Things I Can't Say

Tips and Tales from an Introverted Mom

Things You Can’t Do Once Your Child Learns to Read

As a bookworm, I have loved watching my boys grow in their reading ability. From my oldest tearing through the Harry Potter series to my middle reading any paper he gets his hands on, to my youngest amazing us with all the words he can read. Every other subject in school gets easier once you can read, so it’s a proud mama thing to watch my boys become better readers.

pete the cat reading

But once kids start to read, there are certain things you can’t do.

You can’t pretend their favorite show isn’t on. You know, the one that irritates you and makes your ears start to bleed because you can’t take listening to one of the main characters(like on Sam and Cat- WHY do they have that girl talk like that? It’s not her real voice!). But once they can read, the kids can see the show titles on the guide and will call you out on it.

You can’t pretend to be busy with your phone while they hover over you waiting for it. They now see that you are just on twitter, reading other people’s tweets, not actually doing any work.

You can’t stop and read those hilarious but totally inappropriate lists that you get sucked into on facebook. Even if they might not know all the words, those are not where you want them to practice their “sounding it out” skills.

You can’t say that Chuck E. Cheese(or whatever place you really don’t want to go to) is closed. They can read the sign. They can probably even google the hours.

You can’t email a complaint to their teacher. They’ll read it over your shoulder and start asking questions.

You can’t just leave your computer up on whatever it is you were last working on. Not unless you are 100% okay with them reading what’s on the screen.

You can’t say “oh just read it to me” when they tell you you have a new text. They’re able to and you’d think that this would be a bonus, especially if you are driving. But unless no one ever sends you inappropriate texts(thanks, Hubs), this isn’t a good idea.

Comments

  1. This is so true! I especially have to watch what is on the computer screen when I walk away from it – especially if I’m just on facebook, because scary stuff can pop up there. Well, usually hilarious for me, but scary when I think about my ten year old reading it! 

  2. You are SO RIGHT! Just yesterday I was attempting to send a FB message to classmate’s mom, and my older one was totally reading over my shoulder. So annoying!!-Ashley

  3. Ok I guess I pretty luck.  I don’t receive inappropriate texts.  Having the boys able to read the texts and respond is awesome.  Remainder of your list is very true.  

  4. Lol yep you are so right,though i do not get inappropriate texts i like my oldest being able to reply for me while i am busy doing something else,The other good thing is when i get asked questions that i also do not know the answer to (i pretend i do) i tell them the only way they will learn it is to go online and search it themselves lol.

  5. The TV one gets us all the time. We can still skip for Bruiser, but Turbo calls us on it all the time. They haven’t started reading over my shoulder yet, but I imagine that day is coming.

  8. Haha! These are all good points – I’d add that you can’t spell out words or phrases anymore, either. For instance, my daughter is about to go to the d-o-c-t-o-r for some s-h-o-t-s. 😉 

  13. Loved the day when my girls learned how to read but you are so right! Too often times I would and will find my 7 year old..aka ears… over my shoulder reading my emails! 

  14. Yep I got burned by my oldest over Christmas when we made an activity calendar countdown to Christmas. It said we were going to make a pine cone craft but I was not in the mood to craft with my kids so I said we were going to read a book. I was busted! She called me on it instantly. I blame myself, I should have known in November when I created the thing that I wouldn’t want to craft with my kids. 

  15. I have mixed feelings about those days. We don’t have readers yet, but it won’t be long. I will miss being able to spell things to keep my 3 year old from hearing.

  16. All great points. 🙂 We don’t have cable, so most of our tv is done through Netflix or Hulu. Right now, I tell my toddler that it isn’t working, so we don’t watch certain shows in the mornings!

  17. LOL I love this list! It is so true. There have been a few times that I was a little concerned about the content of Hubs texts, so I made my daughter text that it was her so he would be appropriate! LOL 

  21. I love the theme of your blog! I didnt realize that reading was such a big deal to parents as you all do a lot of “lying” to them when they dont know how to read! LOL I was laughing most of the blog post but its cute! How about not spelling out curse words…my friend did that once and her son figured it out and said it back to her! it was hilarious…she stop spelling out curse words and just talked in code!

  24. I remember those days when I had to watch what I wrote and what book was laying around. When I had my daughter, computer was just coming out.

  27. My son is too young to read but LOVES going through the books and pointing at the characters. I can’t wait until he can read! 

  30. LOL! Reading definitely changes so much! I especially love this one: 

    “You can’t pretend to be busy with your phone while they hover over you waiting for it. They now see that you are just on twitter, reading other people’s tweets, not actually doing any work.”

    This = ME. ; )

  32. Hah! So all those things you got away with – no way Jose, eh? 🙂
    We have to spell things out now that both my kids understand a lot of what we used to discuss freely in front of them 🙂

  33. Hubby and I came up with our own language once the kiddos learned to spell/read. LOL. My oldest figured it out eventually, but the 3 youngest are still clueless

  34. Haha. I just got the book for my oldest. It’s funny because once your kids can read you can’t spell outloud to hide what you’re saying. I find that out the hard way.

  40. You’re making me rethink my stance on fostering a love of reading. Lol I’m kidding but seriously thats one aspect of it I hadnt thought ot. 

  41. When my nephew turned five (13 years ago), we had a satellite radio station playing music on our television. We’d picked a channel that bleeped out any bad words from the songs but Jordan had learned to read, so when Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me A River” came up on the screen, my nephew asked me, “Aunt Julie, what does ‘The No-Ass edit’ mean?”

    It wasn’t awkward at ALL!

  42. haha, isn’t that the truth?! My son is starting to read more and more, and it’s hard to ‘fib’ to him about anything… or skip pages in really, really, REALLY long books when I am really just wanting to go to bed. lol.

  44. I used to spell things to my hubby. Want to go to the p a r k? can’t do that anymore!

  45. Funny! Lol. The kicker is when they can spell. I got caught once when my daughter was little, not realizing she knew how to spell a “bad” word I didn’t want to say in front of her but instead spelt it

  46. That’s true! I never thought of that…my oldest is spelling every sign everywhere we go…so I know it’s just a matter of time until he starts memorizes words. Think he’s going to be a bookworm like his mom! Any new book suggestions? I’m almost done with one!

  49. Yeah…. we have just hit the age where she is learning to spell. The kid heard us spelling I-C-E C-R-E-A-M and about 30 minutes later she had us all in the car and heading to the scoop shop.

  50. This made me chuckle because my boys are 2 & 5, and I think I take advantage of their non-readability (is that a word?) during all of these same situations. I’ll have to be more careful; my five-year old is getting very close.

  54. This is pretty funny. I remember the change when my son started reading EVERYTHING. And you can’t spell words in front of them anymore either. They’re like, “Mom, I know what that word is. You really shouldn’t say that.” Or is that just my kid? Yes, my kid censors me.