All About Me (as told by Mr. Y)

We've been making a book about Yikealo as part of his Language Arts class. One day he was supposed to tell me all about himself. This is what he said:

• I like being with my Mom and Dad.
• I like to wear costumes.
• I like to chase the kitties.
• I like to play with toys.
• My name is Yikealo, and it means "God is able."
• I do not like being sick.
• My favorite food is macaroni & cheese and pizza.
• My favorite colors are blue, lava color, and fire color. 
• I like getting surprises.
• I am five years old.

Then he was supposed to draw a picture of his family. Here we are, in all of our glory.

 (Why do I look like some sort of horrific alien centipede anyway?)

When asked to say one sentence about the other members in his family, he responded,  "My Dad likes to sleep a lot and play a lot with me. My Mom is always excited about how good her little boy is being." Hmmm...he was certainly accurate about his Daddy, but not so much about his Mama!

On another day, I prompted him with sentence starters, and this is how he answered:

• If I had 3 wishes I would wish for a brother or sister, I would wish for more time to play with Dad and Mom, and I would wish to go to Disney World with my family.
• The most fun I ever had was getting wet at "Neraggrer Falls!"
• My favorite meal is spaghetti and Gogurts. (Not sure why his favorite foods aren't part of his favorite meal, but hey, I guess you're allowed to change your mind when you're 5!)
• One thing I do well is learning to read.
• One thing I want to get better at is counting.
• It makes me angry when Quinn hits me.  (Suz, he DID have to think long and hard about this one!)
• Something I would like to see is a lion that can talk and spit fire. (?!)
• The happiest day of my life is when Dad doesn't have to go to work. (Awwww!)

On another day, we were supposed to read the old days-of-the-week poem and discuss how it related to Yikealo.
Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day,
Is blythe and bonny and good and gay.

Of course, we do not know the day of the week on which Yikealo was born, so we just had a fun discussion about which of the attributes fit him the best.

Y: "I think that Wednesday might be right because I was sad when I was a little boy and didn't have a dad. Then, after you adopted me, I was sad when Daddy had to go to work."
Me: "Are you sad now?"
Y: "No."
Me: "So which other day might be a good choice?"
Y: "Thursday, because I had to travel all the way around the earth to get here!"
Me: "You're right...that is a good one. Any others?"
Y: "Well, you said that I'm giving, and I like to share sometimes, so maybe Friday?"
Me: "I do think that Friday would be an excellent choice for you, because you are one of the most loving people that I know, and you do share very well most of the time."

I love learning more about how my little guy sees himself, and I love that so much of his identity is wrapped up in having a family.