Pictures and Reading.

I was one of those kids, out of sorts.  The boys all said I was ugly, too much of a tomboy and while I loved taking things apart and putting them back together.  I was never a good reader.

My mother read to me every chance she got... with twin sisters it was as they were asleep, books she wanted to share with me, books my elders purchased for me.  There were ALWAYS trips into Nashville... almost an hour away in those days (no interstate yet) to the public library to inspire, tease me into reading more.  I hated reading!

I hated it even more as it was expected in school, especially as each child was compared to Betsy... (not my sister) but some little girl who could read perfectly, no stuttering, no time delay and with the ability to paint a picture in my head.  I wanted to read like that but I couldn't read fast enough, clear enough... as my brain saw words that were not there... my brain painted a picture ahead of my eyes and mouth. 

Come to find out I needed glasses!  You know just one more thing to make my orthopaedic shoes stand out more, my long forehead I was already teased about... I was missforhead four eyes.  Kids are cruel.  At some point parents and teachers have to step in and step in they did (in those days)... BUT my brain adapted and it started to create another world faster than that of the kids making fun of me. 

I made up stories in my head.
I made up new worlds in my mind.
And when I felt threatened I retreated into my own world... talking or writing.

My parents worried about all my alone time in my room, they worried about things worse than what was in my mind, and as it lingered into teenage years... they worried about drugs, alcohol and peer pressure.

My only peer pressure was actually in my own family.  Those of my generation but older than me, raised completely different from me, in a different state, very few rules or guidelines, and more freedom than anyone else I knew of...  they were the pressure of drugs, alcohol, and stupid things to do.  After all they were older than me, family, and suppose to be trust worthy.... NOT...

My parents were good people
Ask any parent about money in the 70's and how it was hard to come by.
Gas was getting more expensive, basics sky rocketing, and with THREE kids to feed with one small income it was tight.
BUT we were always taken into town, The Nut Cracker ballet, The Parthenon, The parks all around town not excluding those Saturday Library trips to get books, and return the others. 

I got my glasses, they called it lazy eye, had to have sunglasses when ever I went outside, wasn't allowed to squent one eye or I was going to end up with a patch over my eye all the time.  

I knew how to read... I just couldn't... well I could but it was slow and painful and I never wanted to read aloud.   By the 6th grade I could barely read out loud like a 3rd grader.  I could write fine, but just don't ask me to read.  Please stop asking me to read aloud teachers... they never did... SO  My parents did as every other parent would do, they got me a tutor.

Turned out it was a sweet lady from church.  Ms June Spain a relative by marriage... and a long family friend.  Likely in the eastern star (not sure but they all were in those days) likely in the ladies home club, definitely an active member of the community.  

She painfully listened to me each day after school. 
With her help my mind settled, she slowed me down even more and showed me how to concentrate on a specific line, then a sentence, then a paragraph till finally I could read a chapter without being disgusted with my self. 

I continued to write all the time.  I filled spiral notebooks, several if not almost hundreds, of all my pain, all my thoughts, all my dreams.  By the time I got to college my writing was good enough I wrote for my boyfriend who always got a's on his ... while I still got c's on mine.  Written by the same hand, mind and soul but the judgement was there.  It was a strange situation.  I finally got out of that one too. 

But no matter how horrible your kids read, and even if they do not like to read, we all need to find a book that inspires us.  We all need to write even if only for ourselves, so we continue to better ourselves in any and every way possible.

What prompted this post? The movie... The Mighty.... great movie for kids to watch.