Well – I just dropped ‘Helen Keller’ off at school.
Goodnight has an oral book report to present today. She chose to read The Story of My Life, by Helen Keller. Actually, Goodnight originally wanted to do her book report on David Pelzer, because she read A Child Called IT, Lost Boy, and A Man Named Dave over her Christmas break, but she nixed the idea because she thought the kids would make fun of her dressing as a boy. The assignment included a requirement of props and some representaional costume in portrayal of their character. So her second choice was Helen Keller. Goodnight took a stuffed dog and some knitting (bless that child) because Helen Keller could knit.
Now – noble as the book selection might be, there’s a little ‘pixie’ in my granddaughter. Grading for the oral presentation includes proper eye contact and Goodnight knew that Helen kept her eyes closed. The little rebel even approached her teacher and pointed out that fact and told the teacher that she should not have points deducted for accurately portraying her character.
Goodnight also knew that Helen used American Sign Language as a mode of communication and therefore wanted to learn enough signs to make it through her book report. Again, her teacher said no. Her book report had to be oral. Goodnight didn’t like that, but I told her she hadn’t done enough research on Helen, because Helen learned to speak, too.
I rather enjoy the way Goodnight thinks and challeneges. I enjoy it even more when it’s NOT always directed at me . . . . . But mostly it’s still innocent and questioning and I don’t want to squelch that. I don’t know what her role/contribution to this world is yet, but I certainly don’t want it to be MY idea of what her role/contribution should be.
Goodnight is the first presenter on the schedule today. I hope she does well, of course, but I already know that she learned a lot from her book. She learned that we can overcome some rather large challenges of we get past self-pity. She also learned that everyone can give something back to this world. Helen Keller certainly did.
After her oral book report, Goodnight gets to have lunch with the Check-out Angel. CoA is still on her semester break from college and is getting in some hours at our local grocery store. She told Goodnight that she would bring her lunch today and eat with her and her 6th grade friends. Just another reason I call her the Check-out Angel!
The Crayon Caddy toy drop that Goodnight and I made for The Toy Society was picked up!!! I don’t know who picked it up, but it was gone from the fence. We may or may not get a post about that but I’m still quite proud of Goodnight’s site selection. I’ll let you know if we hear anything, but readers can always check the Toy Society link on the left side of my blog site.
This weekend, Goodnight is going to knit a doll blanket for a doll I’m knitting for our next toy drop. It’s a little doll – fits in the palm of my hand – so Goodnight won’t have to sit and knit too long. 
Goodnight made me some artwork to hang in my office. Love it! And if I get hungry, I can snack on Mr. Snowman. I would start with the buttons because they look like M&Ms. I hope they used flour and water paste!!!! But here it is – hanging in my office.
I have a long weekend – four days. (I know right? If you’re keeping track, I just went back to work this week after my semester break). But anyway, I get today for myself and then the next three with Goodnight. I picked up a book to read and I plan to get through as much of it as I can. (Do you notice that I don’t talk much about scrubbing floors and cleaning toilets – I should work on that, but it wasn’t in my New Year’s Resolutions.)
The book is called Night of the Gun by David Carr. It’s a true story about substance abuse. The author exposes is own harrowing past through interviews with old girlfriends and buddies, police reports, hospital records, etc. I’m not sure why I’m reading it. I like non-fiction and I like to make selections across a variety of topics. Growing up in Smalltownville during the “Father Knows Best” era, I feel like I still have to overcome the naiveté of my youth.
