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Kindle Notes & Highlights
Being away from family and free to be home make him happy
“Oh?” said Dibs. He came over to me and quickly, silently touched my hand.
Interesting
Then he spoke in a sharp voice. “Get in line, cow. Straighten up. You heard me speak to you. Don’t act like such a stupid idiot!”
I bet that is how his dad speaks to him
“The pretending that is all right to pretend,” he said. “And the pretending that is just plain foolish.” He stood up and walked over to me. “And sometimes they get so mixed up you can’t tell which is which,” he added. “I’m going to stop by the doctor’s now.
Note
But why did he still maintain these two completely different types of behavior — one so gifted and superior, the other so woefully deficient?
He likes to sing
He replaced this jar and picked up the red paint. He brought this over to me, held it up, cupped between his hands. This time he spoke the words emphatically. “Oh red, angry paint. Oh paint that scowls. Oh blood so red. Oh hate. Oh mad. Oh fear. Oh noisy fights and smeary red. Oh hate. Oh blood. Oh tears.”
He lowered the jar of red paint in his hands. He stood there silently, looking at it. Then he sighed deeply, replaced it on the easel. He picked up the yellow paint. “Oh mean colored yellow,” he said. “Oh angry, mean color. Oh, bars on windows to keep out the tree. Oh door with the lock and the turned key. I hate you, yellow. Mean old color. Color of prisons. Color of being lonely and afraid. Oh mean-colored yellow.” He put it back on the easel.
“This is a fine kettle of fish!
Smart
Interesting
Cute
He washed the dishes carefully, rinsed them, dried them. “Did you ever see such beautiful dishes?” he asked. “The dishes are like what Grandma sent because Dibs left his toy farm animals with Grandma and she sent them to Dibs by mail.”
His grandma was the one that was always nice to him and he was close to. The mother had told the lady
“Yes. Oh, yes! And on May twelfth Grandma comes home!” Dibs announced. He looked at me, eyes shining, a big smile on his face. “Grandma comes home,” he repeated. “Be glad!” he exclaimed. “May twelfth and grandma comes home.”
Note
Interesting
In this play, Dibs was expressing a desire to be one with other children.
I bet he’s not allowed to be messy at home
“It’ll be an eight-minute tea party,” he announced. “We will use our good tea set, today.” His tone of voice changed. It became restrained, a little on edge. He imitated perfectly the precise inflection and expression of his mother’s voice.
“If there is to be a tea party we will do it properly,” he said. “Yes. There will be tea. A little tea in each cup, then fill it up with milk. That is too much tea. I said a little tea in each cup, then fill it up with milk. If you want more water, that will be all right. But no more tea. And no arguments.” He spooned water into each cup. “Cup six has too much tea,” he said, with a note of severity in his voice. “Please remove some of the tea from cup six and follow my instructions more accurately. And that is enough sugar for children. Enough sugar. It should not be necessary to repeat
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How he must be spoken to at home
His manner became meek, subdued, quiet as he drank his tea in the little cup.
he said in a tight, precise voice.
imitating voice
Children should not have too much sugar. Take your elbows off the table. If there is any more fussing, you will go to your room. I will — lock you — in your room.”
That is so abusive to lock a child away because they become to much for you to handle
He folded his hands carefully on the edge of the table. “You must eat the toast carefully,” Dibs’ voice went on. He reached across for the toast and upset one of the cups. He sprang up from the table, a frightened expression on his face.
Fear
“Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” he cried.
Poor boy
“Stupid people make accidents!” he shouted. There were tears in his eyes.
I wonder if that was said about him since he was an unplanned pregnancy a.k.a. an accident
His voice choked on the tears. This had been a very real experience to him.
I like how she didn’t call the boy who made the accident Deb’s that she made a separate person to give him comfort
I wonder if his mother forced him to have like a birthday party and he made an accident and he got severely punished for it with how he’s behaving I am based on the imaginary tea party he had
Dibs came over to me. “Let’s go down to your office,” he said. “Let’s get out of here. I am not stupid!”
The pretend party became too real for him and now at that moment the playroom is soiled for him and he wants to get away from the ups set
Note
Dibs had successfully weathered this storm. He had discovered a strength within himself to cope with his hurt feelings.
Dear Dibs: I washed the tea set and I closed the drain. I had a party. Children were there. With love. Me.
I love this
He leafed through it until he came to April eighth. He drew a circle around the eighth and wrote his name on that page of the calendar. “April eighth is my birthday,” he said. He leafed through the calendar, singled out another date and wrote “Mother.” Then on another dated sheet, he wrote “Papa.” Then on another he wrote “Dorothy.” “These are the birthdays of Mother, Papa, and Dorothy,” he told me.
He wrote “Grandma” on it. “Papa’s birthday and Grandma’s birthday are on the same day,” he said.
“I’m going to erase this off,” he said, pointing to “Papa.” “You are?” “No,” he said, with a sigh. “No. That will have to stay on, because it is his birthday.” “Whether you want it there or not, it is his birthday, h’mm?” “That’s right,” Dibs said. “And he needs it.”
“He needs it. I need it,” Dibs said.
“There are no blank days in the year,” he said. “They all have a number and a name and they belong to somebody.”
What an interesting way to look at a calendar
Obvious obviously that’s some more cultural capital those parents taught him that when you do things formally is listed and organized by last name rather than first
Awww he made her a special card
Big word for an elementary can
Worried about his mom?
Note
He pulled the calendar toward him and leafed through it. He turned to the current day. “This is today,” he said. “I will put a big X on it.” “An X on today?” I said. “Why?” “Because it is my most important day,” he said. “Why is today an important day for you?” I asked. “It is my most important day,” he said quite seriously. “I know.”
He walked up to me, touched my hand shyly. “Goodbye, Miss A,” he said.
