repost from last year (better than nothing, right?)

The Monster Under My Bed

There’s a monster under my bed.
It’s furry with big orange paws.
Did you see it?
The tip of a whisker?
The orange tail?
The claws?!
It is really very frightening.
I’m scared!
Oh, what should I do?
I can hear it growling
And moving around under there too!!
Wait a minute...
Hold on…
What do you think?
How about that?
The growling sounds a lot like purring…
Silly me! It’s just my CAT!

A Tribute? (not a poem, certainly)

Black Fuzz

What is that?
Didn't I just vacuum that up yesterday?
How can there be more?
Where is it coming from?
It wasn't there all day...
Until he got home...
And took off HIS SOCKS!
Ew.



April is National Poetry Month so, in honor of that, several other writers and I are posting a poem-a-day for the whole month. If you decide to post a poem too, let me know and I'll post a link so we can all read it.

Breaking Through

Okay. Brace yourselves. Ready?

I just got past the 10,000 word block mark in my novel. Finally.

LL Says:

Yesterday I asked Lulu what voilà means and she said, "It means there is a present going to come out!"

part 2

The Kah-Kahfonee (cont'd)

(part 1)

It crashes around
Both kinetic and still
And when it goes quiet
You will feel a chill.
You'll think, "Something is wrong.
"There's not enough noise.
"Maybe the Monster
"Has killed all the toys."

And when you go check
It will start up again
The Kah-Kahfonee will grow
Loud and louder and then
What you will learn is
That nothing can keep
The Kah-Kahfonee calm.
Well, nothing but sleep…

part 1

The Kah-Kahfonee

About this creature
You have probably heard.
You most likely thought
It was just a word.
No such luck, though.
The monster is real
It's big and it's loud and
Sometimes surreal.

The monster, it has
Four little arms
And four big eyes
And girlish charms
And two giant mouths,
The loudest you've heard.
It never whispers,
SHOUTS every word.

Blah

I'm too tired
And uninspired
To write tonight.

LL Says:

This morning Lulu (remember, she's 2) had something to show to her sister, and as she drew whatever-it-was from behind her back she said, "Voilà!"

I admit that I am one of those obnoxious braggy moms. My kids' (both of them) language skills are amazing and I like love to talk about it. But even while I recognize this, I am still constantly (and always have been) surprised by the way Lulu communicates. I often find myself asking, "Where'd she learn that?" I asked that this morning, in fact (Pete said, "From her Dora game."). It's not just that she knows a ton of words for someone who isn't even 3. It's that she has this gigantic vocabulary and understands how to use it to make the point she wants to make. She just knew that "Voilà!" was something a person would say when revealing something. And it's not only her vocabulary. There is a very mature complexity in a lot of her sentences. I have an example, but it's not a great one, but I'll tell you anyway and then try to think of a better one to post later. In the car a couple of weeks ago, we were playing the "guess what-what?-that's what!" game, and after Husbandguy and I each did it to Lulu once she said, "You get me every time! You both get me every time!!" Her own words, "You both." She heard, "You get me every time," from HG first, I think, but her giant little brain took the thought and made it bigger and her own, and I was stunned - in a good way.

At the same time, though, she is very 2-years-old. I recently had to research how to deal with temper tantrums because HG and I had forgotten that you just have to ignore them (duh!) and were getting all stressed out by the frequency of them. When those happen, Lulu's language is very pre-preschool, very age-appropriate, very exhausting. So we tell her then that we can't understand her, and eventually she gets back to talking like the rest of us again.

The other day, HG was reading to her and she stopped him and said, "Now teach me the letters, Daddy. I will read this part. You just teach me the letters." Really? She wants to read now? She's ready? Okay. So I'm teaching her "the letters."

I can't wait to hear what she comes up with next!

Terrible 2's-days

I think someone
Turned off your ears
Or at least the part
Of your brain
That hears.

I just said,
"Don't close the door.
"Don't tear that paper.
"Please sit down.
"Get up off the floor."

You're there though
On the other side of the door,
Tearing your sister's notebook,
Jumping on the wobbly chair,
And smearing yourself all over the floor.

I think
I need
You to
Nap now.



April is National Poetry Month so, in honor of that, several other writers and I are posting a poem-a-day for the whole month. If you decide to post a poem too, let me know and I'll post a link so we can all read it.

Pete Says:

Mom Will Know...

MOM?!

I can't find my

Shoes

/Brush

/Book

/Jacket!

Where's the

One place

I haven't

Looked

Yet?

April is National Poetry Month so, in honor of that, several other writers and I are posting a poem-a-day for the whole month. If you decide to post a poem too, let me know and I'll post a link so we can all read it.