Saturday, March 10, 2012

The 24/7 Spelling Bee

I consider myself a good speller, unlike some of the members of my extended family.  My father's side of the family was blessed/cursed with what is known as the Bad Spelling Gene.    It seems to have skipped me, thank goodness!  I was spelling champ of my elementary school in sixth grade, a title which immediately earned me the undying enmity of the kids I stomped on my way to the top.  It was worth the extra beatings at recess to get that tiny little trophy!  To this day, it's the only respectable trophy I've ever won.

I could go on and on about how important spelling is to reading, but the fact of the matter is that most kids don't give a toss about how to spell words.  That's what spell checkers are for, I'm told, with no effort to disguise the eye rolling.  This makes me sad, because I like to show off my spelling trophy, but I try to keep my sobbing to myself. 

I was delighted, however, to find that my son appears to be just as fascinated by spelling as I am!  For the past week or so, he has been peppering us with questions the spelling of all sorts of words.  I couldn't be happier.  Particularly when Zane is asking his daddy how to spell everything.

"Daddy, how do you spell CAT?"

"Daddy, how do you spell TREE?"

"Daddy, how do you spell AIRPLANE?

"Daddy, how do you spell STAR WARS?"

"Daddy, how do you spell LIGHT?"

Isn't that cute? Larry is such a patient person when it comes to Zane.  Turnabout is fair play, I suppose. Occasionally it has been my turn to spell everything out.  I start out on a roll, enthusiastic, ready to throw those letters out there.  After about an hour, however, my attention has been divided by dishes and laundry and telephone calls and cats, and I can barely think anymore. Then I tend to get silly.

Mama, how do you spell  BLANKET?

"D-A-D-D-Y."

"Mama, how do you spell MAMA?"

"D-A-D-D-Y."

Mama, how do you spell SOCCER?

"G-O-A-S-K-Y-O-U-R-D-A-D-D-Y."

I'm a bad mother, I know.  It will be my fault that my son doesn't have his own spelling trophy.  I hope that he doesn't sue me, but I fully expect to be featured on an upcoming episode of whatever incarnation of The Jerry Springer Show appears twenty years from now.  

3 comments:

  1. He may not thank you for your spelling help, but wil be forever grateful for your sense of humor! :)

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  2. I think you'll have to throw chairs around your house and have sex with your sister's husband or something hideous like that to get on Jerry....I'm also thinking the phrase, "go ask your daddy" is perfect in this situation. Perfect.

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  3. The trick is to get him to KNOW when you're telling it wrong ... then you can pretend it's a game!!!

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I welcome comments, but reserve the right to correct your spelling because I am OCD about it!