I learned how to read some words yesterday – before my fourth birthday – and I am so happy about it. I have to say this to my parents: if I hadn’t thrown the tantrum, I would have otherwise been watching Ni-hao Kai-Lan.

Jackson and I were getting antsy, so my mom decided to read us books to calm us down. I grabbed a Dora-the-Explorer book faster than Jacks could even think about his book choice (I beat him at all the races). I think my mom was bored with the book, because she started asking me what I thought the letters spelled. “How do I know, I’m only three?”

“I don’t feel like reading, so you’ll have to help me.”

“What? Are you being silly again?”

“What does this letter sound like?”

I looked at the letter – it was an “s” – and told her what it sounded like. We went through each letter and soon enough, I figured out how to read “sat.” I grabbed my notebook, and we practiced some more. Jacks got bored with us and started playing with his blocks – daddy was with him, so I soaked in the undivided attention.

Here are the words I learned how to read: cat, moon, star, sun, bat, Jackson, pot, hot, sit, can, hat, dog, sister, brother and granny (the last three were hard, but I got it eventually).

I’m so happy I learned something new. For the last two months, Jackson has been reading letters off of everything, and since he’s not even two-years old, my parents were so proud, “Wow, impressive; isn’t he too young for that?” they’d say.  I needed something new to focus the energy back on me, and reading my first ten words did the trick, I think.

“You’re so proud of me, right?”

“I’m always proud of you, Mattie,” my mom said.

What I don’t understand is why my mom chose to read Jackson’s bedtime story first later that night – after all I had accomplished right in front of her. Why does Jackson get to watch Elmo when I’m getting ready for school? Why do they carry him down the stairs instead of me? All this, I just have to figure out.