Just Rhyme it Out.

My kids are learning how to rhyme.

Its pretty much all we talk about around here...

"Cool, tool. Hey mom! That rhymes....right?" Yes.

"What about grass, road? Does that rhyme?" Um, no....

Its a back and forth thing. One minute, they totally get it, and the next, not so much.

Rhyming seems like such a natural thing, its hard to remember a time when you didn't know quite what it was.

The boy's teacher tries to get as creative as she can to get the concept across. One day last week she had all the kids change the first letter in their name to the letter B for the entire day, to try and stress the way their 'new' name rhymes with their regular name. So Cash & Hayden became Bash & Bayden.

The boys loved this of course, and it has started a trend in our house. They love to change the first letter of something just to make to sound silly or different.

Like today for instance, we were working on a rhyming worksheet and Hayden was matching up the pictures that rhymed. "Pig, wig, MIG!"

Mig? What's that?

"Another word for pig."

Oh, Really? [Looks like I've still got some 'splaining to do.]

He moved on, cutting and gluing...gluing and cutting, matching up each rhyme.

Cash was hard at work too, "Bat & lion don't rhyme, Mommy."

That's right, Cash, they don't. But cat rhymes with bat doesn't it and that picture looks a lot like a cat to me.

" No," he said, as he looked down at the picture of a 'feline' with NO MANE and a collar, and whiskers. "Its definitely a lion."

Fine. Its a lion, but a lion is a cat. So glue the bat next to it. [I'm good a subtlety, no?]

Hayden was already on the last group of pictures. He loudly called out all the objects and then threw in his make-believe word, just for kicks....

"Corn, Horn, PORN!"

I choked.

Um. WHAT DID MY SON JUST SAY?

Porn. He just said porn.

Ok. What do I do? How do I discourage saying the word "Porn" while still encouraging rhyming? Crap.

This is just like that time I had to dissuade him from spelling out 'fag' on a door hanger during craft time at the library.

I took a deep breath...Um, Hayden, let's not say 'porn'.

"Why not? It's just another word for horn, Mommy."

Well, it really isn't another word for horn, and a lot of people really don't like that word. So, lets not say it, okay?

"Okay, mommy" he said with some matter of disgust in his voice.

Ten minutes later I heard his sweet little sing-songy voice again..."Horn,Corn....PORN!"

Sigh. This road of rhyming...sure is gonna take up a lot of my timing....