joining the club

When Jonathan started kindergarten, the teacher had what she called the Zipper Club.  Being able to do up your own coat zipper is a big step of independence for little kids, so she would celebrate each child's achievement of this feat by adding his or her name to the Zipper Club.  As the year went on, the list of members got longer.

Jonathan didn't join the Zipper Club that year or the next.  It's been one of the hardest fine-motor skills for him to learn.  When you think about it, it's a bit of a challenge because in the warm weather kids rarely wear coats that need zippers, so they get out of practice.  And in the transitional seasons, depending on the weather changes, a kid might wear 2 or 3 different jackets in one week, so it's hard to get used to one zipper and then have to adjust to a different one.  Because they're certainly not all the same:  some jackets have left zippers, some have right; some have flaps over the zipper and some don't; some zippers have nice big rings to pull and others have tiny tabs; some are kind of sticky and some are smooth.  So Mr. O has worked consistently with Jonathan these past few years to master the coat zipper.  He even writes about it in Jonathan's agenda, "Jonathan got his zipper started once today" etc.

Yesterday it was cold enough for Jonathan to wear his Old Navy puffy parka that we got him last winter, and Mr. O wrote, "Love this winter coat!"  It is the perfect coat:  the zipper has no flap covering it, and it slides smoothly and easily.  And Jonathan is so proud at being able to do it all himself!  Welcome to the club, Jonathan!  And I think I'll go to Old Navy and see if they still sell that coat; if they do I'll get one in the next size up .. and the next .. and the next ...