This Grandma not only knows NASTY.

This Grandma loves NASTY.

There.  I said it.

I can’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t surrounded with boys… 2 brothers, one a teeny bit older and one a teeny bit younger.  My brothers’ friends were my friends.  And boys, my friends, love nasty.

I played recreational boy sports like baseball, basketball and hockey with these boys and learned all kinds of nasty words and nasty things.  (Please, younger women… don’t get your groin protection in a bundle here over the term boy sports.  This was a long, long, long time before Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, the landmark legislation that bans sex discrimination in athletics and academics.)

As a child, I collected bugs and trudged through woods and laughed at farts and burps and boogers and fart jokes and nasty words, especially body part words.  In other words, I got really good with cool nasty stuff.

When I married Barry with his 2 little boys, Keith and Adam, I felt right at home with all of the above.  When our daughters Audrey and Jane came along, they just came along for the nasty ride.

Decades later, Barry and I were blessed with 2 beautiful granddaughters… and then, in quick succession, 7 grandsons.  Count ’em.  Seven.  7.

I try to keep my nastiness in check; you know, for the decorum and all of being a Grandma.  But 7 boys, ages 2-8, are really, really, really good fodder for nasty… and loving it.  (OK, I’ll admit that our two 10-year old granddaughters get right in there, too.)

And this brings me to my 365 Days of Literacy for Kids – Fun, Easy & Completely Do-able…

As an English/Reading teacher, I spent 30 years in the classroom… always thinking, thinking, thinking of ways to excite students about reading, writing, communicating and loving to learn.  I tried to select poems and stories and vocabulary words that were interesting, fun and memorable.  When I retired from teaching 8 years ago, I transferred this love of teaching to my 2 granddaughters… and subsequently, to my 9 grandchildren (remember those 7 boys) in total.

My children suggested that I pass this love of teaching onto my blog readers… and offer a little 5-or-so minute daily activity/poem/word each day to share with kids/grandkids/special kids in one’s life.

On January 1st, 2011, I began with Day One of 365 Days of Literacy for Kids.

Tomorrow, June 1st, is Day 152.  I haven’t missed a day.

I have organized the months in themes… Poems in January, Adjectives in February, Letters in March, April Word Showers, May Flowers, and June’s theme is JUNE BUGS…

I will be offering some pretty nasty bugs, by the way… bugs that will excite and entertain kids while teaching them.  Each and every little word or piece of information is a building block to literacy.

So here we are, 151 Days into my 365 Days of Literacy for Kids… and what 2 words do my grandchildren love the most?

Why, yes, the 2 nastiest words of all (at least in their beautiful and innocent little frames of reference) – crinigerous and hallux.  Combine the two and we have crinigerous hallux, or hairy big toe.  Of course, we have used crinigerous to describe spiders, caterpillars, dogs, flower petals and… ok, men’s backs.

Words don’t get much more fun or nasty than crinigerous and hallux to a bunch of little guys who know what they mean, how to use them, and that they’re good for a really good laugh.  (If I may, like Grandpa’s crinigerous hallux!  Ha, ha!)

And for Grandma to have taught them these nasty words?  Priceless.

To be fair, I am also a sweet little old lady who loves to read and garden and write poetry and children’s stories to share with my grandchildren.  My grandkids can tell you about poems and poets and life and wonderfully descriptive words and the meanings of flowers and fruit blossoms.  I write about all that, too.  Every single day.

But my grandkids are also enthralled with my rap song, Let’s Open a Can of Boogies.

I guess this Grandma just can’t shake the nasty.

Come visit me each day at 365 Days of Literacy for Kids – Fun, Easy & Completely Do-able for all the learning both you and your kids and grandkids can handle… it’s all about the fun and time together.

And June, with its JUNE BUGS?  It’s gonna be a buggah!