Head Start

Earlier today, Daughter and I were playing with her MagnaDoodle. She would ask me to draw various things, like happy faces and shapes. I decided to shoot for the moon and asked her if she wanted to draw some letters. She exclaimed, "Yes! Drawing letters is my favorite!

Can you sing the ABC's, hold a MagnaDoodle and smile at the same time? Yah? Well, so can she!
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Then Daughter backed away from a statement that couldn't be supported by the facts. The facts are she has never tried to draw letters before. She meekly asked me if I would help her draw some. I began by writing a capital "A" on her MagnaDoodle, and then asked her to draw one. I talked her through the steps that I vaguely recall being taught in kindergarten. "Draw one line down. Start at the top of that line and draw another one down. Now connect the two lines with a short line in the middle."

Daughter gamely made an attempt, and slowly created a letter "A" that easily exceeded the writing skills of most doctors and her own father. My heart leapt in my chest as I began daydreaming of Mensa memberships and my smug smile as I discussed with Ed Bradley the moment I realized that she would finish high school by the age of 7.

First things first though. (Or second things, second) Daughter poked me with the stylus of her drawing toy and said, "Let's make a B!"

Again, I drew the letter and then talked her through making one of her own.

"Okay, do you want me to show you how to make a "C?"

"No! I can do it myself!"

Daughter gripped the stylus and confidently drew a capital "C!"

Okay, she'll probably be starting medical school by seven.

We finished the lesson with the letters D through F. There was a snafu with "E," when she drew the cross-braces in the wrong direction, but I won't mention that on her Harvard application.

Daughter and I ended with "F" not because we ran out of room on the drawing board. But rather because for the first two decades of her life, A through F are the only letters that matter. I took a few photos to share with you, our friends and family, and Ed Bradley. Enjoy!

The highlighted letters are the ones that Daughter made herself. The others are the ones I drew for her to copy.
Daughter insisted that a purple glow best reflected her artistic vision.
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