Angry at Facebook rant of Randomness

Facebook decided that I was spreading viruses and is preventing me from commenting or updating on Facebook for 24 hours.  After scanning my computer to be sure that I did NOT have a virus (I don't, other than this sinus/chest thing which can go blow a goat) I decided that since I cannot randomly plod through the world at large and express my thoughts on it on Facebook, I would do an update of major randomness.

Homeschooling - We did stuff FOR SCIENCE today.  Little Guy learned about states of matter and converting material from solid to liquid to gas using water.  He also got to see "condensation" in action.  We also officially practiced the scientific theory and made hypotheses (guesses). One thing I hope my Little Guy understood after today's practice - just because a hypothesis is incorrect, it is not bad.  An incorrect hypothesis can often lead to a correct answer.  Yesterday, we planted some flowers out front for him. He got to pick out a wildflower seed pack at the local store and we found a suitable spot in the front yard.  We even marked down on the calendar when to start checking for seedlings.  

While we planted flowers yesterday, I put the ingredients for dough into the bread maker.  However, because I am me, I could not leave well enough alone and completely ruined the first batch of bread.  With a minor adjustment and a little patience, I left the next batch alone and ended up with a loaf that was edible. I also found ham on sale at Meijer for $.59 a lb and made a 10 pound ham for dinner one night (complete with a honey-brown sugar-brandy glaze).  It was delish.  Last night for dinner, we used some of the left-overs and some swiss cheese to make Hot Ham and cheese sandwiches.  I bet it would be even better on the homemade bread. 

Sprng is in the air and we opened up the porch for use last night.  The heat is supposed to go up to near 80 this weekend and, I must admit, I'm kind of excited about it.  Also, after next week, I will be on vacation for a week.  You have no idea how much I am looking forward to it.

Welcome to February!

Classes for the month of February have begun, and the new month is underway.  My day started off too damn early.  Mornings are not my thing.  I am definitely more of a night owl.  So are the Big and Little Guys, it seems.  Both were less than pleased at waking up at dark o'clock so that I could get to work.  But, awaken, they did and off we went.  

My day has gone well thus far.  I am sitting at my desk on campus typing and working on my (visiting) iPad.  There is a slight catch though.  We are working with the iPads to prepare us for their introduction to the student body over the summer, but the books in my Fundamentals course are not compatible with the iPad.  The labs require the use of the program Flash... Which Apple does not allow iPads to install.  How will this affect the future of the iPad/Fundamentals integration?  I don't know, and, to be honest, those are concerns for someone higher up the pay scale than I.  

The iPad has already proven to be useful in multiple ways, and, I hate to admit, has started winning me over.  My ebook collection has grown significantly and I also downloaded some free books and apps for Little Guy, including a Lego Builder game app and a handwriting app that he can use to practice his handwriting.  Project Gutenberg has many of my favorite classics available for download, and I totally took advantage of that.  

I remember going on road trips when I was younger and taking two bags - one with the clothes I needed and the other full of books.  Something like this would have very useful to have in those days.  It certainly would have cut down on the amount of space I needed in the car!  Seeing how Little Guy interacts with this technology has also been fascinating.  

He really took to it like he was born with an iPad in hand.  He learned rapidly how to work it and get things done and he came downstairs the other night to tell me he really liked the iPad and could he please have one...  I laughed, but don't think it hasn't crossed my mind, especially with the sheer amount of educational software available.  However, there are certain things an iPad cannot do that are slightly more pressing - like cook food, since our microwave went out, or stir things really fast, since our mixer started smoking and died after we moved in.  I tell myself that someday we will get to a point where we can afford what we need AND what we want...  For now, I will make do with what we've got. 

Wordless Wednesday - Homeschool Dinosaurs

The First Step of Our Homeschool Journey

We've started homeschooling our Little Guy, and I am discovering that it takes a serious change in view to school such a creative and bright child.  Most people who meet Little Guy are shocked by two things. The first thing they notice is that he's small for his age.  The kid is a victim of  maternal genetics.  The second thing they notice, after talking to him for a bit, is how quickly he picks up on things and how much knowledge he's already stored away in that head of his. 

The story of my life - Left behind, while he forges ahead

 

 

 

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The first step, I discovered, is letting go of my own notions of how his education should proceed.  Big Guy and I struggled with getting him to practice writing his letters.  Little Guy sat there with his pencil and paper and very passive aggressively refused to trace his alphabet.  He doodled, he sang, he made up stories starring his pencil and paper, but he WOULD NOT write his letters.  In response, we cajoled, we pleaded, we threatened, we yelled...  And then, we let it go.  I sighed, shrugged, and told him he could watch a TV show if he wrote five words down.  Any five words. 

