My children are 19 and 16 years old.
I consider them to be pretty neat people.
Each of them has a path set before them that he or she seems determined to follow to meet a goal.
And yet, as successful and well rounded as they are, I can't help but wonder:
Would they be even better young adults if I had taught them to read while they sat in their high chairs eating cheerios and drinking apple juice from a sippy cup?
Oh the regrets we have....
You've seen it, haven't you? That info-mercial that convinces us our children can learn to read before they even have teeth?
That stuff fascinates me.
It fascinates me because I can't imagine spending my children's baby years holding flashcards in front of their faces so they could learn words by sight.
ball
dog
flashlight
platypus
drink
baby
It fascinates me because, for the life of me, I can't figure out WHY a baby needs to know how to read.
*thinking....thinking...thinking....*
Are we going to send a baby into the grocery store with mommy's weekly list so that we can sit in the car while baby does the shopping?
Perhaps.
Are we going to hand baby a menu when we go out to dinner so that he can read the night's specials and then order for himself:
"Um....yeth, thith, thalmon here? Can I get that gwilled inthead of pan theared?"
Uh....maybe....I gueth...I mean I guess.
I guess I could have tried to teach my kids to read instead of taking the lazy approach that I did. I actually read TO my kids instead of expecting them to read to me. I read and read and read books every day until my children had had enough.
Books for everyone!! All day long!!!
I also let them sit in front of the television and watch Sesame Street.
I know!!! Can you believe it?
I am the mother who freely admits her children learned their numbers from the remote control.
But you know what? By the end of kindergarten, each of them had begun reading simple books.
Actually, Kayla had begun reading simple words and writing her name when she was 3. Blake, at age 4, was not reading on his own but he was requesting "stories that were true" when we went to the library.
"Excuse me ma'am. Do you have any non-fiction books in your preschool section? He is particularly interested in stories about our presidents and the history of our country. No I am NOT kidding."
Anyway, if we are going to teach our babies to do things that are outside the realm of "normal" for babies, wouldn't we want to teach them things that will save us, their parents, some time - take some of the headache out of raising babies?
Like, changing their own diapers? I mean, we don't want to potty train them at 8 months - that would be unrealistic, after all - but why not teach them to change their own diapers?
Or at the very least to cry for Daddy when they were poopy.
Or how about teaching them to use that blue nasal bulb thing on their own noses?
Maybe we could teach them how to recognize the signs of impending vomit so they don't project the contents of their little tummies all over the living room until they are five.
But teaching them to read?
That's just silly.
3 comments:
OH MY GOODNESS, this cracked me up! Your funniest blog since the letter to Frito Lay. :)
I love the idea of teaching our babies useful skills. Thanks for today's giggle.
And, fyi, I occasionally think about your son (my baby will be 18 in January, so I feel your pain) and I ask God to keep him protected as he keeps us protected.
Well, thank you so much Stephanie - for the kind words and the prayers over my son.
I know!!! We have wondered the same thing!! I'll tell you why they do it...for the simple right to brag...look what my child can do. I must be a really good parent that is doing everything right if my child can read at 2 years of age!
The only work that a baby that age should be doing is play! They learn so much about life through play...everything that they NEED to learn. Poor babies!
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