Monday, September 1, 2008

So Smart

You know a few days ago I was bragging about Mandy putting together 30 piece puzzles, well, now she is putting together 48 piece puzzles. She is so smart! Although, now I am beginning to wonder if the reason that Mandy seems to so very smart to me is in part because of the excellent tutelage of her so very smart older brother. Dallin seems to always be teaching her something new. Sometimes he tries to teach her how to write. She is not very good at copying the letters he writes, but she does try. He also teaches her how to "read". Dallin doesn't actually know how to read himself (other than just a few words that he knows by sight) but he has memorized a number of books. He "reads" her a line from the book and then Mandy dutifully repeats it. My favorite thing about Dallin trying to teach Mandy how to read and write is that during those times, they are so focused on what they are doing that they don't even realize the beautiful bond that they have with each other. It is during those times that I can see how much Dallin actually likes his little sister and how much Mandy truly idolizes her older brother. It is such a pleasure to me to see them doing something together and not fighting over who is going to play with what toy! I wonder though if I haven't told my children how smart I think they are just a little too often. After doing something that he considered to be particularly brilliant, Dallin started dancing around the house chanting a little song that went, "I'm a genius, I'm a genius, I'm a genius, I'm a genius, ..." Maybe I need to lay off on the compliments just a little bit!

1 comment:

Stacy Pettersen said...

You know, this may turn out to be a benefit for Mandy. I remember Maren coming home and playing "school" with me, but sometimes I think I was just a little better prepared because of it!