And he did. 

It took less than two minutes.  Two hours of fighting over writing and in less than two minutes he wrote five words.  Big Guy and I looked at each other, shrugged, and let it go. Later on as we discussed the difficulties, we came tot he conclusion that we were approaching this the wrong way.  We had to keep in mind WHY we were homeschooling him.  We recognized that he would not handle the stereotypical school schedule well.  He'd rebel and then get in trouble.  We also didn't want him to HATE education, so we knew we'd have to do things differently than they would in a classroom. 

That's where we screwed up.  We approached the writing the way they do in school because that's the way we were taught.  We knew that wasn't going to work with him, and we tried it anyhow.  It worked exactly as we expected; he fought us.  So, we are re-evaluating.  Since he's still a young 'un, we're going to focus more on exposing him to things he'll learn about.  He CAN write, we just have to get him to do it.  Big Guy got him to write me a note while I was at work and left him alone to do it.  I came home to, "I miss you mommy."  We took advantage of Museum Day and took him to the Studebaker Museum and the Center for History. 

To be fair, that word can give lots of people trouble.

We're going to try things while we can and find something that works.  He's got a head start on his peer group; I want to keep him ahead and, more importantly, interested in learning. 

My child, king of left-brained creativity

As I watch my baby turn into a little boy, I am constantly amused and horrified at his imagination. He's a kid, an "all-boy" at its finest. He likes dinosaurs, cars, and letters. And when I say he likes letters, I mean the A-B-C type of letters. Right now, everything in life with him is broken down into letters. Aside from the usual stable of imaginary friends, he has begun to add 26 more.

Our day often involves discussion of letters, what they say, what they do (which starts with the letter sound), and what color they are. For example, quite often, there is a blue K kicking its way through the house. Or, as today, there was a red J jumping down the hallway. This can be complete with body twisting to make the shape of the letter. Though some of the shape making doesn't make sense, as in the letter C requiring you to wrap your arms about yourself.

His writing is full of letters too, and not necessarily in any order, but I am gathering sheet after sheet after sheet of random letter scribblings. It's amusing, but aren't most kids drawing pictures? If I ask him to draw a cat, he'll tell me no. He'd rather write the word cat. On the bright side, his writing is improving, but I am worried about other aspects of his creativity.

Perhaps this all stems from being right handed. Letters are logical and ordered, like math, and logic and order are domains of the left side of the brain. The right side, which controls left handedness is spatial and artistic. It's why I can't do math or taxes and why I love the diagramming of sentences. I don't worry too m uch about his imagination. The child comes up with all sorts of stories and involves so many things in them, I find it hard to keep them straight. He makes up songs and we have a very good time together playing in the realms of his world... I'm afraid we've broken him though. He's so full of life and so vivacious that sending him into the real world would crush him, I'm afraid. I love who he is, but the rest of the world won't understand him and that terrifies me.

We can't communicate and we're too lazy to care

Writing should be an important topic in schools, but the more I teach, the more I realize it’s not stressed nearly enough. This month, I am teaching a “Fundamentals of English” college course. This course teaches the basics of English to students. I cover parts of speech as well as basic writing skills, and I try to do it in 12 hours a week for four weeks.

Really, it’s not nearly enough time. The students need more time to practice, more time to assimilate the information, and more work to do. In some cases, I deal with students who don’t have a clue what a complete sentence is, let alone how to identify a run-on sentence. There are also students who just don’t grasp why the parts of speech are important, even after I give my puzzle analogy. I tend to work my tail off these four weeks and go home exhausted every night, but I also find it more fulfilling than the higher level classes.

In the higher level writing courses, they have been jaded to the writing process and just don’t want to do it. They have also reached a certain “in school laziness” where they are more willing to slough off the work to the last minute. In the Fundamentals class, they are at least still somewhat excited to the new process of school.

But, in all cases, the writing abilities of some of my students saddens me. How is it that our country is producing graduates who don’t know how to communicate properly? And why have we let it go on thus far? Currently, we are a nation at the top of the heap, but we can’t bring ourselves to educate our children to continue that trend. Instead, we produce citizens who don’t know what their rights are, don’t know how to communicate those rights, and, even worse, are too apathetic to care.

