Crossword

It’s Presidents Day. I am at home with a head cold and a barfing child, trying my best to get some work done from home. It’s actually not going too badly, all things considered.

I am also cleaning off my desk. There was this giant pile on top of my printer that was threatening to topple for the last couple of months, and I decided to explore what was actually in that pile that was important enough to keep, but that was not necessary enough to remember it was there.

I came across some stacks of photos from the last couple of years. (I am embarrassingly behind on the family photo albums.) In the middle of that stack were photos from Thanksgiving 2008. (I told you I was behind.) And in that set of photos were these fabulous photos of my mother trying to work on a crossword puzzle – a hobby she inherited from her father.

I gather that she would have gotten more done without the “help”, but she was good sport. I love my family.

 Casey

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Beach Girls

I am a beach lover, which would be difficult for you NOT to know if you have ever met me, read my blogs, or passed me on a highway headed south.

I have given birth to a beach girl, too.

We have an artistic sign at our home that states “Gone to the Beach”, and I have a sign in my office that says the same thing. I like to put it on my desk when I go on vacation. And my daughter and I like to hang the sign at home when we are beach bumming.

So today I got a big laugh when my daughter told me we needed to get a sign that reads, “Back from the Beach” to hang when we are home. You see, in her mind we are either “Gone to the Beach” or “Back from the Beach”. Clearly, the time spent between these trips just fills the days until we are beach bound once again.

I do love that child more every day. She is very much her mother’s daughter.

Casey

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It Boggles The Mind

One of my son's first Boggle worksheets.

If you are the least bit competitive and a parent, don’t teach your kids to read. Don’t read to them as babies or toddlers, don’t let them read to you when they start putting words together, and don’t let them stay up late nestled in their bed reading as pre-teens.

Because they will get smart and learn the English language. And then they will embarrass you.

Another fine example.

Case in point: Starting in 1st grade, my son got a hankering for the game Boggle. We played together, and he mastered garnering about six 3-letter words per round. “Round” at that time had an elusive meaning, because he didn’t like to get stressed out by the timer, so we skipped that part. Instead, we played until he was “finished”. I managed to win every game – imagine that! – and I didn’t even try very hard because I am a good Mom. I figured playing this game was not about ruining his self-esteem at six years old.

Fast forward six years, and he’s kickin’ my butt. Every. Single. Time. He’s increasing the number of 4 and 5 letter words, and he rocks the 3 letter sweeties. I’m not kidding; sometimes ten or so per round. And, yes, the timer is now in use, and stress is not present at the table.

I’ve decided the reason children are better at this type of game is because, when they sit down with adults, their minds are empty and ready for the task at hand. Adults just aren’t as freely able to accomplish that goal. Our minds are always a jumble of data, timelines and chores. But believe me, I try to live in the moment and “be one” with the game.

The other day, during a Boggle marathon, when I felt myself getting slightly competitive at tally time – and competitive is not in my base nature – I turned to him in all seriousness and said, “I should never have taught you to read.”

He laughed from deep in his tummy, a sound that I love to hear and that melts my heart to this day. Then, without skipping a beat, he rattled the 16 letter-dice and hit the timer. We were off and running again.

Final score for 6 rounds: my son, 53; me, 29.

Ouch.

Sloane

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Copyright Casey Simmons and S. Sloane Simmons. People who steal other people's words & thoughts are asshats. Don't be an asshat.