Skip to main content

And more truth on top of that, too

To be completely honest, it drives me just a little bit nuts, having Mallory read aloud to me. She's a good reader, for a 7-year-old, but she has some frustrating traits. For example, she will read words like "discouraged" and "misunderstood" without hesitation, but then she'll stop and need help with words like "what" and "don't." Worse than that, though, is that her comprehension isn't quite up to par, and she'll often stop in the middle of a sentence and ask what's going on, a question that would be easily answered if she would only read the rest of the sentence. "'The polar bear was frightened because' -- why was the polar bear frightened?" she'll ask. And I'll say, "Finish the sentence!" and she'll say, "Mommy, would you just tell me about the polar bear!" and then I'll say something I regret.

When I was a child, I did my daily assigned reading to my young brother and sister, who were apparently delighted to sit and listen. Phoebe, however, and why am I not surprised, is not so accommodating.

Comments

aimee said…
Yeah, that is what I love--Noah loves being read to by Rhett.

That cracks me up about Mallory stopping in the middle of a sentence to ask what is going on. Just like Rhett (and used to be me) during a movie.

Popular posts from this blog

I ask you

This is my garden: Or rather, this is the patch of soil that was my garden last summer. It produced millions of tomatoes, dozens of green peppers, a handful of cucumbers, and two puny watermelons. I do not wish to repeat last summer's vegetable bounty, because most of said bounty went to waste. Nor, however, do I want this patch of soil to remain brown and bare throughout the summer, because it's unattractive. So, what do I plant here, in the shrubbery/flowery vein? Keep in mind that I do not have a green thumb. Also, I don't want to spend a lot of money. Also, this area is in full sun most of the day. And it's really hot. And sometimes we get rabbits. Any advice? To thank you in advance, I give you these goofy photos of my children and their homemade parfaits (which Mallory persisted in calling "specialinis").

the closet

Amy has challenged me to list 8 things that are hidden in the back of my closet. I try not to actually look to closely at the back of my closet, so these are my closest guesses: 1. At least three no-longer-needed diaper bags. 2. An outfit that I've been meaning to return to Land's End for at least six months now. 3. One of our wedding pictures, which has a broken frame which I keep meaning to replace. 4. Shoes, shoes, shoes, shoes. 5. Possibly a pair of fuzzy slippers. I miss those fuzzy slippers. Maybe I should brave the mess and go try to find them. 6. Baby blankets. 7. A few small toys that I meant to stick in the girls' Christmas stockings. Maybe next year. 8. And I'm guessing, a bunch of mismatched socks. My closet isn't very interesting, I'm afraid.

The Golf Course

There was a miniature golf course in my grandparent’s house. There were, in fact, lots of cool-if-kitschy things in my grandparents’ house. There were swinging saloon doors between the kitchen and the master suite. There was a toilet seat made of transparent plastic, with ticket stubs from horse races embedded therein. There was a globe wine bar (pictured!). There was a mounted goat head (the goat was named Bucky) on whose antlers my granddad hung his golf caps. There was a stuffed pheasant whose chest feathers were smooth as silk. There was a kitchen bar of green marbled formica and swively kitchen chairs of red pleather. There was an automatic ice dispenser on the refrigerator, which was a rare and awe-inspiring thing in the 1970’s. There was a mirrored tray holding bejeweled perfume bottles with atomizers in the guest bathroom. There were two huge oil paintings – one of my aunt, with beautifully frosted hair, holding a Pug, one of my older sister as a toddler sitting on a John De...