love letters (or like letters)

to prepare for valentines day one of my classes had them draw names to write one friendly letter (we've also been studying letter writing). my bff drew pixie (he actually went through the names until he found hers... in the world of 'pick your battles' it was far easier for everyone involved to just let him pick).

the first day he was suppose to write her a valentine he made her elaborate heart masks. they were really quite incredible and fairly detailed. he immediately bounded over to her while she was in reading group and thrust them into her hands. these are suppose to be secret valentines and the children do not reveal who they have until friday. the secret part did not seem to stick with my bff.

pixie immediately looked at the red hearts and said, "oh thank you, but actually, i will only like them if they have lipstick". ???

so my bff, unphased, took them back and distributed them to others in the school.

yesterday i decided we had to actually write a letter to pixie so she wouldn't be left out of the exchange. i set the letter up for my bff (knowing how hard it has been to force him to write friendly letters) leaving blanks for where he could say what he liked about her, ask her what she likes, etc. this is what i gave him:

dear pixie,
do you like ____?
i like how you ______.
your friend,
bff.

very simple, but would let pixie have something to take home. i sat down, fearing this would be a long exchange. this is what i got (with very little prompting and the best, the BEST writing i've seen him do all year!!)

2-21-90
dear pixie,
do you like toys?
i like how you very smart.
you love me, right?
i like you.
your friend,
bff


while we wrote this pixie peered over his shoulder, trying to tell him the answers to the questions. (i sent her to her center where she continued to stare at us as we wrote.)
i couldn't believe the spaces he left between his words- the effort he put into listening to the sounds in the words- and how coherent it was. who knew writing a letter to pixie could be so motivating!

we read it to everyone in the world on the way to the copy machine so i'd have one for his files. when we arrived back in the classroom he immediately thrust it into pixie's hands and read it to her. my heart just about burst as i watched pixie and my bff with their heads together, reading the love-like letter.

there was no answer on the 'you love me, right?'

such a typical male- assuming while you may love me, i only like you.