Friday, June 14, 2013

Babysitter of . . . meh

So, I've been trying to encourage my two year old nephew to use the pottychair instead of his diaper whenever I think of it, and encourage my five year old nephew to try to read instead of his diaper-equivalent (which, I suppose, would be watching "Spongebob," or something similar) whenever I think of it.  It's easy to remember to ask if someone needs to go to the bathroom, but I rarely remember that the boy should be reading, or at least trying to. 

Every once in a while, we'll be driving somewhere, and we'll pass a sign that says "Stop" or "Target" or "Open" or "Live Nude Girls," and I'll try to get the boy to sound out the word.  More often than not, he'll check out the first couple of letters, then guess what the word is based on that, which teachers say is a logical way most kids first start to read. 

Unfortunately, that backfired on me this week when we went to the amusement park, and I saw a sign that said "Fun!" by one of the rides.  I asked the boy to read that word to his mother.

"Fff," he said, then "Uhh," and yep, he tried to guess the rest of the word.  It was not "fun."

His mother's eyes got big and she said, "WHAT was that?"

I thought it was hilarious, but I was also glad it was the boy's mother he had said it to, and not my own.

Rish Outfield, Contributor to the Delinquency of Minors

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