It seems the baby boomer generation, the one that produced the changes in the 60’s and 70’s, did not imbue their children with the same restless spirit. Well, most of them at least (I know my mom did). But they also did not give their children the work ethic that our grandparents had. Our country has lost its inventive spark because it’s too much effort to create, whether it be creation of the lightbulb or creation of a book.

Pre-K leanings

Little Guy and I have been frequenting the Starfall website.  The child is reading like a maniac and having very little difficulty.  Big Guy and I discussed the issues with the school systems in the area and have narrowed down the systems we will allow our son to attend.  We've also discussed our concerns regarding socialization and extra-curriculars.  Although, after watching the news, I am rapidly becoming convinced that the only way to ensure your child is well-rounded and can play in sports or have an instrument will be to homeschool them. 

Three of the school systems in the area have been in the news recently due to financial troubles.  I've made my position clear and we agree that there are two school systems that our son will not attend.  We also narrowed down the systems we will let him attend.  There's only one school system that I will truly feel comfortable letting Little Guy attend.  There's one system that I will grudgingly let him attend. 

Big Guy and I discussed some of the concerns with homeschooling, especially the socialization aspect, and discovered that we agree on everything.  Most of our differences right now stem from the fact that we are placing importance on different aspects of schooling.  My focus remains on education, Big Guy thinks that giving him access to a structured social life is important.  However, we may have found a way to get around that while we live here.  I'll keep you informed as we move along that path. 

However, Little Guy is devouring the letters and books on Starfall and I am now looking for a similar website to let him practice math skills.  I think we are good at learning numbers though since, with very little help, he can count up to 140.  I do want to start practicing pattern recognition though,  Suggestions? 

OMG U need 2 care 2 teach

Big Guy and I take education rather seriously.  Both of us have college degrees and recognize the necessity to have one in today's world.  While we do struggle financially, I can only imagine how much harder it would be without the education to back us up.  One of the things I have learned while teaching, however, is that there are schools that are not doing what kids need to prepare for the outside world. 

A while ago, I was told by a neighbor that the local high school allows students to write papers in "text speak".  Big Guy did not believe the story until I had it confirmed by a student in my class this month.  When I asked for the name of the teacher, she looked at me blankly and asked: "Which ONE?"  After that, Big Guy was much more amenable to the idea of homeschooling.  We've narrowed down which districts we are willing to send Little Guy to school in and which districts are absolutely a no-go due to their lack of concern or ability regarding education. 

I can understand being burned out.  I'm sure we have all been at a point in our jobs where going for just one more day seems impossible.  However, in a job where you have a direct impact on people, as in teaching, you need to force your way through it.  Allowing children to write papers in text speak is nothing short of criminal and reeks of sheer indifference.  When jobs are looking for workers that can communicate effectively, encouraging laziness in kids and their writing does no one a service. 

This month, several of my students have exhibited frustration that no one called them on their writing ability, that no one corrected their writing in the English classes.  Admittedly, in high school, you don't learn the writing structure.  However, you do have to write papers and your teachers should care enough to correct your mistakes.  By allowing the students to get away with using shortened speech is not doing your job as a teacher.  It may be easier rather than hearing the complaints, it may be simpler rather than fighting with them, but being a good teacher, just like being a good parent, means doing the difficult things. 

The Top and Bottom 3 worries of this parent

Today's blog prompt is sponsored by JuiceboxJungle and Kodak.  They asked what the top and bottom three things are that I worry about as a mom.  I had to think about all the things that I worry about (and there were a great many) and then I had to organize them by sheer amount of worry.  It was not an easy job and it took some time, but I think I have it figured out.

Top Three Things
1 - Health

We are one of the families that exist without insurance. The cost for insurance through Big Guy's business was just too much. Because we are forced to operate without insurance, I am always paranoid that he's going to get sick or injured and I watch carefully for those situations.  Luckily, I also try to feed him a steady diet of fruit, vegetables, and vitamins.  I also tend to hover to make sure that he doesn't put himself in a situation that could lead to bodily injury. 

2 - Money
Big Guy and I work very hard at our respective jobs, but money is always tight and there is usually very little left over at the end of the month. When we buy gifts, they are planned out well in advance and Big Guy and I have become expert bargain hunters.  I frequent Freecycle for clothes and we tend to shop for household goods and apparel.  If we're in the market for games, books or movies, I keep an eye on half.com and will keep watch on particular items for weeks at a time to ensure I get the best price. In fact, my birthday gift this year is particularly notable because I am getting it brand new on release. 

