Julie set up a reading schedule for the kids this month. Annabelle’s task was to read a book aloud each day for a week straight to receive a treat of her choosing. Elliott had to listen attentively to a book and summarize it’s plot each day for a week for his treat.
Elliott completed his assignment first and chose “ice cream with Daddy” as his treat.
After sitting down with our ice cream (frozen yogurt) I thought it would be good to remind Elliott of why we were getting this treat, so I told him how proud I was that he did his assignment so well and how well he was doing in school, etc, generally just taking the opportunity to affirm and love him.
After more talking and eating, Elliott asked for some water, which I realized had been left at home. I suggested we pack up the rest of our ice cream to finish at home and he agreed.
In the car, he asked me to say again how I was proud of him, so I expressed more pride and affection, thinking little of it, but just enjoying the rare individual time with my boy.
At home, as we were finishing up, I asked Elliott which part of the ice cream he liked best. We had loaded it up with sprinkles, caramel turtles, gummy bears, cherries, fudge, whipped cream… Without hesitation, and still eating, he said simply, “the love.”
