The Whidbey spelling bee was tonight. Poor J, who knew every single word, got eliminated when the announcer pronounced the word "praline" like "prah leen" and J thought she said "prowling", but the rules are clear. It is up to the speller to make sure he has the correct pronunciation and meaning of the word before they begin spelling. He was awesome about it, just shrugged it off and laughed it off. We were making praline jokes all the way home. I'm such a proud mama. It was pretty fun to watch the Spelling Bee. There was this one obnoxious kid and J and I were on pins and needles waiting for him to miss his word. When he did, he did not disappoint. He had a full-blown tantrum, started crying and stomping around, and slammed his nametag down on the table in front of the judges. J and I were delighted. The rest of the kids were very good sports, clapped and cheered for each other, and were generally very nice. And what is it with babysitters these days? I left a simple list, which included reading bedtime stories. Did anyone get read to? No. They watched How to Eat Fried Worms. I hear it's a neighborhood favorite. Frickin' praline.