now...
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