schmits.org

Welcome to schmits.org: , , , and virtual front porch. This web site is just that; a place to visit for family, friends, and anyone, who are too far away, to stop by in person. Pull up a chair and stay a while....

Child Proof

Andrea enjoys reading all sorts of items in her environment now. Sometimes, it leads to interesting questions (some not to be repeated here!). However, other times it leads to items not being as "Child Safe" as they were prior to her being able to read.

Recently, Andrea shared with us that to open her vitamin bottle, you just need to press and turn. And to close it, you turn the other way. After reading this information on the lid, she proceeded to do exactly as the bottle instructed and opened the supposedly child-safe container. I guess we need to be sure to keep things in the closet when we don't want her to get into them.

Which reminds me of the time that we had the supposedly child-proof doorknob cover. A bit of persistence and the strength of a two-year-old put an end to that solution when Dylan opened the closet door. Instead, we put the sliding bolt lock on the door. The closet isn't child-proof any more since the kids are tall enough to stand on a stepstool and reach the lock.

Just as we can no longer spell to communicate between us, we now need to be more cautious about what is around and stored. And we need to hope that Andrea reads the warning information along with the instructions!

Four Four-Eyes

In about a week, Andrea will join the rest of her immediate family in wearing glasses. She had her eye exam this morning, which revealed that my motherly instincts were correct. (It had been a year since her last exam, and she needed one for kindergarten, so the visit wasn't all driven by instincts.) She had been holding the book a bit close, and she had been leaning toward the television to help see. She has both nearsightedness and an astigmatism in both eyes. And, there is no doubt about her need for correction. The eye doctor commented that she was very consistent with her answers to "which one is better, one or two?"

Andrea picked out a pretty purple pair of frames. I'm not sure how much was driven by the Disney branding on them. However, the trusted woman on the staff at the eye doctor's office agreed that it was one of the best looking on Andrea. I might have had a slight preference for one of the pink frames, but I'll defer to Andrea's fashion sense. We will be able to pick them up in about a week.

We knew that eventually Andrea's genetic deficiencies in the area of vision would catch up to her. I am surprised that my ability to see without glasses until the age of seven and a half is the record among the four of us. I guess if a need for glasses is the worst trait that we pass on, she'll do okay in life.

She Can Read!

For the first time, I heard Andrea sounding out words as she read a book by herself last Sunday. She has slowly, and somewhat secretively, been making progress toward this for a while. There was the "First Words" book that she enjoyed reading, which involved some guessing of what word matched the picture. With that, she was often confused by words such as 'knife' which don't start with the sound you'd expect.

The first book that I heard her read to herself was "If You Give a Pig a Party!", and the word that she had to really think about before saying was 'want.' In the past week, Andrea has impressed me with the many words that she can read. She has read books that I was not even aware that we had, which convinces me that she hasn't simply memorized the words. I expect her repertoire to expand rapidly. I only hope that she will soon start to read during the day in addition to at bedtime. It's tough for me to remind her that it's time to sleep when I hear her practicing such a wonderful, life-long skill.

Whaddyou Say?

I'm reminded of an interaction between Andrea and her cousin Abigail over the summer. Andrea and Abigail were playing in and around a tent made of blankets and chairs in Abigail's living room. Andrea must have said something to Abigail, which Abigail questioned. The following dialog went something like this:

Andrea: "Whaddyou say?"

Abigail: "How come?"

Andrea: "Whaddyou say?"

Abigail: "How come?"

Andrea: "Whaddyou say?"

Abigail: "How come?"

Andrea: "Whaddyou say?"

Me: "Andrea, 'How come?' is another way to ask 'Why?'"

Andrea: "Oh."

It wasn't until this exchange that I realized that a phrase so common to me in my childhood has become foreign to me as an adult. So foreign, that my daughter doesn't even know what it means! Is this a east-coast phrase not common in the mid-west?

I asked my brother (not Abigail's father) if he knew a two word phrase that means 'Why?', and he immediately responded "How come?" Whether he was questioning why I needed to know or answering the question, he apparently hasn't forgotten his roots.

Titles

At church, Andrea likes to fill out name tags for us. The last couple of weeks, we have been arriving at church with little time to spare, so she takes name tags for her and me with us to the pew. With no hesitation, and no questions, she fills mine out and puts it on my shirt.

There are many different titles that could be put on my name tag, as well as no title and just my first name. The options include:

• Ms. Schmit
• Carolyn Schmit
• Mrs. Schmit
• Dr. Schmit

But, the one that I think I am most pleased to have written is the one that Andrea has written these past two Sundays: Mommy Schmit.

