Dammit's House

I hung out with my folks last night, and my mom said, "Nice peach fuzz post you put up today." And I said, "Um, thanks...?" And she said, "It was kind of obscene, Karlenn." I beg to differ. If I had talked about, um, different kinds of hairs (you know what I mean?) or something, it would have been obscene. Peach fuzz? Not obscene. In my humble Karlenn Opinion. Today's post is obscene, in the real literal sense of the word, because I swore in the title. Just call me Bad Mormon.

This was my softball team, circa 1992. I am on the top row (I'm always on the top row, because I'm tall), third from the right. And my dad is the farthest on the right on the top row. He was a good softball coach. On the bottom row, the farthest girl on the left, with the turquoise shorts, is a girl named Janet.

And wouldn't ya know it, she is now Sadie's speech therapist!!

I take Sadie to an elementary school on the other side of town once a week for speech therapy. When she turned three, she was transitioned from the Infant/Toddler program, where the therapist comes to your house, to the school district, where you have to take your kids to the school. At first, it was Sadie and another little boy, and not much progress was made, because they were each struggling with different sounds. And the little boy wasn't very cooperative. He would cover his eyes with his hands and sit there when Janet asked him a question. And Sadie decided to follow suit sometimes, which was annoying to me. She totally learned that from him. His family moved to Shelley, taking him out of this school district's jurisdiction, so now Sadie has Janet all to herself, and she's making better progress, I think. It's all play-based, so it's fun for Sadie. She has to say three words, and then she gets to draw a card, or stick the sword in the barrel, or pull the ker-plunk stick out, etc. So she has a good time. It's just like playing games for a half an hour per week.

Sadie can't say the name "Janet." When she tries, it literally sounds like "Dammit." And the other day, we pulled up to the school, and Sadie said, "Ohhhh, are we at Dammit's House?" Apparently she thinks Janet lives at the school. So cute. Janet thinks it is hilarious that Sadie calls her Dammit.

Sadie has been working on her /k/ sound for the last few months. She uses a /t/ sound where she should use the /k/ sound. Here is a little sampler of a session we had a couple of months ago, when we were just starting:

Janet: Say "cake."

Sadie: Tate.

Janet: Okay, say "kuh."

Sadie: Kuh.

Janet: Say "Ake."

Sadie: "Ate." [Janet's okay with Sadie's ending k's not being quite right. We're just really working on beginning k's.]

Janet: Now say "kuh-ake."

Sadie: Kuh-ate.

Janet: Now say "cake."

Sadie: Tate.

Janet: Um, okay. Say "key."

Sadie: Tee.

Janet: Say "kuh."

Sadie: Kuh.

Janet: Now say "eee."

Sadie: Eee.

Janet: Kuh-eee.

Sadie: Kuh-eee.

Janet: Key.

Sadie: Tee!!

The little boy - I can't remember his name. I think it was Keegan. He was working on his middle /ch/ sound, and here is a funny interaction that happened between Janet and him:

Janet: Say "chair."

Keegan: Chair.

Janet: Now say "matches."

Keegan: [pauses.] Chair.

Sadie gets frustrated sometimes, because this is hard work for her, and sometimes she yells "I tan't do it!!" So sometimes I have to bribe her to cooperate. I usually promise her a piece of gum at the end of the session if she tries her hardest. Or, if it's a really cold day, I promise her a hot chocolate (and I score myself an almond steamer) from the nearest Java Hut. Back when it was warm, I would promise her a $1 vanilla ice cream at McDonald's. Usually, any of these promises carries her through each of her sessions.

She is making progress. Now she has mastered (at least in speech therapy sessions. At home, I have to remind her) the beginning /k/, so it's on to saying a word before the /k/ word, like, "Little car." She gets confused and goes, "Kittle Car." She thinks every word should have the beginning k sound. Janet was trying to have Sadie say "come," and she was trying to put a word in front of it, so she asked Sadie to say "Janet, come here!" So of course, it came out, "Dammit, tum here!!" Kind of funny.

Poor thing. We're working on it.

Two more "Dammit" stories:

1. Brianna, when she was really little, thought our car was called The Dammit, because Mom always swore when she was trying to start it. Who's obscene, Mom??? :) Brianna also called our Honda The Panda. Cute, cute, cute.

2. The kids and I were driving somewhere, and we were listening to Prince - the song called "You've Got the Look" - ah, I love Prince. He makes me shake my booty. Anyways, there is a part of that song that says, "Your face is jammin, your body's heck-a slammin'..." (And yes, it says "heck-a slammin." I'm not censoring here.) Dylan was singing along (you can tell I listen to Prince a lot), and he sang, "Your face is sandwich, your body's heck-a slammin'...." And Sadie goes, "No, it's not sammich. It's 'dammit.' 'You face is dammit.'" So funny.