I was actually thinking of writing a similar post the last few days on spelling, and saw a few today on it.
I used to be the spelling and grammar champion. I stood tall and proud at spelling bees with my dorky glasses, pigtails and anxiously bouncing up and down waiting for my turn, practially leaning so far foward in anticipation that I defied the laws of gravity. Getting butterflies at each word the equally awkard kid in front of me got, knowing that I could magically put those letters in correct order to perform perfection. My patience would run down and I would mummble the answer uner my breath wishing it was my turn to proove my spelling knowledge and waiting for the whole croud and school to close down to celebrate my awesomeness! (Yea maybe that was a dream sequence...but it could of happened=) ), I rose my hand high to answer english questions in school. I loved the technicalities and all of the exceptions and understood them....untillll dun dun dun spell check...I can not manage to spell at all now, my four year old has better grammar then (or is it than) me, and I can not remember how to form a sentence at all. Before I could spell 25 cent words now I'd be lucky to get 10 for a penny words correct...is it I before E except after C or is it use B instead and just forget the english language. The same happened to me with math. I used to be a wiz, I refused to use calculators all the way up to Trig-o-what, yea I'm not going to try and spell that, but now that I use calculators, my brain is mush....
so did computer ruin your brain too? Maybe its kids, I swore I lost all brain cells the day I had Emmy. Oh and I didn't use spell check or proof=)
added...
This made me think of college...one day I forgot to bring my paper in for calss so I was in a rush typing it up and hit spell check and was good and then proof read it and there was a curse in it (FXCX) so I thought thats odd I must have typosd or spell checkk must have corrected it, so I corrected it, and then read and it happened again and again through my paper, for a second I thought, wow did I go insane and just curse throughout my paper...maybe I need sleep...until I realized someone replaced the words I, A, and it, with 3 curse words, so every time you typed them it corrected them and put curse words....grrr I was late on my paper but looking back it does make me giggle
I could not spell before computers ... still can not spell, actually - with the ability to access things like dictionary.com I have gotten a touch better ... if only I could type faster!
I think it J. isn't as high on your priority list as it used to be. Once I had kids lots of my priorities shifted.
I spell better now than before computers. Some of the boards I post on your intelligence is your credibility. I am not going to let something as easy to correct as my spelling and grammar get in the way of winning a debate. You would think debating a bunch of nerds, like M., we would all know the form means nothing, J. content. Still they don't know M. so it is the only test out there.
I think people are nuts to use it as a indicator if they can meet the person in real life but here it actually makes sense.
The day of children having to figure anything out for themselves is over, SAD but true. J.
No. I use a computer all day long and I still manage to spell things correctly or look them up if I'm not sure. I definitely make mistakes, usually because I'm typing too quickly or don't always proofread. I also try hard to do basic math in my head although I usually have a calculator or Excel spreadsheet handy. It does take a bit more focus and energy, but these are nerd skills that I pride myself on so I don't mind putting in a little more effort.
I agree with Peg W. that it's about priorities, and effort. I bet if you put more effort into spelling and math, you'd get those skills back. But if it's not worth your time or energy, then you're in good company! I work with lots of people with poor spelling and grammar, no writing skills and no mental math ability and many of them make a lot more than I do!
And yes, I think that preggo brain is real but that's temporary - mommy brain is J. as sharp, but focused on other things.
I think this same thing too. I used to be a great speller, then spell check came along. Now I get annoyed when I think I get close to a spelling a word correctly and spell check doesn't know what the hell I am talking about. I will say since I wrote my first novel I have started to pay much more attention to spelling. Mainly because I get annoyed at having to go back thorough the manuscript and correct misspelled words.
BAHAWAHAHA!!
But, really I think it's pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood that stupidizes us all to varying degrees.
I mene, cept for M., sence Im Prakticly Purfict In Evry Way!
:)
My spelling and grammar have definitely went downhill since computers starting automatically spell-checking everything... Also, I don't read as much for pleasure anymore... I know that affects my spelling ability.
Here's a funny story for you too... I was pulling so many all-nighters for my dissertation and not sleeping very much. I managed to order a custom photo card for my husband for father's day that read-
"Dear Glen, thanks for being the most wonderful father and husband in the whole wide world. We could ask for anything more."
OOPS! That's worse than when he asks M. to pick up fast food from Arby's and I pay, then leave before the food is handed to M.. I blame that on my 'Mom brain.' ;)
Recently, when visiting a friend of mine who has two little ones (1 yo and 3 yo) I noticed as I was leaving, that she had a black board in the family room and was trying to teach her 3 yo his letters and sounds.
On the board was neatly written: U is for Unbrella.
Poor kid.....doesn't stand a chance.....
I actually don't try to rely too much on spell check. I re-read e-mails and such before I send them to make sure they are punctuated correctly and spelled correctly. My husband is always asking M. how to spell things. I tease him and say English is my second language how come I can spell better than him. I learned English when I was 9 years old.
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