Monday, September 1, 2014

Out of the mouth of my babe ... the first school edition

A few things Biscuit has said recently: 


Politically correct: Many of the books I read as a child are still good options for Biscuit. We've read "The Little Engine That Could," Dr. Seuss, all the Little Golden Books and more.

But some of the books might not have been quite politically correct enough.

Take "I Knew An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly." It used to be that when she swallowed a fly, "perhaps she would die." I guess that was a little too rough for modern-day kids because now, when she eats a fly, "perhaps she will cry."

Biscuit's class read the book the other day, and when they went to music, they learned a song, too.

If you aren't familiar, the old lady swallows a fly, then a spider to catch the fly, then a bird to catch the spider, then a cat to catch the bird and on and on until she swallows a horse.

The verse about the bird is:

"I know an old lady who swallowed a bird. How absurd to swallow a bird!"

Well, Mr. Biscuit latched onto the word "absurd" and has used it quite proficiently several times since then.

The other night, I said, "Hey, you want to play Goldfish?"

And Biscuit said, "Mom, how absurd! The game is Go Fish, not Goldfish!"

I love that Biscuit values words. With two writer/editors as parents, I guess he gets it honest.

Some other words he's tried out lately include straightaway, indestructible, eventually, harmonic and melodic from piano lessons. And right now, he's on a kick of using actually and seriously.

"Seriously?" Biscuit will say. "Did you see what he did? Seriously?"

And as he learns to read this year, I'm sure we'll be hearing plenty more.


New kid in town: I was gearing up Biscuit to start school by telling him all the things he'd be learning and doing, and then I said, "And you'll meet lots of new friends, too.

Well, Biscuit came home telling us all about his first few days. And right in the middle of his details, he said, "Mom, you were wrong about that thing!"

"What thing?" I asked him.

"You said I'd meet LOTS of new friends, but I've been going for two days, and I only know three new friends," Biscuit said. "I don't think three is lots."

"Dude!" I said. "It's the first week of school. If you know three new people already, and it's just the first week of school, you're way ahead of the curve! It won't be long until you know everybody in your class."

"Well, I did learn the name of one of the persons in my class," Biscuit said.

"A boy or girl?" I asked.

"A boy," Biscuit said. "And you won't believe what his name is."

"What?" I asked.

"Mom, get this," Biscuit said. "His name ... is DENTIST!"

"His name is what?!" I asked.

"Dentist! His name is Dentist," Biscuit said.

Now, I don't know this for sure, but I'm guessing the kid's name is Dennis and Biscuit just heard it wrong. But in this day and age, there's no telling.


Make a note of it: I thought it would be fun to put notes in Biscuit's lunch each day. Of course, I had this thought before I remembered that he can't read!

I've bought some fun stickers to use, and I try to write things he can understand, like "Mom and Dad love you." He knows all those words.

Or one day, I drew an eye, then a heart then wrote his name. He was all excited when he figured out that his picture message said, "I love Griffin."

I asked him if he liked his notes, and he said he did. And just out of curiosity, I asked if the other kids got notes in their lunch boxes, too.

"No, just me," Biscuit said. "But I guess that just means that I'm lucky and you love me."

He explained how he shows his notes to all the other kids. And I think it's sweet that he wants to share with them. At least I hope he's sharing for that reason and not saying, "Ha ha, you didn't get one!"

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