My little girl is starting to read and I love it. She absolutely loves learning and my favorite time of the day is when we sit down together and read books, or I type sentences on the computer for her to read. Her excitement is contagious. This also means it is getting trickier for the husband and I to talk in “code” (read: spelling things out) because soon she’ll put it together.
Quite a few months ago I witnessed quite the amusing scene when Diva started to ask her Dad why “close” and “clothes” was the same word. At first he didn’t understand what she was asking and in typical Diva fashion she became a little unglued. She pointed to the drawer and said, “Why is it CLOSE??!!” and then pointing to her shirt, “And CLOTHES??!!” Ooooooh. Gotcha. So he drew some pictures for her and explained it in a way that quelled her perplexity. (I still have a difficult time achieving this, mostly it ends with her getting fed up with my explanations and storming out of the room.)
She is curious about why people are shaped differently, some big some small, some bald some not and why some people are missing limbs, have birth marks, burns, deformities..etc. I do my best to take opportunities like this to explain to her that even though we all look different we are all Heavenly Father’s children and it’s important to treat everyone kindly and only say nice things to people, even if they are not nice to us. I want my children to be sympathetic, loving and kind which means I have to really step up my own game in those areas. I worry a lot about school and their future; what kind of friends they’ll have, what kind of choices they’ll make and their level of self esteem.
It’s one thing to help your child learn to read, it’s another thing entirely to shape them into the person you wish so much for them to become. Hopefully I’m on the right track.
But really, can’t they just stay little? Always? This is the kind of smiley, goofy, happy go-lucky girl I am with all day. It breaks my heart she won’t always be like this.
3 comments:
Dang, you're blogtastic this week!
T reacts in a similar way when I don't understand what he's asking, or if I don't give an explanation he deems adequate. Except he yells at me and starts crying instead of storming out of the room. They must be related.
I am loving how much you've been blogging lately. Keep it up.
Diva is brilliant and Munchkin is adorable.
i love your post. I feel the same way about them growing up and wanting to help steer them in the correct direction!
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