Excerpts From a Six-Year-Old's Journal

One of Yikealo's daily school activities is practicing his handwriting. Our method of doing this involves him writing a few sentences on a topic of his choice in his journal. Sometimes he wants me to give him an idea or a sentence starter, and other times he comes up with his own thought, but regardless of the beginning, the results are nearly always somewhat entertaining. This is purely free-write time for him, so we rarely spend time correcting grammar or spelling. Rather, it is just a chance for him to get thoughts down on paper. Besides, it's really interesting to see where his brain goes, and the mis-spellings make it way more fun for me! :-)

A few entries for you to enjoy:
"Something Captan America is my fafrit toy becaus he is vary strong and he can cut sumbtys arm off and he has a cool stand. I like America because it is a fry cachry." (That's free country for those of you who have trouble deciphering little boy writing.)

"My favorite anumals are cheetahs and lions but my favorite anumal is a clodid leprd (clouded leopard) becas it has a blend in trees and they hunt other anumals."

Notice the actual "cloud" on the "clodid leprd's" back...

Along those lines: "If I had a magic ring I would turn my self into a cladid leprd. Then I would eat Mom and dad and my brother. Then I would brf Mom and dad and my brother." Just what I want...to be eaten and then "brfed."

"If I could choose my name I would be called Batman. That is a cool name because I like bats. I would nevr haft to stand in the corner because Batman is a good man." After this entry, I attempted to persuade him that someone named Yikealo could also avoid standing in the corner with good behavior, but he wasn't convinced.

On a day when Mom was being particularly unfair by making him do school and eat fruit: "If I were five years older I woud be 11. I woud plae the cumputr all day. I woud eat candy all day long."

"School would be better if we did not have math or fonix. I do not like speling or riting. I wish I could paint in art evedaye." I think we'd better continue with the "fonix, speling and riting," don't you agree?

"If I were very small I would snecke up moms back becus mom wood screme and howl. I would whisper in moms ear and giv mom goos bumps. I cood clim into dads pocit so I cood go to wrck."

"The best kinde of pet is a lisrd. I wood let him out uv his caje and let it clim moms shrt becus mom wood screm. I wood play with my frend."

"If I could breack the guinness Book of recrds it would be for being the fasts mostrtruck. I would driv 3000 books tol. If I got in enee trafick I would go ovr the cars." This one took me a bit to decipher, and I had to ask what he meant by "3000 books tol." He said, "Remember when we read about the giant who was 3 books tall?" Me: "Aha! Do you mean 3 stories tall?" Y: "Yeah, that's what I said."

"If I could decorate my room anyway possible I would put a jacalatrn covrd like a spitre. I would hoold it if I cood nevare slep. Sintae would be so scard that mom would haft to lae dawn with him all nite." Nice.

That week he was apparently all about scaring his little brother, because the next entry is: "If we never slept I would mack Sintae scared bi macinge a moster out of paper. I would trn off the lites and cepe the holwae lite on. I would cepe a litall crac opine and then I would ras up my mostr."

"If the ocean was made of jelly I would wunt to eat the jelly. Well not ol of it. I would get a tumy ake. Then if I had a wotr bord I would ride it. The best thing would be geting stuck in the jelly. Skish skish."

"If I could be invisible I would giv pepale wejys. I would all so giv pepale jokes. Then when the day was ovre I would go to bed and slepe."

"I am skared of a Chedae becus if it thot that I was a tasty snack it mite chase me. When I got tiyred I would let it chase me. When it got close to me I would jump back wrds and land on it's back and then it would be my horse."

Once in awhile he shows amazing insight and gets a little more serious, as in these entries:

"My farvite is God becos he helps me doo good at scool like a good boy. With God nuthing is posubl. He did for my sins."  Too bad he forgot the "im" in front of "posubl."

"When I was at Ethiopia I didn't have very much muny. When mom and dad udoptdid me I was scard. I bet when mom and dad udoptdid Sintay he was scard to."


This past Monday, we talked briefly about Martin Luther King Jr. and his work for civil rights. We listened to part of his "I have a dream" speech. That afternoon, Yikealo wrote this: "I think Martin luther King is speshol to me becus I'm free. Why wuold sume body wunt to shoot him? I think I no but who did it? It was some budy white. I think he did it becus he didint wunt brown pepol to be free."

He doesn't always limit his creativity to his own journal either. After one particularly rough day with Sintay, I found this written in the notebook that I keep in my purse: "My brusr isint the best I think, mor like I wish I cood sel him for 0 dolrs." These touching sentiments were accompanied by this picture:

David and I are at the bottom, waving "biy" to Sintay with sad looks on our faces while Yikealo stands over us with a smile and a hammer. Sintay is happily holding hands with his new family as they walk to their car to drive away. Lovely. Needless to say, we had a long discussion on the story of Joseph being sold by his brothers. Maybe I should take comfort in the fact that at least Y wasn't planning to profit from selling his own brother?