My son's district spelling bee day, worst day of the year...

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Krakn3Dfx

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#1  Edited By Krakn3Dfx

So my son is at the district spelling bee today, they show at 9am, have a written test, and the top 40 scoring kids move on to the spoken part of the bee.

Part of me kind of wishes he won't make it past the written part because I'll have to drive over and sit through the spoken round, which is a huge, tense ordeal. I can't watch any of them while they're spelling, especially my son, it's like the most tense survival horror game ever.

At the same time, I know he'll be super bummed out if he doesn't make it to the spoken round, and I don't want that either. Last year he made it to the regional competition and came in 3 spots lower than he needed to move onto state, but he was pretty happy about just having made it that far, so it was cool.

Man, being a parent some days....

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ImmortalSaiyan

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#2  Edited By ImmortalSaiyan

As someone with no stake in this, you make it sound exciting to watch. Why is it so tense? I say encourage his willingness to spell. I am terrible at it and waste time spell checking. Don't let him turn out that way,

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handlas

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#3  Edited By handlas

Ehh... you sound like an awesome Dad.

Given, I've never been to a spelling bee.

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Jrinswand

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#4  Edited By Jrinswand

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

As someone with no stake in this, you make it sound exciting to watch. Why is it so tense? I say encourage his willingness to spell. I am terrible at it and waste time spell checking. Don't let him turn out that way,

Spelling bees are insane. I can hardly watch them most of the time and I don't even have any kids.

But, man, OP, you should really man up and be there for your son. I really shouldn't have to tell you how to be a good parent.

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Justin258

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#6  Edited By Justin258

I was trying to copy and paste the full chemical name of "titin" in here, but it would have taken too long.

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Grimhild

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#7  Edited By Grimhild

@Jrinswand said:

But, man, OP, you should really man up and be there for your son. I really shouldn't have to tell you how to be a good parent.

I don't think that's what he was saying at all. He was lamenting the fact that despite the outcome, either situation will be agonizing to watch out of empathy for the children and/or disappointing for his child if they're eliminated early.

OT: I feel the same way about most stage productions and sporting events, to a lesser extent. During a theater class, despite not personally having much of an issue with stage fright, watching my peers go through their scenes was tremendously nerve wracking.

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Sooty

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#8  Edited By Sooty

I've always found this gross, just throw a bunch of kids on a stage and make them feel shitty if they fuck up.

Thanks America.

When I was like, 9 at school, we had spelling tests but it wasn't turned into a spectacle. (I totally nailed those tests)

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abendlaender

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#9  Edited By abendlaender

What is a spelling bee?

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ImmortalSaiyan

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#10  Edited By ImmortalSaiyan

@Abendlaender said:

What is a spelling bee?

As I understand it, it's a thing were kids are on stage and asked to spell words. It is a contest of sorts.

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abendlaender

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#11  Edited By abendlaender

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

@Abendlaender said:

What is a spelling bee?

As I understand it, it's a thing were kids are on stage and asked to spell words. It is a contest of sorts.

Oh god, that sounds terrible. I would fail so miserably....

On a sidenote, it is kinda funny. I must have seen this in god knows how many (american) TV shows but wasn't able to make the connection cause stuff like this doesn't exist here in Austria. (At least as far as I know)

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jaycrockett

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#12  Edited By jaycrockett

I still remember 30 years ago, I was in 5th grade. I misspelled "beauty". I couldn't tell you anything else about 5th grade except for that. That's how tense.

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UlquioKani

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#13  Edited By UlquioKani

Those don't exist in the UK. I've never had to drive somewhere to spell words on a stage. Seems like a hard thing to do for a kid. We just had written tests. 3 times a year, we were given read out 100 words and we had to spell as many of them correctly as possible on paper.

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musubi

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#14  Edited By musubi

@UlquioKani said:

Those don't exist in the UK. I've never had to drive somewhere to spell words on a stage. Seems like a hard thing to do for a kid. We just had written tests. 3 times a year, we were given read out 100 words and we had to spell as many of them correctly as possible on paper.

