Mr. Write's Page

September 27, 2007:

I went over to Dustin’s place after supper tonight, and Maddie was outside, busily decorating the driveway with a piece of blue sidewalk chalk. Maddie is three.

After a while, she said to Dustin, “Dad, I wanna write my name.” Dustin sat down next to her, ready to tell her which letters and how to form them.

Instead, she proceeded to write, carefully and precisely, a capital letter M

…followed by a lower case a

…followed by a capital D.

Dustin and I looked at each other. This was a first. We both began encouraging her to add the rest of the letters.

Instead, she paused, backed up to the D, and began to fill it in solid. That done, she started drawing some loopy lines beneath the MaD. She said it had something to do with balloons.

While Maddie continued to chatter and decorate, I went into the house and got her mama, so she could see the partial signature. We went outside.

“So,” Leslie observed, “You’re three years old and you can write your name?” Maddie nodded energetically and continued decorating.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t get her to finish. Soon, the MaD was gone, decorated into oblivion.

But I’m telling you, it was a thing of beauty while it lasted.

A chalk creation by Maddie Smith.