Ahhh, boys….

Matthew and Zachary have a new argument, as of late: Who got to see more of Kayliana’s smiles that day. They also apply this heated debate to coo-hearing as well. Thankfully, everyday, Kayli is cooing and smiling a little more, so they’re starting to lose track and the ongoing discussion may quickly fizzle out. She tends to be a rather equal-opportunity smiler anyway.

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Matthew announced that he was going to build Zachary a Lego surprise in their bedroom and, until it was complete, Zach was not allowed in. Well, unfortunately, I did not know that this was going on, and I sent Zach in to tell Matthew that dinner was ready. Zach quickly jumped at the chance to sneak a peek at the under-construction Lego masterpiece. It was evident that a major issue was underway when shouts and yells ricocheted off the walls of their room.

“I TOLD YOU NOT TO PEEK! THE FIRE STATION WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SURPRISE AND I’M NOT DONE YET!” Yelled Matthew.

“WELL, BUT…” Sputtered Zach, “’Cuz LOOKING is why God gave us eyes. HELLO.” Then upon exiting the room, Zach mumbled, “We need some blindfolds around here.”

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I am “homeschooling” Zachary for his pre-K this year. I put “homeschooling” in quotes because I don’t really feel like what I do with him should accurately be called “homeschooling.” We don’t follow a program, a curriculum, an agenda or schedule. We sit down a few mornings a week and practice writing, reading, numbers or math. Most of the time, I’m a stellar mom and trust that he’s learning enough through the occasional PBS shows that he watches each week. (Science – from Sid the Science Kid; Nature – from the Wild Kratts; how to get into mischief – Curious George; basic reading – from WordWorld and Super Why; Jurassic history – Dinosaur Train; and the letter of the week, how to count in a wacky voice followed by an evil laugh and how to act like a cute monster – from Sesame Street). For the record, he does not watch each of these shows ever day, this is just a sampling. He doesn’t even watch TV every day. (My defensive internal “homeschooling” mom, just needs to clarify this point, though I will shout unto the hill tops that PBS kids-programming is AMAZING and I’m a HUGE fan). I will thoroughly admit that it’s from these shows that he’s randomly said things like, “Mom, do you know what ominous means?” And “My hypothesis is that it’s going to rain.” And “Did you know there’s such a thing as flying squirrels? But they don’t really FLY, they GLIDE.”

Anyway, Zach and I were ACTUALLY sitting down and doing some reading practice (I know, I am SUCH an overachieving mom) – sounding out words with the help of our ABC magnet set. First we did words ending with “at.” You know, put the C in front, then take turns using H, M, S, F, etc. to see what word you make. Then we did “am.” And then, oh then, we did words ending in “um.” I saved the B for last. And he thought “TUM” was funny! The second he sounded out “BUM,” and realized what word he had just read he started laughing hysterically. It was pretty much the funniest thing ever. He couldn’t wait to show Matthew when he got home from school (who also found it equally amusing that it said “BUM” on the dining room table). The fact that mommy would put out a “body talk” word for him was just SO amazingly great. (“Body talk” is not generally allowed as it goes with the boys’ natural tendency to partake and enjoy in frequent – and taboo – “potty talk.” We try to discourage this kind of thing, although when you live with the Fartin Martins, this can be difficult).

I can’t wait for the words that end in “ut.” Man, will Zach ever be thrilled when I bring out the letter B again!