This isn't part of a curriculum. Its just an extracurricular activity.

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Krakn3Dfx

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#16  Edited By Krakn3Dfx

He made to the oral round, sitting here watching now. A girl he's friends with just got the boot for 'whiskery'. And so it begins...

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Ravenlight

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#17  Edited By Ravenlight

Is this a yearly thing? If you're the plotting sort, you could try to subtly influence your son to be a poor speller until he's grown out of the age range where there's a chance he'd participate in a thing like this.

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ImmortalSaiyan

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#18  Edited By ImmortalSaiyan

@GrantHeaslip said:

@Demoskinos said:

@UlquioKani said:

Those don't exist in the UK. I've never had to drive somewhere to spell words on a stage. Seems like a hard thing to do for a kid. We just had written tests. 3 times a year, we were given read out 100 words and we had to spell as many of them correctly as possible on paper.

This isn't part of a curriculum. Its just an extracurricular activity.

In my middle school (in Ontario, Canada), we had mandatory class-level spelling bees, and the top X number of each class advanced to the finals, which took place in a mandatory assembly.

We had the same thing but for speeches. You were able to decline going to the event if your speech was chosen but I was a fan of that time of year.

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Krakn3Dfx

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#19  Edited By Krakn3Dfx

Nah I love that he's into it and good at it. It's just nerve racking to watch, lol.

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paulwade1984

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#20  Edited By paulwade1984

The thing about competition is that if the proper encouragement is not given, then losing can be devastating and impact a child for the rest of their life. I have flashbacks and moments of panic and depression when I think back to competitions I personally failed at.

Make sure he knows that he's the dogs bollocks even if he doesn't win. Fucking hate those parents who hate on their children for losing. *cough* my mam and dad *cough cough*

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gogosox82

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#21  Edited By gogosox82

I hate these spelling bees. It just seems really unfair to make some kid stand up there and try and spell some ridiculously long word that they will never use for the rest of their life. All that time studying and you lose because you forgot to put the q after the e. I think its good that there are spelling test, i just don't like these spelling bees. It just seems totally unnecessary.

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Jrinswand

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#22  Edited By Jrinswand

@Grimhild said:

@Jrinswand said:

But, man, OP, you should really man up and be there for your son. I really shouldn't have to tell you how to be a good parent.

I don't think that's what he was saying at all. He was lamenting the fact that despite the outcome, either situation will be agonizing to watch out of empathy for the children and/or disappointing for his child if they're eliminated early.

Yeah, except for the part where he hopes that his child fails.

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ch3burashka

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#23  Edited By ch3burashka

Yeah, fuck your kids. They don't deserve your attention or support - you got better shit to do than drive them to some gay-ass spelling bee.

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ImmortalSaiyan

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#24  Edited By ImmortalSaiyan

@paulwade1984 said:

The thing about competition is that if the proper encouragement is not given, then losing can be devastating and impact a child for the rest of their life. I have flashbacks and moments of panic and depression when I think back to competitions I personally failed at.

Make sure he knows that he's the dogs bollocks even if he doesn't win. Fucking hate those parents who hate on their children for losing. *cough* my mam and dad *cough cough*

I don't wanna be dog bollocks...

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smitty86

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#25  Edited By smitty86

Not sure if he would be old enough to be embarrassed by it but why not just go full out and treat it like it is a super bowl or something. Put on some face paint and some giant signs. Or, go the college basketball route and print out a giant cardboard sign of his head.

I'm no parent but I'd bet you don't get many chances to share these moments, so way not make the most out of them.

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jking47

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#26  Edited By jking47

I got pretty far into a spelling bee once in school, but then purposely lost when I got towards the finals. Still not sure exactly why, I just remember thinking that I could not handle the pressure of being in the finals. Of course it felt like shit to lose then, so yeah, kinda still don't know why I did it. To be honest this is the first time I have ever told anyone this, one of my closely guarded secrets for some reason. Weird!

