Braggin' Wagon Wednesday: Hooked on Phonics

Worked For Me.....

Do you remember that slogan? Is Hooked On Phonics even still around? I'm just curious, but its kinda beside the point.

Corbin is (as I've mentioned millions of times) ridiculously smart. Today while I was in the kitchen I heard him telling Dexter the story of Toy Story 3. My kids are totally obsessed with the whole Toy Story franchise, so this was not a big surprise. But as I listened to what he was saying I realized how specific he was being and that he was using words that weren't a regular part of his vocabulary, so I went in the family room to investigate.

There I found him and Dexter sitting on the floor surrounded by all their toy story toys, and Corbin was reading a book he got for his birthday. This was not just an easy sight-word type book. It's a regular book, and not one that he's heard enough to memorize. I stood silently and watched him read for a few minutes, I noticed that when he would come across a really hard word that he couldn't figure out he would just skip it, so I knew he was really reading, not just repeating from memory. I almost cried, seeing how well he could read when he didn't know I was watching or listening.

I finally stopped him, sat on the floor with them, and made him start over from the beginning and read it to me. I helped with the words he'd previously skipped, and then watched and listened in awe as he read the whole thing.
It's amazing to watch my little baby grow up and do these things with such ease. I barely have to push him to learn something new, he does most of the learning on his own. I wish I would have taken video of it, because he seriously did so well, but I'm sure everyone else gets sick of my boasting about my kid-genius anyway, and I was too busy gushing over it.

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In other not so braggy news. I had a major blow-up with Dexter this afternoon because of his temper tantrums. One might say I had a temper tantrum of my own. There was a lot of yelling and threatening to throw a certain toy in the garbage (Jessie from toy story). I even threatened to rip its head off (the toy, not the boy). Needless to say, its a moment I'm not proud of. It was seconds before the kids needed to be at school, which is why it was so tense, and Dex has a knack for throwing his fits when we're running late (or causing us to run late by throwing fits). Its frustrating and I lost it. After I walked him to class and got back in the van to run to my doctors appointment, I cried over having handled it so badly. I felt awful about it for the rest of the day.

After school I picked them up and as they sat down for their afternoon snack, Dex and I had a heart to heart conversation. I apologized for freaking out and explained to him why I did it, but that it is never okay for me to treat him that way. I asked him to stop throwing tantrums and to start trying to listen more. I also told him he couldn't take Jessie with us everywhere we go anymore (which is seriously the root of many of the tantrums), and he agreed to leave her home. I told him I loved him and we hugged it out. A good long hug that we both really needed. The rest of the day he was PERFECT. Not one more tantrum. He even told Daddy when he got home from work, that he was not going to bring Jessie places anymore, and he's going to stop crying over things. I am so proud that he actually listened to what I said, and is making an effort to make things a little more pleasant for all of us. Hopefully he still remembers once he wakes up.

******NOTE******This blog post is not meant to boast about one child while ragging on another. I really think that Dexter is taking a step in the right direction now, and this will lead to more bragging about him and less frustrating moments. Sorry Dexter, I love you so much, but being three is hard for you!

Ps.. Please don't judge me for my actions, I know I was out of line. I'm trying to make it right.