Over Spring Break this year, we traveled to Colorado to see family. Our air carrier of choice for the trip was Frontier Airlines. Half way through the outbound flight (just when the toys and books brought to distract the boys began to lose their luster), we were served warm cookies. It was delightful.
Heading back to Oregon on the return trip – we heard the rumor that Frontier Airlines had decided to stop serving cookies on its flights. My youngest son took this news very seriously. Upon take-off he asked for pen and paper and penned a quick note to the cabin crew. He held tight to the note throughout the flight and was visibly relieved when the cookies were finally served.
At the precise moment we received our cookies – my son handed his note to the flight attendant. The look of confusion quickly changed to a smile for the steward. “I’ll be sure to pass this along!” he told my son. My son nodded solemnly and then leaned back with a huge grin on his face, enjoying every single bite of that gooey, warm chocolate chip cookie.
I mention this event, as at the time it took every ounce of strength I had to conceal the pure joy I experienced watching this drama unfold. My kid was using writing to say something to someone. He was giving his opinion, trying to enact change, making his voice heard. He was not prompted by his mother, or his teacher, or an assignment from school. He was using writing on his own terms, for his own purposes. Later he even explained to me, “I used two exclamation marks to show that I really meant what I said!”
It just doesn’t get any better than that....
I mention this event, as at the time it took every ounce of strength I had to conceal the pure joy I experienced watching this drama unfold. My kid was using writing to say something to someone. He was giving his opinion, trying to enact change, making his voice heard. He was not prompted by his mother, or his teacher, or an assignment from school. He was using writing on his own terms, for his own purposes. Later he even explained to me, “I used two exclamation marks to show that I really meant what I said!”
It just doesn’t get any better than that....