Words

Sydney is really into words right now. Everyday we practice recognizing letters, and she's enjoying books more than ever before. She mostly, though, likes to try and write words.

Yesterday, she said she wanted me to teach her to write some words. I asked her which ones she wanted me to write down for her, and she said...

"Heart and
Love and
God and
Jesus and
Honeysuckle."

She was most fascinated by "honeysuckle" and was really surprised at how long it was. "Why don't I just write 'honey' and you can work on it?" I suggested. "Nope," she said, "I want honeysuckle." So, she spent the next thirty minutes or so writing it over and over. And despite a "K" that was sorta troubling to her, she did great on it.

I'm not sure why she decided that "honeysuckle" was a word worthy of being written down, but I sure liked her choice. I decided, right then and there, that the fact that she didn't choose "dog" or "cat" certainly reveals something about her level of intelligence.

I remember, as a child, having spelling bees while traveling on car trips. And I remember when Mom instituted writing time in our house; instead of reading (which certainly is a wonderful idea too!), we had to write for an hour. And we used to compete with the Reader's Digest "Increase Your Word Power" quiz.

Today, I still love words. I pretty much make my living by them. And, I have favorites. One of my favorites has always been epiphany. And I've always liked segue and periwinkle (Of course, right now, I really like the sound of enchilada...I'm starving and there is like no food in the house!).

There is also something about the roll of a perfect sentence off of your tongue. I will read a book (I love Fall, because I read a lot more during this time of year!) and sometimes just have to stop and savor the words that the author strung together. (Two recent favorites, Rick Bragg and Annie Lamott, can create the most amazing word pictures.) As a writer, I sometimes become incredibly envious of the way some people can make such beauty out of the right combinations of words (If only God had endowed me just a teensy bit more in that area), but I appreciate it so much nonetheless.

So, I hope that I'm instilling an appreciation for words in the lives of my daughters. There is, obviously, some evidence of that.

Sydney's interest in "honeysuckle."

McKenna spending the most of the last several days working on an original screenplay for a drama competition.

Delaney winning second place in our county school system for a short story she wrote about the value of good character. (That's her right there getting her award last night.)

Words are the main reason, in fact, that I write this blog. It "makes" me write just about everyday and I think that's great intellectual exercise...I love trying to find the right words and phrases to capture my experiences...and, through words, I can keep a permanent record of things that happened, and things I dream of, and things that are important.

Sometimes, of course, words just can't do justice.

Like when you see the perfect sunset. At that moment, you just get your daughter to grab the camera and take a picture. And try to find the right words.


I was stammering something like, "Look at that sky!" while McKenna and Delaney mumbled in agreement. And then Sydney put it best.

She sorta sighed and said, "Amazing. I've never seen anything like it."