The Lohr Family of Five: Savannah and Her Best Friend Jack Fischer

Savannah started talking a lot about Jack Fischer at the beginning of the school year. He was in her preschool class at Angel House this year.

Here is one of our first conversations about him.

“How was preschool Savannah?”

“It was great Mom. I played with Jack Fischer during all our free play time. Do you know he has a TV in his bedroom?”

“No Savvy I didn’t know that. How do you know that?”

“He told me Mom. Can I have a TV in my room?”

“No Savannah. At our house no kids will have TVs in their rooms ever.”

“Why not Mom? Jack Fischer’s mom doesn’t care if he has a TV in his room.”

“Well, Savannah that is great for Jack Fischer and his mom but I do care and kids need to read before bed and they need to get a good nights sleep and TV before bed does not help you get a good nights sleep.”

“But you and Daddy watch TV before bed. Every night.”

“Sav, what sounds good for dinner? Should we make spaghetti and garlic bread?” When all else fails or your kid has you in a corner change the subject to something that greatly interests your child. In Savvy’s case: food.

Her conversations with me about him became more frequent through the school year. Almost daily. She would tell me if he had a time out at preschool, if he made her laugh, if he made her sad. He was the only child she really ever talked about. Every once in a while Jack would be sick from school or would miss a day and she would talk about the girls she would play with. One day she said Jack invited her to his house for a playdate. That night his mom texted me. Chris and I had never let Savannah go anywhere without us or her grandparents so to us it was a big deal. Carrie, Jack’s mom is the nicest lady and is very involved in the school and church. She was very understanding of our concerns (because of what happened to Jack) and reassured me that seatbelts and safety were very important to her too. So Savvy went on her first playdate and came home so excited because she had the time of her life. Chocolate brownies with sprinkles, Batman costumes, Jack’s dog, all of her babbling words came out at the same time. That night Carrie posted the above collage that made me burst out laughing. Savannah is such a little tomboy and I really love it. We don’t do the princess thing. And I am so glad she is not interested in all that crap. And that doesn’t mean that we never put her in a dress or do dance classes or make her hair look pretty. It just means that we don’t call her “our little princess” or promote items that focus all on looking pretty and wearing high heels and tiaras and jewelry. Instead, we focus on good manners, excellent behavior, learning for school and outside play. She loves climbing trees, wrestling with her Dad, playing with Legos, and reading comic books about superheros. Batman is her favorite and we bought her a huge stuffed Batman and she sleeps with him nearly every night.