Cabin Fever Musings...

A quick peek into flu week at our house:



Jack watches a movie wearing Cyclops 3-D glasses while Davis empties a container of wipies when I am not looking.



After a round of "Draw 5 Diplodocuses," Jack took a THREE-HOUR afternoon nap on the couch yesterday.

We have had plenty of time to practice reading at home this week. I wanted him to show Jeff his progress on a simple book he's never read. It's a rewarding but s-l-o-w painstaking process as you will see. More than half the battle is keeping the 5-yr-old boy sillies under control to get through the book. It's hard not to help him out or rush him along, as you will also see... that is, if you have the patience to make it to the end of this video. This little book focuses on the SHORT A sound. (And the excessive use of exclamation points, apparently.)

Rat at Bat.

Go Rat! Put on your cap!

Go to the Mat! Get ready to bat!

Tap, Tap, Tap your bat! Tap your bat on the mat!

Oh no, Rat! Do not be sad!

Oh no, Rat! Do not get mad!

You can do it! Yes, you can!

Hooray for Rat! You can bat!

It's very exciting to see him moving right along with his reading. A whole new world is opening up for him as he sounds out more and more words. It changes things for us too. We can't spell things to keep secrets anymore. Additionally, we can no longer lie about what's recorded on the TIVO, either. "Mom, you said there were NO MORE Crocodile Hunters for me to watch, but that says, "Huh-unn-tuh-errrr!!" Busted.

It's been a long six days at home and I have to admit, I have gone a little stir-crazy and am quite irritable by bedtime. Julie and I even contemplated allowing Alli and TJ over to have our own little "Swine Flu Party" Thursday since they are all four on Tamiflu, but we thought better of it. I am just glad the boys seem to be on the mend and haven't needed fever meds since lunchtime yesterday.

At the end of the day, it's all worth it when your son hands you an index card that says,

"Dear Mom, I lic all the thing you hav dun."

As he handed me this sweet little note, I was instantly reminded that I'm not really in that big of a rush for him to read and write perfectly. His Kinder phonetics are so darn cute.

I was also reminded that "like" is going to be on Monday's spelling test.