Writing and Reading and Stuff

Writing:
When we play outside with chalk at home, I often draw "stop lines" (with the word STOP) on the sidewalk where the boys are not supposed to go alone. They are approximately one house away in both directions. I also draw a stop line on our driveway to remind them to not run out into the street.

Yesterday we took our chalk to the park when we went to play with our YEA! friends. DS1 asked me how to spell "stop". I told him, then he asked me to spell it slower. I spelled it slowly. A few minutes later he beckoned me to come see what he wrote. He had drawn a line across a sidewalk that connected the playground area to the nearby building. He wrote "STOP" with a bunch of vertical lines after it. The S and P were both backwards, but one of the other kids recognized that it said "stop". This is the first time that I am aware of him writing something completely of his own accord.

And Reading:
We have a book from the library called Clifford's Riddles. I have read it to the boys many times. Now DS1 reads it to me. He and DS2 have memorized the riddles and the answers, but I think DS1 is actually reading not just reciting the riddles because sometimes... he... says... one... word... at... a... time. Also, sometimes before reading a riddle, he will ask me one of the words.

Two weeks ago my nieces spent most of Saturday with us. The older cousin just finished kindergarten. She can read. I noticed something different between how she read the book and how DS1 read the book. She read almost the entire thing by herself the first time she picked up the book. However, when confronted with a word she didn't know or couldn't sound out, she skipped the riddle and went to the next one. She didn't ask for help. It happened twice, on the same riddle. This difference might be due to personality differences, but I wonder if it might be related to her having been in a school classroom for 9 months.

And Stuff:
My two sons are between my sister's two daughters in age. We trade babysitting, we trade parenting tips, and we trade kids' clothes. When we go out to eat after church with them, my DH jokes about his harem. I think DSis and I are particularly close because our mom died before either of us had kids, so we can't call Mom for advice. We have found other moms for support and advice, including each other.

It is very rare that I mentally compare our children. I remember when DN1 got a bike at her 4th birthday party, thinking that DS1 wasn't any where near ready for one. He's 5 & still doesn't have one, but I think he is actually physically big enough and strong enough for one now. DN2 is 6 months younger than DS2, but she is practically toilet trained (DS2 isn't). She also weighs so much less than him that she feels like a feather when I pick her up. The physical differences are pretty easy to ignore and attribute to "everyone grows and matures at their own rate". But the reading difference struck me. Not that DS1 might be "ahead" (compared to DN1 at his age) but at the reaction to an unknown word. I don't like thinking "It's because she's in school", "Is she already afraid of being wrong?", and "Is she embarrassed to need help?", but those are the thoughts and questions that popped into my head. It's really hard to not judge and not think "our way is better."