I Wonder What Happens if I Spell Em Eye See Kay Eee Why
I am a fairly good speller. Sure, I've gotten lazy and rely on Microsoft Word to auto-correct some words, but back in grade school? I totally won more than one spelling bee. I even went to State one year. I would tell you what word I finally lost out on during the second round of the oral spelling finals, but I don't remember what it was. I know it had something to do with some sort of Native American house, but that's where the traumatic memory ends (losing sucks, yo).
So why am I having so much trouble with the spelling bee that is life with a toddler?
We are absolutely in the midst of the Repeats-It-Alls. While we have, thus far, managed to dodge the cussy bullet (can I get a WOOHOO!), there are still some words that are not technically cusses, but that I would rather not have the Toddler running around reciting. It sucks. And, yes, that is one of the words she doesn't need to say.
Even worse is when I say something that is SUPER EXCITING to Alexis, and when I do it completely oblivious to the fact that she has ears and can hear me. There is a long laundry list of words that are traps: Disney, Mickey, Pink, park, slide, gymnastics, french fries, noodles, Spanish, baby, pajamas, and Penguins just to name a few. It doesn't matter the context, it doesn't matter where Alexis is, if she hears one of the trap words? We are absolutely going to go down the path of a random Toddler conversation, and odds are it's not going to end nicely.
For example, if Mr. Husband and I are stupid enough to discuss last weekend's Penguins game? We had better spell a whole lot of words in every sentence. If we don't, the Toddler is going to turn the conversation into how she wants to go to a game. Now. SHE SAID NOW! And meltdown . . .
I really need to practice spelling every single word I say.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Reader Comments (34)
Just wait til she learns what those words mean! I'm starting to run into that. Which is NOT good.
Can I call and say Penins? Or Geno?
I can't spell outloud to save my hide. Its cool though, because neither can Jon. We just spell in ebonics.
Isaac could read WAY too early for this game. He started rolling his eyes at four when we spelled things out.
Did I ever tell you about the time I was trying to fit a large bridal shower cake into my fridge and blurted out "give me a f*cking break!" only to have it repeated back to me verbatim...from my toddler son standing behind me?
Good times.
i have been known to have let slip an inappropriate word or two in my child-rearing life. now i learn most of my "good" words from the kids....
sometimes they spell in front of me these days.
*L* so fuuny! We have to do that with our dog too. It never ends. smart as she is she'll figure that spelling trick out in no time but maybe by then she'll have moved on to some other phase equally buggin' and give you a rest from the trap word meltdowns.
My mother-in-law still spells things out sometimes like we can't figure it out or something. Before you know it, spelling it out won't work!
Heh. Yeah. Eventually you just let it all hang out. Fortunately my language is never bad enough to have to temper. But the trap words - good luck with that!
And then one day they learn to spell and you still need code. And you're in trouble because pig latin is just too hard on a consistent basis. And weird in public.
I won't even tell you how long it took me to sound out your post title. Just know I was sitting at my computer, brow furrowed, mouthing "emmmm eye..." like a big honkin' dork.
Y'know, I REALLY miss the ability to spell things out. We had to drop that little trick now that Miss O can spell better than we can.
I haven't found a good replacement for it, either. I thought, "Oh! Pig Latin! That's perfect!" but then realized that Miss O can understand it while DH cannot. *headdesk*
Well, I don't know if you taught her baby Sign, but ASL (American Sign Language) is a great way to get around it! :-)
...provided your husband can actually RETAIN what is what! It's really handy in music concert situations.
Amber--She knows more signs than we do. We would be absolutely busted.
lol we can't say 'Elmo' anymore. It incites way too much excitement and pointing towards the tv and thrusting the remote in our faces. heh.
yep... and then, just as you become a completely awesome speller- she will learn to read and your new skill will go completely out the window. These are SAD times we live in. Simply Sad...
D-A-N-G, maybe she won't learn to S-P-E-L-L for a couple of years yet.
LOL! That little super hearing can work in your favor, you know. Get a copy of the first season of the Muppets. Find the episode with "Mah Na Mah Na" on it, watch JUST THAT PART about a bajillion times...then, any time, any where you say, "Mah Na Mah Na", she'll let out with the sweetest "Doob dooby dooby"
It almost makes losing the spelling factor bearable.
Picture this: Mother's Day, 2005. Also DH's birthday. We're having cake. Oldest Boy drops his piece of cake and then drops the "F" bomb. In front of my parents. And my MIL. And my SIL. I said, "We don't say 'f*ck'." He says, "Daddy say f*ck." At least it got me off of the hook!
SO, I read your title three times before I finally figures out what you were spelling, haha. I am definitely the one in the family that can't spell, oh how I love spell check.
Another smiling at the camera shot!!!
I L-O-V-E I-T!!!
Oh do I get this...There are soooo many words we can't say. Cake, Disney, Super, Pizza, Television...and on and on...
What on earth is she eating in that picture?
Love the spelling stage, except they tend to learn to spell that much more quickly. The smart little demons ;-)
We have trap words around here, too.
This is especially tough for me, because I am a HORRIBLE speller! I'm going to have to work on my pig latin or something.
I totally SUCK (nice word usage, huh?) at spelling out loud. Sometimes I will try to spell a word and the hus looks at me like I am stupid. Because in that department, I seem to be...
Good luck with the spelling!
LOL I have to do the same thing with the dog. That or pig latin.
Great post! I think everyone with young kids can relate. My brain works a lot slower these days, and spelling words out loud hurts.
I had a flashback of spelling bees in 2nd grade. I always knew how to spell every darn word, but I didn't like everyone looking at me, once you misspelled one you sat down. There I would be, trying to decide when to throw it. Then I would sit there mad at myself.
What are you going to do when she learns to spell?
I always screwed up and spelled the wrong word, saying the "bad" word. Probably why my kids are the way they are...
Just wait until she starts reading. Your days are numbered my friend. ;-)
Happy is learning to spell very quickly from the older kids. "Can we go o-u-t?" and "can we watch a m-o-v-i-e?". He's picking it up pretty fast.
Even my four year old knows what
c-a-n-d-y is... and also v-i-d-e-o
How bad is it that I had to WRITE OUT "Em Eye See Kay Eee Why" just to figure out what you were spelling?! LOL.
We've decided to speak in code here. No more spelling...the five year old put an end to that once she figured out p-o-o-l, p-a-r-k, and b-r-o-w-n-i-e-s.
So, we sometimes say the word backwards instead...except for 'park' becomes 'krap'. :o/
For me it's dog. Yes, already at 14 months. If I say the word "dog" around Sumo he gets really excited and makes dog sounds (which include panting noises) and searches for the nearby dog.
I GOTTA get that kid a bully.
Just wait until she can spell, then you are really screwed!
4th place - Junior High Spelling Bee 198x. I mispelled 'Dietetic'. To this day, I have never needed to spell that word, unless telling the story of my spelling bee heartbreak....
Oh - and my kids are always asking "What does that spell" - I just tell them "If I wanted you to know, I wouldn't have spelled it!!
I figure I don't have much more time to get away with this, they are gettig older and learning to read/spell stuff - and then I've got Possum (14), who will repeat out loud the word I just spelled. Like it was somehow a puzzle for him to decipher, and isn't he so smart?? And doesn't that defeat the purpose of me spelling it if he's just going to tell them what it was???
oh sorry - I got off subject. Why is it I always end up rambling like a crazy woman whenever I come to play at your blog??
While you're at it, you may want to learn many foreign languages. That Alexis, she's a smart one. Before you know it, she'll know that P-E-N-G-U-I-N-S means "Cindy" and you'll wind up with the same issue again.