Is it just me or is anyone else just not feeling the love for Valentine's Day this year? I'm blaming the cold weather, but I have done zero preparations for the holiday so far. In years past we've done homemade Valentines for my kids' schoolmates, but this year I'm going to be doing good to even get all three kids to their classes with the right number of store-bought Valentines! And last year I got a new mold and made my kids homemade chocolate heart lollipops. Not sure I'm going to get around to that this year. Sigh, why did I set such a high standard last year?!! But, on the positive side, my next year's self is going to have no trouble topping this year's Valentines festivities!
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We should have just put off getting the new puppy until this weekend, then it could have been like, "We got you a puppy. Happy Valentine's!" Actually, even though we got her a week ago, I think I just may do that. Because seriously that puppy has been a huge time sucker for me this week! She's totally worth it and very fun and cuddly but pretty much requires the parenting effort of a newborn who wakes up in the night, combined with a 1 year old toddler who gets into everything, combined with a potty-training 2 year old!
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At one point this week the puppy kept chewing on a bag I'd set on the floor next to our shoe shelf, and we couldn't get her to leave it alone, so I said to the kids, "Let's just remove the temptation." And I picked up the bag and put it in my closet. Then the next day she kept trying to get one of the couch pillows and my 3 year old suggested, "Let's move the sensation!" It took me a minute but I realized he meant "temptation" and was remembering my method the day before!
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But really, if my kids can learn the "remove the temptation" tactic it will serve them well in life, for making it through the myriad of bad choice possibilities of the teenage years right through to when they start parenting their own children! Remove the temptation!
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Speaking of teaching my kids something useful for life, I was helping my 7 year old with his spelling words and told him about the "I before E except after C" rule. I asked him if his teacher had taught them that rule and when he said "no" I was surprised because it totally applied to several of his words. Then I started thinking I remembered there were a few exceptions to that rule, so I Googled it to be able to tell my 2nd grader what the exceptions were to the new rule I'd taught him, expecting there to be like 3 words. Well, I learned that there are so many exceptions to the rule, more exceptions than words that actually follow the rule, that teachers have been advised to stop teaching the rule! And that just might explain why I'm such a terrible speller because I use that rule often even now in my every day adult life!
Happy Friday!
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We should have just put off getting the new puppy until this weekend, then it could have been like, "We got you a puppy. Happy Valentine's!" Actually, even though we got her a week ago, I think I just may do that. Because seriously that puppy has been a huge time sucker for me this week! She's totally worth it and very fun and cuddly but pretty much requires the parenting effort of a newborn who wakes up in the night, combined with a 1 year old toddler who gets into everything, combined with a potty-training 2 year old!
______________
At one point this week the puppy kept chewing on a bag I'd set on the floor next to our shoe shelf, and we couldn't get her to leave it alone, so I said to the kids, "Let's just remove the temptation." And I picked up the bag and put it in my closet. Then the next day she kept trying to get one of the couch pillows and my 3 year old suggested, "Let's move the sensation!" It took me a minute but I realized he meant "temptation" and was remembering my method the day before!
______________
But really, if my kids can learn the "remove the temptation" tactic it will serve them well in life, for making it through the myriad of bad choice possibilities of the teenage years right through to when they start parenting their own children! Remove the temptation!
______________
Speaking of teaching my kids something useful for life, I was helping my 7 year old with his spelling words and told him about the "I before E except after C" rule. I asked him if his teacher had taught them that rule and when he said "no" I was surprised because it totally applied to several of his words. Then I started thinking I remembered there were a few exceptions to that rule, so I Googled it to be able to tell my 2nd grader what the exceptions were to the new rule I'd taught him, expecting there to be like 3 words. Well, I learned that there are so many exceptions to the rule, more exceptions than words that actually follow the rule, that teachers have been advised to stop teaching the rule! And that just might explain why I'm such a terrible speller because I use that rule often even now in my every day adult life!
Happy Friday!
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Puppies are a lot of work--I experienced something similar when I took in a kitten. It felt like I had to watch her every minute and hated to leave her alone in the house because I knew she'd get into something. The English language doesn't make much sense and is why it's one of the hardest to learn. I think there's more to that rule though something like "or when sounding like "A" like in 'sleigh' or in 'weigh.'"
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I had no idea that they revoked the "i before e" rule from spelling class. I do remember the full amendment from my own school years though:
ReplyDelete"I before E except after C... and in words that end "eigh" as in "neighbor" and "weigh."
The things that stick with us through the years....
Have a great weekend!
I've never heard the word sleigh used in that little rhyme. I use the rhyme fairly often and then spell check puts a little line under my word half the time LOL I love spell check.
ReplyDeleteI haven't gotten much into Valentines Day either this year, in fact I just posted a message on Facebook to my family that the cards have not been mailed yet!
I didn't know about the eigh words either! There are a lot of things they don't teach in school any more, it's kind of sad.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI'm stopping by via the Finer Things Friday hop.
Puppies are a handful. I swear my Shih-Tzu is part beaver the way she chews.
Debra
i love that lesson with your kids!! teaching kids english is so hard, there are no fast rules! my son hates it ;-)
ReplyDeletepuppies are tiring, but their furry faces are so worth it!
My favourite spelling aide-mémoire is for "knight" - you just quote the line from Monty Python and the Holy Grail "I blow my nose at you, so-called Ah-thoor Keeng, you and all your silly English K-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-niggits!" Amusement and learning all in one :-)
ReplyDelete(In case you're not familiar with the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8yjNbcKkNY)
You are right on about the puppy! I have 2; what was I thinking..kids are all grown up..have their own homes..their own kids..their own dogs...I have no idea what I was thinking but I do love them.
ReplyDeleteI kind of stink for Valentines this year too..Why did it have to get here so fast; I'm just not ready!
I feel like the "i before e except after c" still applies...it just mainly applies for words where the "ie" makes an "eeeeeeee" sound. Note that most of the exceptions (except "protein" and other chemical words) do not make the "eeeee" sound, and the ones that do fit into easy categories (chemical names, words that do not drop the "e" when adding "-ing"...which could sort of be thought of as two syllables...like "be-ing"). (Of course, this is my completely unprofessional take on the situation.)
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