Happy Friday. I can't do a Free Book Friday until I actually get off my butt and mail the books to the previous winners. Hopefully next week.
Must Be Love
Kid C came home with a Valentine Card from one of his favorite girls. He has four favorites. But he told me he can't be in love with any single one of them until he's sixteen years old.
I don't know where he gets his information, but I thought this reasoning was sound. So I called up my first grade boyfriend and told him I couldn't have really been in love with him, and I faked all my love letters. He asked for his pin back. It was a Michael Jackson pin.
In third grade, my cohorts and I had moved from monogamous relationships to that all out free-for-all known as kissing tag. This one boy with a brown turtle-neck (I can't for the life of me remember his name) followed me all around school, trying to tag me. I mean, "tag" me. Which, in this case, really does mean tag me, because as much as we played the game, I'm pretty sure there was no actual kissing involved.
Anywho, turtle-neck boy followed me around the whole school, and all I could think about was how his turtle-neck must be choking the life out of him. So, although I didn't get any "action", I did develop my endearing aversion to "things that choke". i.e. turtle-necks, necklaces, rings, scarves... Units clothing.
In sixth grade, I received my first kiss. Her name was Tiffany and it was a game of spin the bottle. We were at an all-girls sleepover, and I'm pretty sure when we read the rules to "spin the bottle" we must've missed the part where it says: "Works better in a co-ed environment."
In the immortal words of Katy Perry: I kissed a girl. I didn't like it, but I did taste cherry chapstick.
I'll tackle the junior high and high school years next week. But back to Carter's Valentine Letter... he asked me to decipher it.
It seriously took me hours. Don't try to read the words as words. That's impossible. Just pretend someone spilled alphabet soup on a piece of paper and your job is to sound them all out. Scroll down a ways for the answer, but let me know in the comments if you could figure it out without scrolling down.
Maybe I speak first-grader, or have seen my share of poor spelling, or something, because I knew what the whole note said by the 3rd word.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm more interested in is how a first grader in 2010 even knows that song! Did it make a comeback or something?
I got it, but then I spend at least an hour a week in my son's first grade class helping them with their journals. I've gotten pretty good at reading "phonetic" words. Do you think that's a marketable skill?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite journal entry was a girl who wrote "Wii" every time she meant "we." I'm glad to know we're educating our children properly.
Heather- I think it made a comeback with the recent Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, but I didn't know that until I started Googling it.
ReplyDeleteJenilyn- Reading phonetic words is a very marketable skill. My husband's company is looking for a Phonetic Word Reader (PWR) even as we speak.
Too funny about the "Wii". Funny, and a little scary.
Cute post. And yup I got it. Welcome to my world of reading my kid's daily letters. My question is, did you break into song like I did? Ooo Eee, ooo ahh ahh!
ReplyDeleteHad to read it twice, but I was totally ROFL after I got it! That is adorable! And perhaps my 4-year old's writing is what helped me translate?
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome.
my speakers on my computer are broken ...but i am pretty sure i "speak" first grade (i have one remember and she spells this way all the time) is it..."i told the witch dr. i was in love with you..."
ReplyDeletetoo cute!
Adorable. I took me a few lines, but I got it too. :) Phonetics rules. :)
ReplyDeleteI got it! At first, I thought it was "witch daughter" then I got to the "oo ee oo" part and I knew what was going on! Too cute!
ReplyDeleteI guess I speak first grader too because I totally got that song. And it's actually a good one. ;)
ReplyDeleteAdorable! The chorus definitely gives it away. And I'm sorry your first kiss was a girl, but at least it makes a good story, right?
ReplyDeleteOkay everyone- apparently you ARE all smarter than a first grader! Now I'm a little ashamed about how long it took me. But might I also add that in addition to having to read phonetically, one must also have a knowledge of obscure songs from the fifties.
ReplyDeleteConsidering my friends made fun of me for not knowing that one Barry Manilow song "Randy" I'm not surprised it took me so long.
