I was told yesterday by the little guy's enrichment teachers that he needed more practice with his writing skills, as he got frustrated trying to write down the answer to a specific question put to him in class. All right, we can do that. There are currently some whiteboards floating around this house on which the kid can use dry marker to his heart's content.

However, today, I checked my son's cubby to find this bit of parent affirmation on the back of a writing exercise:

This is a mighty flattering note for me and my poor car (repairs tally in $$$ is over $4,000 now), but the fact that I'm smart enough, good enough, and, doggone it, my child loves me is second fiddle to one big fact:

The kid can write, and he can do well when he wants to.

The trick is getting him to excel when he doesn't want to...