When I Grow Up...

... I want to be...

The first time that I heard those words from Andrea was the day that we visited a dairy farm on vacation. That night, the answer she offered with no prompting was "a farmer and a cooker." By "cooker,' I certainly hope that she means a chef and not simply a burger flipper at a fast-food joint.

Tonight, Andrea added two more variations to the mix. The first was, "When I grow up, I want to be an author, ... and a farmer and a cooker. A food cooker and an ice cream cooker." Shortly after, she indicated that she wanted to be "Curious George, a farmer, and a cooker."

I was surprised that she did not forget about being a farmer and a cooker in the month since she first shared her aspirations. It'll be some time until she's all grown up, so for now I hope that she enjoys being a kid!

For Sale?

Today, I dropped Andrea off late at school, and stayed for her class group time by her request. Group time was interesting...

Last week Andrea's class had a pizza-making fundraiser. On Thursday, they made English-muffin pizzas -- all cheese. Well, they had sauce on them, too. On Friday, the pizzas were cooked and sold them to parents. I don't remember the exact price, but I donated a dollar to get four and I overpaid.

Today, the class was discussing and voting on what they were going to do with the $9 they earned. The two options presented by the teacher were: (1) ice cream party, and (2) buy a fish for the classroom. Each child was given a choice in turn to voice their preference. They were also given the option for a "write-in" idea. Andrea passed on her turn to vote. Andrea's friend, Aaron, did not. He was the first (and only) to say, "I have an idea."

Aaron's idea was to "Buy Andrea's mommy." The idea got a vote from Aaron and two of the other children. In the end, "Buy a Fish" also had three votes. (Un)fortunately, "Ice Cream Party" ended up with six votes, so I don't have to worry about being owned, and cared for!, by a pre-school class of three-year-olds.

Math of Ages

"Mommy, when Dylan is six, will I be four?"

"Yes, Andrea."

"And, when Dylan is seven, will I be five?"

"Yes, you will be."

"When Dylan is eight, will I be... six?"

"You will be, Andrea."

"Mommy, when Dylan is nine, will I be seven?"

And, when Dylan is ten, will I be eight?"

"You sure will be."

"When Dylan is twenty, will I be ten?"

"No. When Dylan is twenty, you will be eighteen, Andrea."

"When Dylan is one hundred, will I be seventeen?"

"No. When Dylan is one hundred, you will be ninety-eight."

So went the conversation when I was pushing Andrea on the swing this afternoon. I didn't think much of it at the time, but now that I think back on it, it is impressive to me. Granted, Andrea's math ability became constrained when she crossed the boundary of ten. However, she was either able to keep straight incrementing two sets of numbers. Or, she was able to subtract two from each number in her head. Either way, I'm impressed.

Both Dylan and Andrea are currently in the mode of challenging my addition skills and keeping me sharp. We often start simple, with something like "What's one plus one?" They then take the answer and add it to itself. Well, they ask me (or Geoff) to add it to itself. They don't seem to get bored with it, so I often find myself adding numbers in the thousands. In my head. While driving. Perhaps there should be a law against that.

Beer

Scene: Jewel grocery store on the Sunday afternoon before Memorial Day
Characters: Daddy and Andrea

Daddy: "Let's get some beer and then we're done."

Andrea: "Don't drink too much."

Daddy: "Ummmm, why not?"

Andrea: "You'll be sick."

Daddy: "Okay, should I just drink one, then?"

Andrea: "No, five."

Daddy: "Five?"

Andrea: "Five is okay."

Daddy: "Okay."

Daddy wonders with whom Andrea has been discussing drinking beer....

ttyl

Andrea is very interested in knowing how to spell various words. I often hear, "Mommy, how do you spell... (fill in the blank)?" More recently, she's turned it around to something such as "Mommy, what does c-a-t spell?" Earlier this week, the question Andrea asked me was, "Mommy, what does t-t-y-l spell?"

So any of you who are wondering whether kids these days are just inherently different than we were as kids, the answer is a resounding y-e-s (which spells yes)! I still have no idea where she got that letter combination from. It is not a phrase that I use, nor is it something that I have heard (or seen) Geoff use. However, it certainly is odd that Andrea picked that combination of letters from all 456,976 possible 4-letter permutations.

For those still wondering, t-t-y-l spells "talk-to-you-later."