Mama-Says-What-Mama-Thinks She-Sees

The Birthday Boy is Thinking about Doing

You are staring at those candles on fire. Birthdays are exciting and candlelight is special. Do you know how to blow out a candle’s light? It is NOT like blowing your nose when you are sick. To blow out candles, you suck a lot of air in through your nose. Then you aim at the fire on top of each candle and blow the air out of your mouth. Did you blow the fire all out? No? Then blow out of your mouth again.

“Blow” is an action word. It is not possible to see the word “blow” unless someone blows. There is more than one way to blow. Mama is giving directions about how to blow out a candle, because her son blew through his nose all over his birthday cake. Blow means something different depending on the situation. That is why Mama’s role as language teacher is so important. She can repeat the word “blow” when it happens with the flu and when it blows out the birthday candles. She knows what blow means in other situations too.