Kathryn's 5-year-old developed a strong interest in spelling
once she learned to spell STOP. After that, she tried to
figure out her own words. From the back seat of the car
she'd yell, "Mom, what does fgrpl spell?"

"Nothing," Kathryn said.

Sitting at breakfast she'd suddenly ask, "Mom, what does
doeb spell?"
"Nothing," Kathryn answered.

This went on for several weeks. Then one afternoon as they
sat coloring in her room she asked, "Mom, what does lmdz spell?"
Kathryn smiled at her and said, "Nothing, sweetheart."

The 5-year-old carefully set down her crayon, sighed and said,
"Boy, there sure are a lot of ways to spell Nothing!"