My Little Sponge

"Hey lady, can I come in today? Hmm?"

That was Sophia, of course. She has called me "lady" since day one, and I never corrected her. I guess I didn't really care, nor did I see a point. Plus, Sally would laugh every time she did it, which only encouraged her.

(I felt bad calling her annoying, but she truly was.)

"You can come in at the end, Sophia, like you usually do, okay? Right now Ben and I need to work without anyone else around."

I got the usual "hmph" as Sophia marched away from me, and then Ben and I entered the room.


We began to work at the table, then took a break. I sat on the floor with Ben on my lap and began turning the pages of a "touch and feel" book. Ben LOVED those books, as well as my prized possessions -- "touch and feel" flashcards. (Those flashcards have worked wonders with every one of my clients!) As I turned the pages, Ben would spontaneously point to something, and label it. They weren't always word labels, but he would at least verbalize associations.

"Ball!" he announced, completely out of the blue. I stared at him in disbelief. "Yes, that's the ball, Ben!" I validated.

"Lookidat!" he said, as he pointed to an umbrella.

Did Ben just say, "look at that??" I was stunned! This child knew so much, and every day we were together, he would prove that more and more. Nobody was gonna tell me this child wasn't smart - No Jessicas, no Sallys.

Ben was like a sponge - he took things in from his surroundings throughout the day, and they would creep out habitually. If only I could've squeezed him to get it all out at once!

As I sat with him on the floor, I'd reach into my bag and pull out one book after another. I didn't want to stop, and all I could think, was "wow."