Z and S sounds

It is so hard.

Right now G is trying to learn when to put an "-s" on the end of words versus "-ed". It is not easy.

I run.
She runs
Jerry runs.
They run.

I ran.
She ran.
Jerry ran.
They ran.

I will run.
She will run.
Jerry will run.
They will run.

Most words use "-ed" to show past tense.

I help.
She helps
Jerry helps.
They help.

I helped.
She helped.
Jerry helped.
They helped.

I will help.
She will help.
Jerry will help.
They will help.

Is it any wonder that some deaf people write with conflicting verb use? It's taught in 1st grade and they haven't had the benefit of hearing it for 6 years prior to being given rules to guide what they know intuitively because it sounds right.

Os the subject of S or Z sound we're trying to come up with rules that are less esoteric than "use Z sound after voiced consonants." We know:

-se says Z
-es says Z
-ss says S
-ce says S
-s after voiced consonants (B, G, D, M, N, V, W, L, R) says Z
-s after unvoiced consonants (P, C, K, T, F) says S

And I thought verb tense agreement was hard.

We went to the Beach

Today we went to the beach and it was awesome. Most of the time we were there we had such gentle light, there could have been vampires left and right for all the shadows we cast. When we did get direct sun P noticed a lovely effect in the waves. There was a sand bar which made a shallow place to see the light making nice little designs under the water. You could only see that if you went out far enough to risk getting your shorts wet. Risk I did. Get wet, yes.

When we left the kids had for once had enough sand play and didn't complain too much.

When we got home I realized we'd spaced G's speech appointment again. This has not been our best month for keeping up on that.

But, we are doing a cool project at home to help him understand what words end in a Z sound and what words end in an S sound. For the last year I have been trying to get him to put an S on the end of Please. English is so tricksy.

And we got to go to the beach.

the problem with the stages of grief

* Denial (this isn't happening to me!)
* Anger (why is this happening to me?)
* Bargaining (I promise I'll be a better person if...)
* Depression (I don't care anymore)
* Acceptance (I'm ready for whatever comes)

But I think, as my sister N suggested when we went through so much with G, that I am in denial all the time every day. I refuse to think anything BAD is happening. It's the foundation of my optimism. But sometimes something bad does happen and it pierces the surface of my delusion. Then I'm having a crisis of identity because I can't admit that anything is bad, there must be some positive way to look at this.

I've got my happy face on Les.

parenting solo but not single

When G was just a few months old I had an acquaintance who had a 5 year old and 1 year old. She had a nice home and I thought she was pretty cool. Really she was. One time when her husband was away, again, on business she said "I'm a single parent this week."
I felt like that was a little lame because I grew up in a one parent situation, a lot of my childhood. And I know it was hard for my mom, and that was even with consistent financial support. So c'mon. Just because your husband is not present for a few days does not make you a single mom.

This week P is off on his first business trip and I'm missing him, and grateful for all the support he provides even when he's not here.

Raising Kids

For a long time I've tried to use the principles of "Love and Logic" offering my children choices to promote good behavior and happiness. Recently we bought a roll of Ice pops and M has had the opportunity to choose her color, but only from the two on the ends. Sometimes the choice is between blue and blue. Today, after 5 days of this, she asked for a color that was in the middle. I just reminded her of the rules, she chose and we moved on.

I feel like it is so important to let kids face consequences. Today G was sort of distracting bP (who should probably start being lP because she's not really a baby anymore) during the sacrament. And today, after many weeks for forgetting, I had brought the fruit snacks that we give them if they were good during the sacrament. I thought about not letting him have it. It would have been a good opportunity to remind him to be good. In the end I just let him have it because really, he wasn't so bad, and I already let him face the consequence of loosing his after dinner computer time quite often. Now that we only let him play after dinner, he is a lot more ok with loosing the privilege. Interesting.

P showed me something recently about raising smart kids. It said to emphasize hard work as a means to success rather than their intelligence. Good idea. So we inventoried the things we do and tell our kids and decided to implement the idea. It's so nice having a husband who keeps his ears and heart open to things that will help us teach the children.

I'd like to dedicate this post to Hb whose fun pictures and commentary in her blog always inspire me to go write something.

And thank you to the genius who invented cross multiplying. Amazing!

A name

My sister told me about this website and I am so glad I named my kids with "normal" cute names.