can my competition-mongering self be saved?

So I've got all these other blogs that I keep track of, mostly of other moms with some semblance of a relationship to my own situation, and I think that at times it is a very bad and dirty habit that I need to quit. There are several types; one is the rubbernecking, car-crash variety that I cannot drag myself away from because these people put each and every tiny element of their lives up there and, let's be honest, even if someone relatively smart did that, we could find things to be snide about and laugh at. But when it's a more mundane, white-bread suburban type who thinks they've got everything figured out and that we should all hear about it...I mean come on! Call the ambulance and alert the personal injury attorney 'cause that's just way too entertaining.

Also there is the flip side, which is the super-cool mother with the job I want, who writes like she's already been published in the New Yorker, who just so happens to have had her blog discovered and turned into a book, who just drops in little tidbits about her four-year-old beginning to read and all the super-cool, non-princess worshipping things she does, and I have to admit I'M JEALOUS!!! The mom has this uncanny ability to brag about her child without ever coming off as bragging so I must study her some more in order to effectively carry out the same slight of hand.

So all that being said, I am going to proced to shamelessly brag. Feel free to stop reading if you are not a close friend or Grandparent. If you are one of these, please leave a comment about our profoundly amazing children, as it just completes the whole self-gratification circle.

First the backstory: Sophie's big weakpoint so far in first grade has been her hand writing. Her teacher has been wonderful about first pumping us up with all of the talk about the deep content of her writing and her contributions to class discussions (first grade style!) The phrase she used, which I keep going back to, is that, "Sophie really gets it." Unfortunately her handwriting can be so illegible that nobody has any idea what she's getting. Her teacher (again, can't say this enough, love her) is careful not to emphasisze the handwriting so much that we squash her boundless enthusiasm for writing, and to some extent believes that she is so ambitious in her storytelling that she can't get everything out of her head and down on paper fast enough.

So with the thought that she could use some practice, we set her up with a lap board and some lined paper and asked her to write us some letters at night before she fell asleep. She chose to write poems. Each night she writes between four and five of them and each one takes her about ten minutes to write and illustrate. So now, without further ado, I present for your reading pleasure a poem by Sophie: (all spelling and punctuation in the original)

To Mom
From Sophie

a bowom by Sophie Hojnacki.

I was bon in Shcocol.
Lily was bon in Mishcan.
Grace was bon in cina.
You and Dad wr bon in indeino.
But naw we ol lef in the sam haws.
and that is ol that matrs.

In case you didn't quite get all of that, it goes like this:

a poem by Sophie Hojnacki

I was born in Chicago
Lily was born in Michigan
Grace was born in China.
You and Dad were born in Indiana.
But now we all live in the same house.
and that is all that matters.

Its companion poem from the same night is as follows:

to Mom

I am 7 ues old.
Lily is 4 1/2 ues old.
Grace is 3 ues old.
Dad is in the 20es
you are in the 30es.
We ol are dofrit acis,
But we ol liof togothr
and that is ol that matres

Translation:
I am 7 years old
Lily is 4 and a half years old.
Dad is in his 20's (hilarious!)
You are in your 30's.
We all are different ages,
but we all live together
and that is all that matters.

That is just a taste of the literary wonders that await us every night. As you can see, there is a distinct pattern and the subject matter is most always family related, but hey, they say to write about what you know. I'll leave you today with a few more deep thoughts by Sophie

To Mom
crismos sprcs

what a spris win I oping up my iac
to see ol of the prucis.
we sit togathr.
we plue games togathr
and that day is a spris for Grace

Christmas surprise

What a surprise when I open up my eyes
to see all of the presents.
we sit together.
we play games together
and that day is a surprise for Grace.

ocis are frooets. just like bnanas.
cade cas are a swet. just like cookes.
cracrs are populr. just like froot snacs.
foods are got for you.

oranges are fruits just like bananas
candy canes are a sweet just like cookies
crackers are popular just like fruit snacks
foods are good for you