Monday, October 11, 2010

Tooth today, gone tomorrow

Is it bad mothering to admit there's one of your children you hate to see grow up more than the others?

I'm guessing so. But, it's so totally true in the case of my pixie.

My little Liv, who lost her first tooth, and is now sporting an empty gap which initiates her into the "kids big enough to loose teeth" group. All when she's so perfectly perfect being little.

While she's our child least like me, she's the child I most enjoy getting to discover. There's a zest about her that I hope never leaves. And while we have our moments, she's a joy to watch learn, grow and take on the world.

She placed the teeny, tiny baby tooth in waiting for the tooth fairy, then had to check on it a couple times before bedtime; tell it goodbye; and proceed to ask no less than two dozen questions about the tooth fairy and her methods. All these proof as to why I'd most like to keep her this way.

Tiny teeth are just the start of the tiny leaving her.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Spelling bee skillz

Granted, it's no Scripps National Spelling Bee, but it will provide some Saturday night entertainment. Plus, as an added bonus, it's fantastic p-r-a-c-t-i-c-e for Alena with her spelling words for the upcoming week (so far she's gotten perfect scores each week).

Introducing the kids to the concept of a spelling bee made for a novel idea to them, but has resulted in a great way to practice spelling that they see as a way to goof off and perform. Besides, the foot pedal on Alena's microphone which produces applause on demand adds a real-life effect when the speller answers correctly.

Our participants vary in their abilities, and the moderator chooses words accordingly. The current list of spelling words makes up Alena's turns at the mic (b-r-e-e-z-e/p-r-e-s-s); Alivia gets repeating word chunks (b-a-t/m-a-t/r-a-t); Alysse, our closed-eyes speller, gets the starters (c-a-t/d-o-g/A-l-y-s-s-e) with a new word thrown in here and there (l-o-v-e); and Trace, upon taking the stage, declares his own words (c-a-r/t-i-r-e-s/b-u-c-k-e-t) that we then have to spell letter by letter for him to repeat.

To date, the spellers haven't complained about the preferential treatment some competitors get. So far, so good.

We've held several of these living room bees and have yet to name a winner. I don't think it's yet occurred to them that a bee typically results in a top speller. But with them it's not about winning or losing, just pure F-U-N (well, that and the fake applause).