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Blu3V3nom07

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#27  Edited By Blu3V3nom07

I think I got 5th place at my local Texas UIL competition in 5th grade once. Man!, that shit was fun.

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GreggD

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#28  Edited By GreggD

@CH3BURASHKA said:

Yeah, fuck your kids. They don't deserve your attention or support - you got better shit to do than drive them to some gay-ass spelling bee.

Did we read the same original post?

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OfficeGamer

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#29  Edited By OfficeGamer

@paulwade1984 said:

Fucking hate those parents who hate on their children for losing. *cough* my mam and dad *cough cough*

Don't mean to be a dick but... Ironic!

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VoshiNova

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#30  Edited By VoshiNova

@Jrinswand said:

@Grimhild said:

@Jrinswand said:

But, man, OP, you should really man up and be there for your son. I really shouldn't have to tell you how to be a good parent.

I don't think that's what he was saying at all. He was lamenting the fact that despite the outcome, either situation will be agonizing to watch out of empathy for the children and/or disappointing for his child if they're eliminated early.

Yeah, except for the part where he hopes that his child fails.

@CH3BURASHKA said:

Yeah, fuck your kids. They don't deserve your attention or support - you got better shit to do than drive them to some gay-ass spelling bee.

Wow, way to go to the OP for ignoring these bullshit responses.

Also, tell your boy good luck for me!

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big_jon

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#31  Edited By big_jon

I am a terrible speller! Maybe if my father was there for me. ;)

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cannedstingray

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#32  Edited By cannedstingray

: @ImmortalSaiyan said:

As someone with no stake in this, you make it sound exciting to watch. Why is it so tense? I say encourage his willingness to spell. I am terrible at it and waste time spell checking. Don't let him turn out that way,

Being a father myself, I can say that watching your kids on stage, is like seeing a younger version of you up on stage. I know that just watching my youngest daughter on stage for school plays, brought out my own fear of being on stage, and made me extremely uncomfortable on her behalf . In that sense I can relate to the OP's sense of dread.

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BiffMcBlumpkin

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#33  Edited By BiffMcBlumpkin

@Krakn3Dfx said:

He made to the oral round, sitting here watching now. A girl he's friends with just got the boot for 'whiskery'. And so it begins...

Stop copying Ryan Davis' Tweets!

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Counterclockwork87

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@Sooty said:

I've always found this gross, just throw a bunch of kids on a stage and make them feel shitty if they fuck up.

Thanks America.

When I was like, 9 at school, we had spelling tests but it wasn't turned into a spectacle. (I totally nailed those tests)

If they "fuck up" then they learn to spell better, I rather than that coddling...I hated that as a kid...you have no idea how mad I used to get when they gave every bowling team a "trophy" at the end of the year, when MY team was the best team in the league. Competitiveness is a good skill if used correctly, you can climb a lot of ladders others can't.

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SpicyRichter

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#36  Edited By SpicyRichter

@Sooty said:

I've always found this gross, just throw a bunch of kids on a stage and make them feel shitty if they fuck up.

Thanks America.

When I was like, 9 at school, we had spelling tests but it wasn't turned into a spectacle. (I totally nailed those tests)

Because nobody should ever feel shitty when they fuck up? It's just good training for adult life...

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Krakn3Dfx

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#37  Edited By Krakn3Dfx

He made it into the pool that goes to state, and he'll get a trophy. Everything else is just gravy at this point. Whew.

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Video_Game_King

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#38  Edited By Video_Game_King

@Sooty said:

I've always found this gross, just throw a bunch of kids on a stage and make them feel shitty if they fuck up.

Doesn't this apply to school plays, too?

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paulwade1984

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#39  Edited By paulwade1984

oh. looks like we hit a cultural divide here.

referring to something as being "The dogs bollocks" is a colloquialism which we take to mean "Fucking awesome." Sorry if I confused any of you non British peeps.

