Mom: If you could do anything, what would be it?
Monty (age 4): I like to play with my brothers ’cause both of them are big. I like games and batman toys, balls, and “for pretend” typewriting and writing and drawing and pretend eating.
Ed (age 7): If I could spend lots of time doing stuff, it would be playing out on the swing or the ring with our new neighbors ’cause it’s very fun and exciting but it’s more fun with them than by myself. I don’t like being alone. I get lonely. I like being with just a few people.
Sam (age 9): If I could do anything, I would play with Legos and read TinTin books and drink a concord fruit punch all at the same time!
Mom: What kind of books do you like?
Monty: TinTin, Berenstein Bears, and How Things Work.
Ed: I like mystery books, books on scientific progress, Calvin & Hobbes, and scary ones — but only in the daytime.
Sam: I most like to read adventure books like TinTin, the Redwall books, and Little House on the Prairie.
Mom: What kind of career do you want?
Monty: I’d like to drive cars and give people tickets at the movies and giving people pieces of paper when they want to draw and write things.
Ed: For a career, it’s science. I’d like to put together potions and I’d put together chemicals to see if they would hurt little kids or blow up or something. But I wouldn’t want to make medicine because you can’t make any money at that. If I thought something might blow up, I’d wear a special suit and, if it DID blow up, I’d the tell the newspaper because some people might up chaos.
Sam: When I get older, I’d like to be a mechanic or an engineer on computers, airplanes, spaceships or helicopters.
Mom: What are your hobbies?
Monty: My hobbies are having candy and my rock collection.
Ed: My hobbies are science and playing.
Sam: My hobbies are TinTin, Legos, drawing, and building.
Mom: What would you like to learn to do?
Monty: I would like to learn to paddle a canoe fast, to learn to write, to not pinch people and hurt them, and to reach my candy after lunch.
Ed: I’d like to learn to climb upside down, climb, and dance in front of people when they’re smiling and laughing.
Sam: I’d like to learn to cursive write all the letters of the alphabet, paddle a kayak straight, and beat my dad at chess, I’d also like to learn to cook some foods I really like to eat like brownies, lasagna, clam chowder, macaroni, and chocolate chip cookies.
Mom: What do you do when you are bored?
Monty: When I’m bored I eat lunch or get a snack or ask for food when we’re visiting people.
Ed: When I’m bored, I don’t know what to do. I’m usually not bored! I like to hear music or go outside if I don’t have anything to do.
Sam: When I get bored, I usually tell my mom, but if she can’t help me I go play with Legos, read TinTin, or I might even take a nap. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night (like 6 nights out of 7) and I lie there bored waiting for morning. Sometimes I lie there pretending I’m playing with Legos or remembering parts of TinTin. Because I sleep on the top bunk, I can look out the window to the bayou and if I see it’s getting light, my hopes rise and I know that soon I won’t be bored any longer.
Mom: How good are you at finishing jobs?
Monty: If we’re having lunch, I set the table and I finish the job. When I make my bed, I finish the job.
Ed: I only finish jobs that are interesting. If the job is boring or the boss is dumb, I’ll probably quit. If the job were boring but my boss was my friend, I would probably do it. But I can’t be the boss because I don’t have enough money to pay anybody to work for me. But I would like to work so I can get some money but I’m not strong enough to work on buildings.
Sam: Finishing a job? It depends on what the job is: if it’s picking up all the sticks in the backyard, I’d probably finish it. If it was pricking up the pine needles, probably not. If the job’s too impossible, I probably won’t finish it.
Mom: How do you like best to learn?
Monty: I want to learn from my teacher at my school very far away. Ed told me how to really drink water. Ed teached me how to pedal my bike. Mommy teached me how to write. Daddy teached me to wrestle.
Ed: I like to learn new things with my friends or by myself.
Sam: I like to learn new things from my parents, from my friends, brothers, and alone.
Mom: What are the most fun things you like to do?
Monty: Ride a train, turn on the lights that are very high on the ceiling, turn heavy things that turn upside down, put my pajamas on, make a house out of bricks and paint, and take a bath.
Ed: The most fun thing I like to do is discovering. I also like diving, swimming, riding my bike, and swinging on our neighbor’s swing.
Sam: I have the most fun playing with Legos, reading TinTin, pretending things are live, kayaking, going on camping trips, drinking Concord fruit punch, eating clam chowder, swimming, playing chess, Risk, Pente, and Monopoly, exploring, skiing, sledding, playing things with my brothers, listening to music, and making music, playing with our neighbors, caving, hiking, cooking sometimes, playing with old electrical junk, climbing, making forts, visiting old friends, having map quizzes, watching animals, riding my bike, watching space shuttles take off on TV, playing with costumes, and drawing in my squiggle book.
Thanks Mom and Dad.
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