Learning to spell

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I probably should look in my archive of posts to see if I've told this before, but I'm lazy. So if I have, maybe someone new will get a laugh out of this.

When your kids are little do you ever "spell over their heads" something you want to communicate without them knowing what you are saying??? My mother used to do this all the time when I was little. But one day she gave up. We were living in a trailer (they weren't called "mobile homes" back then). We had finished our meal and my mother wanted to ask my dad if he wanted something she had made. "Ira, would you like some j-e-l-l-o?" she said. Well, there are some words that sounds just about the same as how they are spelled. So I figured that one out. (I was about 5.) I quickly answered and said with delight, "I want some jello!!!" She never spelled again.

Fast forward a generation. Our oldest daughter was about 5 years old, my husband and I were living in a mobile home (no kidding!). We had been to VBS in the morning and had come home to eat lunch. I wanted CG to eat her "sonch" (as she called a sandwich) without being distracted with what I saw out the window. I said to my husband, "I see a c-a-t" and motioned with my eyes, to look out the window. This time CG didn't catch on to what I said, but neither could my husband. "ick-a-cat?" he said with a puzzled look on his face. I finally had to tell him 'cat' which he turned to see. CG was never fazed and finished her sonch. He never did let me forget that one!