masterwordsmith-unplugged

School's out. I finally have time on my hands to bond with my boy :-) and to encourage him to write again. If you have been following my blog, you would know that my younger son is an avid reader who devours books. Currently, he is reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon.

My Nick is now 13 years old. A teen. Not as easy to 'groom' as in the past.

I had my lecture this morning at college and was home by 1.30pm. After an exhausting two hour lecture, I drove home at breakneck speed eager to teach my boy what I had been trying to teach all my students - style in writing. As tradition would have it, I work with my boy during each school holidays on various writing projects. Over lunch, we talked about 'The French Connection' after which we did our chores.


Then the nagging started. :-)

"Nicholas!! Nichoooooooolaaaaas! Come and sit with me and let's do some writing," I shouted enthusiastically from the kitchen.

No answer.

"Nichooooolaaaaaaaaaaaaaas...."

He appeared.

And I was trapped. We talked about something else and soon after, he disappeared and I suddenly realized that I had been had.

:-(

He was upstairs in the twinkling of an eye.

"Nicholas, what are you doing?"

"Reading" was the soft reply.

My heart leapt. Happiness.

Reality check.

"Er what are you reading? (hoping to hear him say "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night")"

"My sejarah book" was the response. Faints.

History repeated itself.

"Nichooooooooolas, come here nowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!"

Thereafter, a most reluctant teen sat by my side as I went about checking for online art courses. I gave him a few instructions, showed him a sample, shared some tips and asked him to write a paragraph on cycling up the hill.

Ten minutes later, he said, "Mom, I'm done. And I did not read the example from your book. Here it is."

Me = stunned. The masterwordsmith has been dethroned by a thirteen year-old masterwordsmith in the making.

This is what he wrote (I corrected one grammar mistake and the structure of the penultimate sentence):

As I made way for the cars, I thought of the challenge I was about to face. It was between the hill and me. Visualising my plan, I broke into a sprint on my old bicycle. The feeling of the wind stroking my cheeks stained with sweat triggered a shiver down my spine. I knew that my plan might not work. Nevertheless, faith lit the way. From the peak, I felt ecstasy as I enjoyed the view of the unending rows of trees. Stunned by the beauty of nature, I got down from my bicycle and took a deep breath.

We are now working on a fictitious piece in the tradition of The Munsters (one of my favorite tv programs). More to follow later.

I am much better now. Thanks to all for your prayers and concern shown. Take care and have a great day!