It's "I told the witch doctor I was in love with you" etc etc
ReplyDeleteVery nice. That used to be one of my favorites on my Chipmunks cassette tape. :D
(My word verification is "lying"... I'm wondering if I should take offense at that...)
Britt- LIAR! Apparently my parents never partook in the "Alvin and the Chipmunks Indoctrination" of their children. I feel like I'm missing out. Maybe I should bring this up in therapy...
ReplyDeleteYou were most definitely deprived!
ReplyDeleteOkay, we have too many uncanny similarities. I also cannot stand anything that "chokes." My mom used to put me in turtlenecks when I was a baby and I'd scream and scream until she undressed me.
ReplyDeleteJust the thought of wearing one now makes me want to gag. I only wear necklaces of a certain length, and my siblings always tortured me into doing what ever they wanted by threatening to touch my neck.
I also have a problem with rings and bracelets. But not as bad as the neck phobia.
Took me a second, but I deciphered the note. But I do have a 1st grader so I have an advantage.
um, the Barry song is "MANDY" brodi, NOT Randy--i am embarrassed to say i know you now!
ReplyDelete(you know that is a joke, right?)
Brodi, you are telling me that your mom and dad never played the Chipmunk's Christmas album, every Christmas? I thought it was an Ashton thing! Ha! Yeah, got the song in about 3 words as well. And now its stuck in my head. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteIt took me a bit but I figured it out. It looks shockingly like my own handwriting so that helped a bit.
ReplyDeleteHa ha! I took me a minute, but I did figure it out. I love that song! What a cute valentine! :)
ReplyDeleteBree- you and I similar? That's crazy talk. You're just like me... but slightly crazier.
ReplyDeleteDorien- Randy sounds better though, doesn't it?
Marianne- Yeah, the Alvin and Chipmunks gene must've skipped my dad. Go figure.
Olivia- That handwriting is neat compared to our household. We don't write each other notes cuz no one can read them.
Jenni- the one bad thing is the stupid song gets stuck in your head. Over and over. and over.
ReplyDeleteYes, it does. My hubby's mad at me now because I played it. He said that song will be stuck in his head for a very long time now. ;)
ReplyDeleteAHHH, HHHHAAAA, HAAAA! I lovei t! I thought it was teacher, not witch doctor and then I was completely lost and the oooo-eeee's!
ReplyDeleteYour first kiss puts a few more pieces of the puzzle into place :)
Cam- Glad I'm not the only one that was stumped!
ReplyDeleteOh, the first grade kissing tag games! Makes me kinda glad we gave those up before we got much older. Nothing like having a persistent adult chasing us down with their kissy faces...
ReplyDeleteI couldn't decipher "witch doctor" until the second line.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any problems with turtle necks, but I have a deep rooted fear of rings. I think some childhood trauma was involved.
Melissa- Unfortunately I still haven't given up kissing tag. It makes it awkward for me at parties and stuff.
ReplyDeleteBecky- Childhood trauma like where they rip the ring off your hand, and your finger is still in the ring? Sorry, I get a little creative when I think of the worst thing that could happen...
The ooo eee aaa s totally gave it away. Cute.
ReplyDeleteI got it! The first time I saw the "oo ee oo" I thought it sounded familiar but couldn't quite place it. It didn't take too long after you said to look at it again and figure it out. That is too funny!
ReplyDeleteDespite my 6-yr-old's creative spelling, it took me till the chorus to figure it out.
ReplyDeleteI too am weird about choking! I can handle rings and bracelets, but some t-shirts, sweaters, turtlenecks and necklaces drive me crazy! But only sometimes. I wear a lot of V-necks! I remember nearly having a conniption during my HS graduation because of the stupid gown and the even stupider collar and the necklace.... AHHHHHHHH! I'm choking now just thinking of it, and that was almost 13 years ago!
Heids- Yeah, now that I know the song, it totally gives it away.
ReplyDeleteKim- I thought the Oo's eeh's were just gobbledygook. That's probably why I had such a hard time deciphering.
Shauna- I'm choking just thinking about you thinking about it. Glad we can commiserate in our phobia's!