3 - Education
I exist in an almost perpetual state of terror that my child will be the one left behind.  Because of that, I push him beyond his normal age range in subjects such as reading and math.  Admittedly, he is much smarter than I give him credit for and this should probably fall in the bottom three things, but he is both my and Big Guy's son and that means I need to worry to ensure I push him enough to succeed or else he's likely to try and get away from studying. 

The Bottom Three Things

This was probably harder than the top three items.  What do I worry about least with this child of mine?  These items aren't really worries because I have evidence of my success everyday. 

1 - Happiness

I don't worry about Little Guy's level of happiness.  His laughter rings throughout the house regularly every day and he still laughs himself to breathlessness at least once every 12 hours.  I have seen him collapse with the giggles over something his dad or I have said that is just silly...  It's wonderful. 

2 - Self-esteem
If there is one thing that my son does not lack, it's self-esteem. If you were to ask him if he has self-esteem issues, he will tell you no, he doesn't.  He doesn't seem to comprehend that there may be people out there who don't want to spend time with him or who may not like him.  He is a friendly, cheerful, gregarious child who is firmly convinced that everyone loves him and he is in charge. 

3 - His View of Relationships

I am nearly certain that my son will have successful relationships as he grows because of how hard Big Guy and I work to ensure that our own relationship is a success.  We've attended marital therapy and will readily say that it was one of the best things we could have done for our marriage.  We had a strong relationship before we went, but the therapy improved our communication skills and provided a safe haven to learn to deal with issues that would come up and serve to temper our strongly-forged relationship.  If we can continue to provide an example of a well-honed relationship, our son will b able to emulate the better aspects of our relationship and hopefully avoid the mistakes that his father and I made in previous relationships.

Attempting to narrow down worries into only six was a difficult task, but was actually helpful to me as a parent.  I can see where my focus is and measure how I am doing over all.  It also helped reassure me that I am a good mother to this amazing child.  He is happy, mostly healthy, somewhat sane, and has been sheltered from the worst of the events that we've dealt with.  He's confident, brave, headstrong, willful, smart and imaginative.  He expresses love freely and accepts affection as a matter of course.  How lucky I am to have him. 

Homeschooling Discussions

Big Guy and I had a "discussion" on my way into work yesterday.  We're currently at odds on the whole schooling thing with Little Guy, and I don't foresee these discussions going any better the closer Little Guy gets to attending school. 

I am on the side of homeschooling and will argue vehemently for that.  My reasons are sound, and, until recently, I thought Big Guy and I were in agreement on schooling.  I do not approve of the schools in the area where we live.  I do not believe they will be able to educate my son appropriately.  I do not hold the teachers at fault, but the area we live in was one of the hardest hit by the economic downturn because many of the people in the area are blue collar, factory workers.  Many of the people around here do not value education or what it can accomplish and I do not want my child growing up with that attitude. 

Big Guy has gone from agreement with me to saying, now, that Little Guy should go to the local schools.  He argues that we will not be able to educate him properly because we lack the money to buy the homeschooling books.  He says that Little Guy will do fine as long as we support his education in the school.  A lot of this started because a friend of ours, who teaches high school, made the comment that homeschooling was going to be bad for Little Guy because we would not be able to give him the social interaction he needed, no matter how hard we tried.

Now, Big Guy has gone from the "It's OK to homeschool" camp to "NO".  I'm frustrated and irritated because the normally smooth ground my marriage exists on has become somewhat bumpy.  Both of us are absolutely convinced of our position's correctness and these positions are diametrically opposed!  Our view of what's important plays a big part in our difficulties right now.  He sees social activities as an important part of school, while I view the quality of education as more important than socialization. 

Honestly, I hated the social aspects of school.  I was never good at playing the social games and never felt comfortable in the social groups.  I wasn't a band geek, I wasn't a jock, I was more aligned with the smart kids, but not really...  My group of friends referred to ourselves as "The Outcasts" because we were different.  Amusingly, we were all drastically different from each other as well.  But, the social strata was different in a much more condensed way.  It was a small parochial school; therefore, things were going to be difficult. 

Who knows what we'll do.  Big Guy doesn't think it's worth arguing about because we have a year and a half before Little Guy goes to school.  To me, that means a year and a half of more fighting until we come to an agreement.  I'm concerned that if I give in on the unimportant years, the earliest ones where they go over the basics, then I will lose ground later on where the difference in educational quality will become noticeable.  

