Me & the Bee

I'm a terrible speller.  Seriously, my phonetic offerings are often so far off the mark that spell check doesn't even try to guess my intended target.  Rather it offers suggestions on altering my career choice, LOL Cats and open mocking.  Spell check has a wicked sense of humor.

My wife finds this shortcoming of mine much as she does the others (the list is long), with a mix of disgust, pity and smug superiority.  It doesn't become her and frankly, it makes the consistent little hobgoblins in my mind very insecure.  There is a lot of hugging in my noggin. 

But I digress.

My oldest son, who is in kindergarten, has a list of spelling words that he brought home last week.  Technically, he brought it home before last week, but it wasn't until recently that we discovered the list among the archives of his backpack.  Apparently he didn't view it as a pressing matter and my ability to tell homework from completed schoolwork has reached a point of critical blur.  I just need to make it until June. 

The way this list works is that it consists of numerous smaller lists and some sort of rainbow theme.  There has been talk of glitter.  Actually, that's not how it works, that's just how it is- which makes me the one telling you... how it is.  I've always wanted to be that guy.  Give me my moment.

Each list is assigned a color of the rainbow or the immediate area thereof.  Each child is then tested on the lists.  If they are able to spell all of the words correctly they move to the next list and will be tested accordingly the following day.  If they do not pass they are forced to repeat said list daily until they do.  I suspect my wife had something to do with the creation of this system.

Needless to say, my son, who had not passed list one prior to our finding the words, has now completed every list - the first in his class to do so.

Am I proud?  Of course.  My son is obviously a freaking genius, but I want to ensure he remains humble.  I now take every opportunity to praise his accomplishments while stressing the need for remaining humble and not being judgmental of people that are learning at their own pace.  I tell him that laughing at people who are struggling is not a becoming trait.

Someday soon I'll be going to him for spelling assistance and I would appreciate it if he weren't so smug. 

I don't need that.