Updated for letter readability!
I am down the hall from the kitchen.
I hear Joseph and Shaylea making lunch, talking, and having fun when Joseph asks her if Tico from Dora is a boy or a girl. Shaylea answers “boy,” but in a weird voice/accent/language that Joseph cannot understand.
He asks her again. She repeats herself in the same confusing manner. Joseph grows frustrated. This delights Shaylea, so she repeats herself to the point of utterly exasperating her brother until he growls, stomps, and beats her with his fists.
And all the while, Shaylea is laughing.
So.
I call them both to me, and I listen to their explanations of what occurred. I tell them Daddy will talk to them when he gets home. Shaylea, confident she did nothing wrong, skips off. Joseph melts into a puddle of tears and attaches himself to my legs.
Later, Daddy indeed gets home. He kindly and lovingly speaks to the children. He reads from the Bible on how we are to treat each other in families. The children feel the weight of their sin and repent to each other and to God. No one is yelled at. No one is spanked. Reconciliation abounds!
However…
As part of their discipline, Shaylea must spend some time alone in her room until dinner and cannot read her favorite book in bed that night. Joseph is banned from all electronic entertainment for a day.
So Shaylea goes to her room, and Sean sits on the couch to unwind. He flips through the channels (including one playing “The Simpsons”) until he remembers he has an episode of “Ice Road Truckers” recorded. Joseph wanders around the living room, forlorn but not in despair.
Shaylea, on the other hand, convinces herself from her room that she has been impugned. Armed with a pen and a feisty sense of indignation, she crafts this letter:
(front: click to enlarge)
(back: click to enlarge)
I will say that I love the use of hyperbole in her writing. This girl shows some real promise as a future blogger, don’t you think?!
