 

He's not smart after all - How I've ruined my son

The snow has restarted in earnest around here.  Leaving class last night, it appeared as the the wind and snow was conspiring to make a blizzard.  Coming home, I could see the little whirling snow rivers created by our passage highlighted by the headlights of the car behind us.  This is the kind of weather I can support.  Of course, the fact that we regularly get weather like this makes me look askance at those southern folk.  I guess when you don't get weather, it's hard to know what to do when you get it. 

 Little Guy and I were working on his letters and numbers yesterday, and I praised him to the heavens, just like any other parent.  Then I read an interesting article (Don't Call My Kid Smart) that has me rethinking how I approach this.  Jeff Weinstock writes that we shouldn't call our kids "smart".  By labeling them as "smart" and attributing their success to natural talent, we set them up for failure and, even worse, we set them up not to try. 

I can see some of this emerging now.  I have called Little Guy smart ever since he started exhibiting advanced tendencies.  He can count to 100, how smart he must be.  He can read some of the simpler books, he is so smart.  But getting him to practice, getting him to do the stuff he's NOT good at...  Then he balks and doesn't want to try.  Why?  Because it's not easy for him and he already recognizes that he is "smart" and therefore things will come to him without having to work at it. 

As we all know, though, life does not favor the easy route.  If you want something, you have to work for it.  This is true in all things: school, work, and even relationships.  This puts me in an awkward place though.  He is smart and I know it.  He does have a high level of innate intelligence and things will come easier for him than they will for others.  He is fortunate to have that ability.  But, that doesn't mean there isn't a certain level of effort he must put forth to succeed. 

But, how should I praise him now?  Telling a 4 year old: "Great effort!" or "What a nice try!" just doesn't seem right.  Those are the phrases that you give to kids who really do mean well, but just can't quite reach that bar.  Those are lines that just seem coated with an undertone of pity that you feed to kids to ensure their self-esteem isn't too damaged by failure.  And by avoiding the use of the word "smart", are we in danger of hurting our kids' self-esteem by not acknowledging their intelligence?  No one warned me that being a parent was so dangerous.  Are we all destined to ruin our children either by over-inflating their egos or destroying their self-esteem?

After discussing the article with Big Guy last night, he's of the opinion that I read too much and worry too much.  He says that Little Guy will likely survive the fact that I call him smart and be the better for it.  He's got a point and was in a position to know.  Back when we first dated, he did audits for CPS and it truly upset him at what some of those poor children went through.  And, to a certain extent, he's right. At the same time, I do need to find ways to praise and encourage Little Guy for the work he does.  

In more amusing news, I finally found my keys while I was at school last night.  They've been missing since before Christmas and I was really getting worried that I had done something horrible with them or maybe even left them someplace.  I found them in my purse.  Yeah, I know, I know. 

Watching Jimmy Fallon last night, I realized that Little Guy's hair style is catching on.  Michael Cera has the same exact hairstyle.  I can now pass it off as intentional.  I would like to point out that my son had that hairstyle long before Michael Cera did though.  That's my boy, always on the cutting edge of fashion.  And he's super smart to boot. 

Dammit, he'll never recover from having me as a mother! 

Willful, stubborn, bullheaded and smart

I've been working with Little Guy on the fundamentals of writing.  Things like how to hold a pencil, how hard to press on paper, the basic of basics. We've been working on tracing in his workbooks and he likes to count the lines as he traces them, but he gets bored with it easily.  Yesterday, after trying to get him to trace the final group of diagonal lines, I put the workbook away and gave him some paper to draw on.  He proceeded to draw letters out on his own. 

They were a stereotypical large and childish attempt at letters, but you could see what letters they were.  And while I am proud of him, this concerns me for a number of reasons.  I am thrilled my son is smart, I am thrilled that he catches on and figures things out quickly. But his dad and I are smart too, and I recognize the dangers of things coming so easily.  Already I can see some of the more treacherous aspects coming through. 

When he tried to write a word out and realized he couldn't, he got frustrated and tried to have me do it for him.  When I told him no, HE needed to work at it, he threw the pencil down and ran out of the room.  He's learning that, because he is a smart kid, things tend to come easily to him.  Unfortunately, he's also decided, like most smart people, that because so much comes so easily he doesn't want to waste time on the things that don't come easily.

He likes to read, he likes to draw, but if he can't get it right away, he doesn't want to wait.  That, unfortunately, he gets from me; a short attention span and a severe lack of patience.  He wants it and he wants it now, and if he can't have it now, the world will pay.  It is good that he is stubborn.  It is good that he is smart.  I just wish he hadn't inherited the character flaws. 

