Spelling Champ

Last week DSguy competed in the regional spelling bee. On the way to the event, we squeezed in a little last minute studying and said a prayer for DSguy to do his best.

He was up against about 16 other students in grades 4-6. The Man and I sat in the audience with bated breath, waiting to see if all that studying paid off. You know, it’s hard being in a spelling bee. I remember doing them when I was a kid. My Mom was never able to watch me do them—it was too nervewracking for her. Being a mom now myself, I can understand why. I think The Man and I were almost as nervous for DSguy as DSguy must have been!

As each word came, we clutched each other’s hands, our eyes boring holes into DSguy from the audience. Would he spell it correctly? Yes! We could breathe again. This went on for awhile, clutch-bore-breathe, clutch-bore-breathe, bearing a strange resemblance to Lamaze exercises. Finally, the playing field was narrowed down to three competitors.

DSguy was left on the stage with a boy and a girl, all hoping for the coveted first place. The boy went first. His word was “Albuquerque.” He spelled it, but somewhere in there he accidentally snuck in a “k.”

“I’m sorry, the correct spelling is a-l-b-u-q-u-e-r-q-u-e,” the proctor said.

DSguy’s hand went up.

“Yes?”

“Um, that should be capitalized,” DSguy corrected. Light laughter broke out in the auditorium. Oh, to have been able to see the proctor’s face at that moment.

Perhaps they should have asked DSguy to spell “precocious” for his next word. They didn’t, but maybe they will this Saturday when he competes again at the county level.

Congratulations on your first place win, DSguy! See? Studying really does pay off!