Jack's World

Jack has an interesting personality. He lives more in his own world than most people. He is very interactive with everyone around him, but often in trying to bring us into his world more than sharing ours. His world is very imaginative, but also full of rules, and very black and white. Here's a glimpse from Tuesday evening with Jack.

Jack, who is learning Spanish for the first time this year, was very proud of one of his spelling sentences that day. He started the conversation like this: "I wrote a 20 point sentence for spelling today, all in Spanish, with 20 words, two spelling words, and without even using the word and!" (Lots of hand flapping.) I asked him to write the sentence for me. Mi amigo tiene que recortar su dibujo porques es un dibujo muy mal con un problema de matemáticas que es inexacto, he wrote. I was really impressed. I asked whether the teachers wanted them to try to write long sentences and gave them one point per word. "No," he said, "I just like to count it that way. They don't care how long it is, or how many spelling words you use in one sentence. And they don't care if you use and, but that's too easy, so I don't like to do it myself." At this point he noticed that the sentence he had written on our white board actually had 21 words. (Lots of hand flapping, again.) "I wrote muy mal tonight. I didn't use muy at school. I wish I had thought of that before. That makes it even more points!"

Later that evening he asked if he could type something on the computer. I said yes. When he returned, he had a pile of "homework" worksheets that he had made. Elliot, ever the eager participant, got to do Jack's homework. Here is Elliot's completed (and graded - by Jack) worksheet.

Jack gave him a 15/20 on the homework, even though Elliot got all of the answers right! He prepared an answer sheet himself which showed all of the elements which were required to earn full credit on the assignment. Here it is.

When Ted came home that night, he had the following conversation with Jack:

J: Who's the best player on the Mosquitoes?
T: Jack, I don't know any of the players on the Mosquitoes.
J: Yes, you do! Come on!
T: Um, Angel Pagan?
J: Uhhhh, Dad. He's terrible!

Before Ted could try to guess again, Elliot shouted out a guess from across the room.
He was right. Of course.
He spends a lot more time in Jack's World than we do. Duh.

Quote of the Day

On our recent road trip to NJ, Jack spent a considerable amount of time pouring over our road atlas in the car. He's always loved the song "Wabash Canonnball", with it's long list of improbable Midwestern destinations.

(These Disney lyrics seem different from any of the other better known versions of the song, but all the more scintillating to Jack, with their lengthy list of stops.)

"Great cities of importance we'll see along the way,
Chicago and St. Louis, Rock Island so they say,
Springfield and Decatur, Peoria, Valvon,
(I'm not even sure that's what they're saying there)
You can reach your destination on the Wabash Cannonball.
This reindeer runs to Quincy, Monroe and Mexico
...
There's many other cities that you can go and see,
St. Paul and Minneapolis, Ashtabula, Kankakee,
The lakes of Minnehaha where the laughing waters fall,
You'll reach them by no other than the Wabash Cannonball."

He had successfully located many of the cities mentioned, but was stuck searching for Minnehaha. When Ted couldn't find it either, he grabbed his blackberry and did a quick search. This yielded the disappointing fact that Minnehaha, while the official name of a street, park, and body of water in Minnesota, is not a city, as Jack had believed. This threw Jack's mind into turmoil, forcing him to grapple with the fate of his beloved team, the Minnehaha Mosquitoes. (You can read more about the Mosquitoes by clicking on the label at the bottom of this post.) He said, quite alarmed, "Does this mean the Mosquitoes will have to change their name?"

A roster a day...

Jack and Elliot are once again fully engrossed in hockey. The Minnehaha Mosquitoes play daily. This keeps Jack very busy, working on their team roster and setting up their lines. The backyard has been reconfigured to accommodate fantasy games, where they play for every member of their team. Our small patio is just the right size for a one-on-one game, complete with blue recycling bin goals. And homework always gets done faster when there is a saved game just waiting to be watched.

Last night the boys went to a Bruins game with Ted. It was the first Bruins' win in any of the games they've attended this season. It was an exciting night, but that wasn't all. As one of their season ticket perks, they were invited to take a shot on goal out on the ice, after the game was over. Then, today, they played in their own first official hockey game. The Dorchester Chiefs took on Weymouth's Mighty Mites. It was a close game. They were edged out 6-5, but, both Jack and Elliot scored a goal! Both boys were incredibly excited to be playing an actual hockey game. And even though their team didn't win, they walked off the ice smiling ear to ear, already making plans for next weekend!

New to the Gallery...

No one wants to be left out of the early Christmas preparations in our house. Jack has added his list to the side of the refrigerator, alongside Elliot's.

He also informed me at breakfast this morning that he had just thought of a new palindrome - REDIVIDER - a person who divides repeatedly. Another jewel for our collection, delivered through a mouthful of mini-wheats.

Jack also brought home this wonderful painting from art class. It depicts an 8th inning game between the Minnehaha Mosquitoes, and the San Jose Fire. Minnesota is leading 7-2. There are 2 outs, and the count is 3-1 for this batter. You can click on the image below to see a larger version.

Mosquitoes Acquire Fire Rookie Pitcher

The rise of sports in our house this past year has been astonishing. Prior to last fall, neither Jack nor Elliot had any interest in sports. Then, we signed them up for Fall soccer. From there we went to Winter hockey. With that came an interest in, and later an obsession with the Bruins and the NHL. This Spring the boys tried baseball, and we now have two avid Red Sox (and Phillies) fans. Jack, ever the lover of independent and imaginary play, created his own fantasy team last winter: the Minnehaha Mosquitoes. The team was born during the height of hockey season, so began life as an NHL team. The players were friends and teammates of his. He filled pounds of paper with rosters, positions, statistics, game scoreboards, and more. He even designed a team logo. His team played imaginary games daily with other teams in its division. Some of the games took place entirely in Jack's head; other games were played out (with indoor hockey equipment) on our family room floor between Jack and Elliot. In those cases, Jack played for all the Mosquitoes, and Elliot played for his entire team, the Bruins. With the switch to baseball in the Spring, the Mosquitoes transitioned to Jack's fantasy baseball team. He again recruited his players from the ranks of his friends and acquaintances. This morning, we went to Barnes and Noble. Jack found an official baseball score book. I showed him how to keep score in the book, and he immediately set to work recording his first official 9 inning Mosquito game.

Until today, I would have said that I still knew more about baseball than Jack did. But, now that I've taught him how to officially keep score, it's no longer true. As I tucked him into bed a few nights ago, he mentioned that that day had been a big one for Minnehaha. The Mosquitoes had acquired a rookie pitcher from the San Jose Fire. He told me that the pitcher had not been doing well for the Fire, but had been pitching great ever since he joined the Mosquitoes. He also mentioned that ten days had passed, and the Mosquiotes did not have to give anyone back to the Fire. I kissed him good night, and congratulated him on the acquisition. But, I have no idea what he meant.