Boogers on the Wall

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I am living in a never-ending spelling bee.

My four year-old son’s new obsession with letters, their sounds and word creation has catapulted all of us into an eternal how-do-you-spell _____________? game.

Sadly, I am slowly going insane.

The questions never cease. I can’t go an hour without him asking me how to spell something at least three times.

It wouldn’t be so bad if I were spelling three-letter, one-syllable words for him.

But it’s not just simple words. It’s not even just one word. Sometimes he asks me to spell complex sentences like, “I like playing with my Furby,” or “Luca is my favorite brother.”

It doesn’t stop at wanting to spell. He’s eager to read too. What does __ __ __ __ say? Is quickly becoming his second favorite phrase.

He’s noticing writing on everything – street signs, cereal boxes, clothing tags, you name it. He wants to know what the whole world is saying.

And deep down I am thrilled.

Luckily the spelling/reading is not falling on deaf ears. He’s soaking it all in like a sponge. He’s also regurgitating 90 percent of it back in verbal or written form.

He’s always toting a notebook and pen, ready and anxious to jot something down.
From hate notes to bad guys, to sentences about Spider-Man, he’s on a writing spree.

And although I am thrilled, sometimes I lose my patience. My brain is tired from spelling the title of every piece of furniture in our home, every type of food in our refrigerator and every character on my son’s favorite television shows. Twice.

But I have devised a plan. Now that he recognizes the alphabet, all 26 letter sounds and how to write each letter, I am going to teach him to spell. Then I’m going to teach him to read.

He can already write, “I love you,” as well as all of our family member’s first names. At Christmas time he learned that S-A-N-T-A spelled Santa and every paper I owned was tagged with the jolly man’s name.

He’s interested, he’s excited and he’s ready.

I figure teaching him is the only way I am going to end this real-life endless spelling bee.

Wish me L-U-C-K.