What I need to do is buckle down and make him work.  But I am also afraid that I will turn education into a punishment and he won't find enjoyment in it.  Finding some sort of balance between needing to work and enjoying the effort is difficult with a 4 year old.  And then I worry that I push him too hard.  He can count to 100, is reading some things all on his own, knows colors, letters, sounds, can sound out words and is no slouch in the imagination department either...  Am I pushing him too hard?  Or should I feed the beast and keep him working at it?  How do I make sure it's enjoyable without scaring him off?

Being a parent of a strong-willed, stubborn child is difficult.  Finding the path through those minefields is dangerous and exhausting.  As I tell him regularly, there's a reason why animals eat their young, he's lucky he's so skinny and worth keeping around. 

We took him to breakfast and then a trip to Barnes and Noble today.  I had finished A Clash of Kings and had to pick up the remaining two books of the series.  Normally, we'd hit the Bargain Books store, but they didn't carry the series and I needed the books. Right now, while I type up this entry, Big Guy is finishing up the last book in the Temraire series and then will likely pick up the first book of A Song of Ice and Fire. 

We've forced Little Guy into nap-time.  He's getting willful and fractious and that generally means he's tired.  Small wonder, since he went to bed at 1:30 this morning and was awake and excited before 9 am.  Soon, I'll snuggle back with my book, A Storm of Swords, and undoubtedly burn my way through that one as well.  Sadness for me when I finish it.  What will I do after I finish this series?  What shall I read next? 

Waking sleep

Getting back into writing is difficult, particularly when you haven't made it important for a while.  I know it's necessary and I need to at least flex my writing muscles or, like any other muscle, it will atrophy and waste away. 

There are just so many other things I would rather do than work.  Though, the winter is probably the best time to get back into the process of writing.  When Spring and summer come, there will be many things I know I would rather do, like gardening and playing outside. 

But the winter is here right now and that limits the outdoor stuff we can do. Plus, Little Guy and I are more interested in finding ways to stay warm while we have the heat turned down.  Getting out of bed in the mornings is difficult.  No one likes getting out of a nice, warm nest to face the day, but it is necessary. 

Today, I had the roughest time breaking free of that nest.  I kept drifting off and dreaming that I had gotten up.  Then something would happen in the dream to make me realize that it was a dream and I would wake up again.  That happened about three or four times before I was able break that cycle. 

Not that Little Guy even noticed that I was later than usual today.  He was still sleeping at 10 am.  Around 11 am, I heard soft giggling coming from his room.  Not long after that, he came wandering into the family room. 

I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing that Little Guy is a night own like his parents.  It makes it easier on us right now, but how is this going to affect him later on?  If we follow Big Guy's line of reasoning and DON'T homeschool him, we need to get him on a regular, normal schedule.  I'm still holding out for homeschooling though. 

To the beat of a different drum

So, my mother in law sent over a bag of goodies for Little Guy.  Footie pajamas, which he loves and refuses to take off until we make him, an adorable "Kiss me I'm Irish" shirt, a pair of snow pants, and a set of "Hit Stix".

These are drumsticks that make noise no matter what you beat them on.  He has tried them out on the wall, the floor, the doors, a car, a box, his bed, and anything alse he can find.  In fact, our house is chock full of taps and beats and other wonderful drum-type of stuff.  I must remember to thank her.

For Christmas, I bought Big Guy a set of books: The Temraire series by Naomi Novik.  We both burned through those books at record speed, though I finished the series first.  According to Big Guythis is due to the fact that I read "freakishly fast".  I disagree.  It may be speedy, but I read everything.  Because I managed to finish the books in record time, we discussed what series we were going to purchase next to read and have decided on George R.R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice.  That was why we went to Barnes and Noble yesterday.

While we were there we purchased the first two books of the series and a couple workbooks for Little Guy to practice his writing skills with.  For, while I have no concerns about his potential writing ability, I do have concerns about his ability to write.  So, we're going to take pencil in hand and practice starting tomorrow.  This ought to be interesting, especially when you consider that he doesn't like following directions.  (He gets that from Big Guy.

As far as the new series, I'm reading the first book, A Game of Thrones, and made it to page 124 last night.  I told Big Guy that it may be true that I devour books.  His response was to say no.  Devouring would imply I stopped to chew.  I simply suck them in like spaghetti.  I know I read fast, but I do read everything.  That's something most people don't understand. I'm not just skimming, I am actually reading.  I do love reading though.