My Clayton

A few days ago, a friend mentioned/accused me in an email of not giving Clayton enough air-time on my blog. She has known Clayton for a long time (she used to teach him, actually) and said she'd like to know how he's doing now and what he's been up to. The truth is, Clayton is my darndest-hardest kid to write/blog about. I don't really know why, but here are a few theories:

1) He occasionally reads this blog. So I feel like I need to be extra careful about what I write about him.

2) He doesn't do ridiculously funny things as often as the other kids. Well, he does. . .but. . . you'd have to know him to think it's funny. Which brings me to theory number three - the most likely theory of all:

3) I can give you a little snippet of Isaac or Briggy and you get a pretty decent picture of their general personalities. But if I told you, for example, that Clayton is a genius and missed only one question - scoring in the 99th percentile on the National Gifted Screening Test or that the office staff gloats over his SAT scores, you might get the wrong idea. Because you might not know that a few years ago, his preschool teacher (and administration) referred him to Special Ed. and would not let him re-register until he was tested for learning disabilities. Or that he got the Accelerated Reader Honor Award this year not because he's a brilliant reader but because he accidentally clicked on a 6th grade level test, took the test anyway - having never read the book, guessed, and got almost every question right. (apparently the school has no way of changing the score/points once it's saved in the system - Clayton had no idea he cheated). You might also get the wrong idea if I mention his (sometimes hilarious) conversation skills. For example, if you talk to Clayton on the phone there is a 90% chance that half-way through the conversation he'll ask you if you're done talking yet. And if you see him at the store and say, "Hello, dear." he'll look at you blankly and say, "Um. My name is Clayton." Or if you ask him matter-of-factly if he likes soccer, he'll think way way way too long and hard about it. If you know Clayton, you know what I mean - and you also know about his years of intense language therapy (and can appreciate how far he's come!)

But I love my Clayton. He is delightful, interesting, extremely principled, hard-working, and unbelievably kind-hearted. His perfectionist tendencies (hmmm, wonder where those came from - honey?) help and hinder him in school. He hates spelling things wrong, for example. And yet inventive spelling, at that age, is one of the best ways to develop creative writing and fluent reading. He is a stickler to rules - which his teachers adore. And is often found shushing ME in the hallway. He tattle-tales and lectures the other students on moral principles - which they can't stand. But his absolute sense of fairness and kindness make up for it. And he has a classroom full of friends.

Where he lacks in impromptu conversations, he makes up for in prepared speeches and talks. He recently auditioned and starred in the Kindergarten play as a "Gourmet Goat" - one of the only speaking parts.

Here are a few highlights:

He has also given several fabulous talks in Primary and a melt-my-heart Mother's Day talk in Sacrament Meeting - all of which you can see here.

He switched to a different (more demanding) piano teacher (and method) last month - which felt like starting over for him. And I am already exhausted keeping up with his new routine. But I adore those little fingers practicing - practicing away. . .
Here he is - before his lesson today - playing two of his newest (but not favorite) piano pieces. I had to bite my tongue (for the love of the film) and not call out, "don't rush. . . uh, uh, remember your piano hands. . . oops, it's a skip."

Clayton plays soccer like he plays chess. . . uhhh. . . which works well for chess. Our cheers have gone from "Go Clayton!" to "Don't think! Just kick!" He is definitely not the star of the team but has made some great plays this year just by (coincidentally) being in the right place at the right time. He loves soccer. Which makes me the happiest soccer mom around.



He also loves swimming lessons (especially diving and flipping), riding his super scooter with his gang of brothers and friends, and authoring books in his spare time (he just started this one yesterday. He has a horrible cough right now and is milking it for all it's worth - my favorite page is the detailed battle between the good and bad bacteria.) He is also more excited than Christmas to be getting a baby sister. He can hardly wait. . . and has already picked out a name: Abish. (which I'm pretty sure we'll renegotiate.)

hooray for invented spelling!
okay. . . so what! that he made a compound word out of two words he already knew.
It also looks like it started out as another Pirate book. . .you're right, kiddo - Viruses are much more interesting.

I love you, my Clayton. . . my Clayton. . . my Clayton.
My dark-haired baby boy that almost didn't make it.

My dark-haired six-year-old who asked me this morning if the red color in his vitamin is caused by iron oxide (iron what?) and informed me on our walk to school that when wood ants and fire ants come in contact with each other they almost always attack. And even though they're much smaller, fire ants usually win because of their persistence.
Hmmm. Profound observation, kiddo. . .

Well, Clay - I could never give you enough "air-time" to satisfy your fans (me included) but hopefully this will do for now.

Love you, Claydog.

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