Tuesday, March 5, 2013

"This" really shouldn't be so hard

Galatians 5:22-23 lists 9 things as the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  I have often thought "self-control" must be listed last because that means it stays with us longer, being the last one said.  Patience is the other one that is much easier said then done, and something people seem to think I have a lot of:  "Nine kids!?!?! You must have so much patience!"

Well, that myth is often dispelled for anyone spending a day or two in my house!

Yesterday, it was Micah who was determined to push me to the brink.

Amelia and I spent some time transplanting tomatoes; the seeds the 4 musketeers planted a few weeks ago are now thriving seedlings of at least 60 tomato plants, plus some green bell and hot peppers.  Amelia also spent some time on hand writing, and Sunny had been using LetterSchool on the iPad to practice her writing.  I decided that Kimberly and I would do some flash card work with Micah.

Micah is wicked smart.  He know so many words, and catches on quickly to things.  He can be a very eager learner.  He is also exceedingly stubborn.

We were flying through the cards, and there were only a few -- "before" and "around" --that he needed a bit of a prompt to read.  Then came "this". 

"Sit", says Micah.  I thought maybe I heard wrong and said "this". 

"Sit", this time signing it as he said it.  OK, maybe he is reading it backwards, which would be a first but understandable.  So I sounded it out for him, and he repeated after me.

"th" "i" "s".....  "sit"  Again he signed sit with added emphasis, giving me an "I can't believe you cannot read that word" look.

After a few more tries, I put the card in the middle of the pile, since we both needed a break from this.  We came to it again.  And went 20 rounds again.  By now we are both frustrated.  Apparently we both know exactly what t-h-i-s spells, and we both know the other is wrong.  And quite frankly--- after an injured Dante with an ER visit and still a bad limp, a choking Kimberly with her own ER visit, and a van that would not start just that morning--- the last thing I needed was an obstinate 10 year old who thought his mom couldn't read a simple 4 letter word. 

So I called Zachary over to give it a try.  Apparently Zachary cannot read t-h-i-s either.

Then Amelia decided to step in and take over.

The peer pressure did not work.

Dad even tried when he got home.  Micah lives with a family of people who cannot read.  He must have so much patience with us illiterates in his midst.

Thankfully, I had to go to work, because I was about to tell Micah to spend the rest of the day doing exactly what that card says:  "SIT"!

~~~~~~~

This morning a friend asked me why I didn't make a second flash card that actually says "sit" and show him the difference.  I took her suggestion to heart and did just that.  According to Micah they both say "sit".

I give up.

For now...



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