When is school out again?

Studying for spelling tests is always, always fun (read torture). I groan leap for joy as soon as Thursday night rolls around, because, like with everything else I do, they can pick on me for SOMETHING.

Case in point: My language skill imprints were focally Southern in origin. My accent waxes and wanes in direct correlation to how tired I am, but there are words that I cannot and will not ever be able to say. For example:

- Anything with the letters "o-i-l" in a sequence. Boil, coil, foil, etc. I have asked the kids to see if the water's boiling yet, only to get some remark about you can't bowl underwater. Don't ask about aluminum foals.

-Anything with the letters "i-n-g" in a sequence. Studying for the -ing test was a hoot:

Me: "Spell ‛lyin'."

KitKat: "We're not studying about lions. They're -ing words."

Me: "No, lyin', like fibbin'."

ManCub: "You're not saying that right, either, and fibbING is further down on the list."


I should study with the kiddos one on one, but I am an enforcer (read sucker) for reinforcement while learning, that is, if a kid can remember to put an extra "n" in there while his sister is laughing because I can't pronounce the rest of the word, so be it.

Some of tonight's spelling words:

1. Vacant. I thought I dodged a bullet when ManCub spelled it correctly, and we proceeded to:

2. Vague

My sentence: "His description was vague, and I needed more details."

KitKat: "Mom's brain is like that."

ManCub: "No, Mom's brain is more like vacant!"

Me: "You already spelled that one for me." I knew they'd get me eventually.

3. Armament

KitKat, and she's just being silly as she knows better: "Isn't that what you put on a Christmas tree?"

ManCub couldn't quite spell it, so we skipped onto the next word, and the next, eventually coming to:

4. Divulge.

Me: "Spell ‛divulge.'"

ManCub: "D-I-V-U-G-L-E."

Me: "That's die-vu-ghoul you just spelled, and it sounds like a deviant search engine, but it's not a word. Sound it out. Die-vuuuuuuuuulj."

5. Armament (rehash).

Me: "Spell ‛armament.'"

ManCub: "A-R-M-E-M-E-N-T."

Me: "Nope."

ManCub: "WHAT?????? It's right. I know it's right! I-know-it-I-know-it-I-know-it."

Me: "Don't yell at me when I know how to spell it and have it documented right here!" I waved the list. "Spell it right and quit yelling at me!"

I just checked the calendar, and we've got 170 school days left. Divide that by the square root of humiliation and then count the Thursdays...