3V1425.02 Writing: sending a letter through the mail
I have been doing my Christmas Cards. After a while, Peggy brought the piano bench over to the typewriter because she wanted to write a letter. She typed several lines on a piece of paper (I don;t remember what she said they meant — it was nothing straightforward and it was not a Christmas greeting) and pestered me for an envelope, which I finally got for her when I finished feeding Kate.
When I went out for the mail, Peggy followed me with her letter which she wanted to put in the mailbox for the mailman to deliver. I told her she had to say on the envelope who it was for, so the mailman would know where to take it. She looked exaggeratedly abashed and came inside. Grabbing a purple crayon, she asked me to spell “Margaret.” I told her then reminded her she should also say “From Peggy.” which she did. We got into the car, as I was going out to the Naborhood store for milk and on th way back, Peggy put her letter in the Maguire’s mailbox. [Later, when Billy called for Robby, I explained to him what that mysterious letter was, since I don’t think they could have deciphered the envelope.]
I forgot to mention above the apparent motivation for all this was stamps. I had asked Peggy not to fiddle with the stamps please, but she could play with the Christmas Seals, of which I had a good sized sheet. She thereupon asked if she could make a letter and put some stamps [seals] on it, and I said yes.. She took the sheet into the living room and carefully ripped most of the stamps apart. When it came to sealing her envelope, however, she apparently licked the stamp until all the glue was gone and it would not hold. I had her bring another seal and showed her how to do it.
Observations of her writing:
M is a vague snakey wiggle
P apparently comes out upside down
E looks standard, although sometimes it has four cross pieces.
R is made firmly, a circle first, then two legs.
In writing “MARGARET FROM PEGGY’ she did not ask how to make any of the letters.
Gretchen