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UitDeToekomst

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#40  Edited By UitDeToekomst

in my first (and last) spelling bee I misspelled "realm" as "rhelm". I like my spelling better.

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fox01313

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#41  Edited By fox01313

Thanks to spell checker that's now just about everywhere this kind of contest now feels rather silly compared to some kind of science fair or simple book reports on various stories. Unless the people involved are going into teaching or writing literature, they shouldn't take a loss in the spelling bee all that personal.

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Jrinswand

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#42  Edited By Jrinswand

@VoshiNova said:

@Jrinswand said:

@Grimhild said:

@Jrinswand said:

But, man, OP, you should really man up and be there for your son. I really shouldn't have to tell you how to be a good parent.

I don't think that's what he was saying at all. He was lamenting the fact that despite the outcome, either situation will be agonizing to watch out of empathy for the children and/or disappointing for his child if they're eliminated early.

Yeah, except for the part where he hopes that his child fails.

@CH3BURASHKA said:

Yeah, fuck your kids. They don't deserve your attention or support - you got better shit to do than drive them to some gay-ass spelling bee.

Wow, way to go to the OP for ignoring these bullshit responses.

Also, tell your boy good luck for me!

How are these bullshit responses? OP says, and I quote, "Part of me kind of wishes he won't make it past the written part because I'll have to drive over and sit through the spoken round, which is a huge, tense ordeal."

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Hunter5024

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#43  Edited By Hunter5024

I made it to the district finals in my school, and I totally know what you mean. A lot of those kids take it so seriously that it's nerve racking to watch. A couple of the kids at mine cried when they lost.

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deactivated-59ec818a3faf4

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Just get drunk and then start betting with the other parents. you could win big

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GreggD

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#45  Edited By GreggD

@paulwade1984 said:

oh. looks like we hit a cultural divide here.

referring to something as being "The dogs bollocks" is a colloquialism which we take to mean "Fucking awesome." Sorry if I confused any of you non British peeps.

Similar to the "cat's ass", or the "bee's knees"

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Hizang

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#46  Edited By Hizang

Spelling is becoming obsolete with spell check integrated into almost everything.

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Krakn3Dfx

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#47  Edited By Krakn3Dfx

Some of you need to not take everything so 100% literal. Of course I want to watch and see him do well. The only part of me that didn't want to watch was the part that hates seeing him take it so personally if he doesn't. What I get for sharing an event...

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GreggD

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#48  Edited By GreggD

@Jrinswand said:

@VoshiNova said:

@Jrinswand said:

@Grimhild said:

@Jrinswand said:

But, man, OP, you should really man up and be there for your son. I really shouldn't have to tell you how to be a good parent.

I don't think that's what he was saying at all. He was lamenting the fact that despite the outcome, either situation will be agonizing to watch out of empathy for the children and/or disappointing for his child if they're eliminated early.

Yeah, except for the part where he hopes that his child fails.

@CH3BURASHKA said:

Yeah, fuck your kids. They don't deserve your attention or support - you got better shit to do than drive them to some gay-ass spelling bee.

Wow, way to go to the OP for ignoring these bullshit responses.

Also, tell your boy good luck for me!

How are these bullshit responses? OP says, and I quote, "Part of me kind of wishes he won't make it past the written part because I'll have to drive over and sit through the spoken round, which is a huge, tense ordeal."

If you read it correctly, you would notice that he just doesn't want ANY of the kids to go through the tense ordeal of being up on stage, with the potential of failing, least of all his son. Your reading comprehension is bollocks.

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Icemael

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#49  Edited By Icemael

I've never understood why spelling bees exist, or for that matter why they are as ubiquitous and as big a deal as they seem to be in the US. I mean, of all the things to turn into a competition...

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Krakn3Dfx

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#50  Edited By Krakn3Dfx

Got 3rd place out of 280,went out on inveigh. Good stuff. He killed it, so he gets to choose where we go to dinner, lol.