Spelling

"D-N-O-R-D-A. What does that spell? Did I spell a word?"

Those are the questions I have been asked dozens, even hundreds of times each day for the last month or so. Doodle Bug has discovered spelling. Though he has been five for several months now, he won't start Kindergarten until this coming fall, and he is way beyond ready to go. We're talking space shuttle final launch sequence ready to go.

His latest "I am ready for school" manifestation is spelling, but he has also been eager to try his hand at adding, subtracting, and writing as well. The spelling frenzy is the easiest to indulge in though; you don't need paper or writing implements. You just spell things. Most of the time it's a fun game we can play together and it's always beautiful to see his mind soaking all this information up like those little pills that turn into dinosaur sponges when you add warm water that he's so fond of.

Sometimes though, the comparison to the sponge dinos doesn't make it past the pill part. Like right now, for example. "What does this spell if I add an N? How do you spell THE END? What does this spell? How do you...???" See where I'm going with the pill part?

At times like this, I always hear the voices of all the moms whose kids are grown and gone now. They always listen to my grousing about whining and repetitive questions and the insatiable curiosity of my kids. And then they gently smile and remind me that they (the kids, not the moms) grow so fast and before I know it, they'll be off in college and then I'll miss these days.

I know they're right. I thought just this morning how crazy it is that I'll have TWO kids in elementary school in just a few months. They DO grow up fast. But right this second, as I have to keep going back and deleting the typos and wrong words because Doodle Bug is climbing up my arm and onto my shoulder as he grills me about the best way to spell "Invatengialangel" (I don't know what that is and neither does he, so don't ask. He just liked the sound of it.), right now, I think that having kids at collage sounds like a good idea.

In fact, I think I am going to go buy some new locks for the doors in anticipation of that day. But in the meantime, in case you were wondering, snugglebunny is spelled D-o-o-d-l-e B-u-g.