HWC: Week 2, Day 6 (SB)

This entry is written by Sally Bennet

I noticed it’s been a while since Hare has updated his Wonder Child blog. Since he’s been so busy with his writing career, I asked him if it would be ok if I wrote an update. At first, he was like, “Well. Really. It’s best for scholarship if it’s all presented from a single viewpoint.” But then I told him about all the studies I’ve read recently that are from more than one participating person’s perspective and how this seems to be the current trend in a lot of scholarship these days, so eventually, he was like, “Ok. I think it’s a great idea. I think that posterity would love to hear your insights. Just be sure that you indicate in the title and at the top of the post that this particular entry is written by you.”

So, here I go. Wow, I have a lot of catching up to do!

“This is going to be one smart baby! I can tell already!”

Harrington has doted on Emma since the moment she was born.

He thinks we look alike, but then he looks at us both through love-colored glasses. In truth, she’s the spitting image of him! Same close-set eyes, same nose, same long face!

I love to see them together–carbon copies!

We decided that only one of us would work, and since we didn’t want me to work while I was pregnant and nursing, Harrington found work as a writer. It’s turned out so well! He’s doing really well with his career, and he still seems to have lots of time for Emma.

He loves to help her with her homework every day.

I loved my time at home while I was pregnant, reading, relaxing, listening to music, talking to the growing baby inside of me. And now, when Harrington’s at work and Emma’s at school, I love my days. I keep the house clean and the appliances repaired. I jog. I paint and read and cook. But sometimes, even though it’s just a few hours, I still miss my family so much, and I feel sad until they come home again!

I like taking selfies with Emma, so I can look at them while she’s at school. I know. I’m overly doting. But I can’t help it! I’m a mom.

Harrington’s also been really good at making connections for the family. When Emma was still a baby, he met Mr. Goth. Hare was really happy to have Mortimer as a family acquaintance, since the Goths are so influential in the education world. And Mortimer seems like a nice guy, so it’s ok with me, too.

Mortimer enjoys Harrington’s off-beat humor.

I’m trying not to take the whole “wonder child” thing too seriously. In fact, if we hadn’t signed the contract and accepted the 22K simoleans to take part, I’d want us to be a regular family. But then, of course, if it weren’t for being in the project, there would be no family! Hare and I never would have met, and we’d never have had Emma. Wow. That’s a mind-blower.

So, we’re in the project, and we’re committed to it. At the same time, I’m doing everything I can to make sure that Emma’s happiness comes first. I did a lot of reading on child development while I was pregnant (Maria Montessori, Piaget, John Holt, Rudolf Steiner) and most of the experts agree on the importance of play, imagination, creativity, and just letting children learn and discover through being children.

That’s what I’m trying to let Emma do.

She loves to cheer up her giant Teddy and tell him stories.  I love to watch quietly, enjoying seeing her just be a child!

Harrington wanted us to have her I.Q. tested right away. He thinks she’s a genius. And she may well be. But I persuaded him to wait. Just let her be a kid for now. She’s creative, we know that. So just let her enjoy her creativity and her play. There’s plenty of time for her to become a brainiac later.

But I didn’t count on the fact that she loves learning! She is so happy when she does her homework and her extra credit!

Just yesterday she said to me with a smile, “Mommers, when I finish this extra credit, then when I go back to school the next day, I will come home from school that day with a big juicy A!”

She said it like a rhyme! It was so funny.

Helping her with her homework is one of my favorite times of day.

Harrington and I both take turns helping her with her homework. It’s not because of the wonder child thing. It’s because we like to! We just like doing family stuff.

I love to see her drawings. I love to hear her play her violin. I love to watch her on the jungle gym and experiment with her chemistry table.

But the times I love the best are just the normal family times.

I love it when she came home from her first day of school and ran in to give me a big hug.

This is what makes everything worthwhile for me.

I love it when we sit together at breakfast–all of us in our pjs! (Well, except for Emma, since she usually stays up all night playing her violin.)

“Mommers, left-over pancakes are my favorite breakfast! But Pops likes the BLT and you like tacos, right? We’re a cool family that we can eat leftovers. My friends at school all eat froot-loops.”

I love that we are so close as a family that little Em doesn’t even get embarrassed when I start singing to Harrington a little love song, just out of pure happiness that I can’t keep inside of me! I know sometime she’ll be a teenager, and her parents singing to each other like this might be totally embarrassing, but I’m hoping that this real and true happiness we’re giving her–and that we’re giving each other–will last. No matter how she does as a wonder child, I am grateful that she is a happy child, and that our family–the three of us–provides a spot of true, lasting happiness here on this digital earth.

Breakfast always tastes good when it’s flavored with love.