And I don't mean senior as in senior citizen. I mean senior as in high school senior.
It was a rite of passage to endure Mr. Clark's tough senior English class back in the day. I remember well the Harbrace Handbook. Stupid handbook. I also recall the number of my error(s). It was 16. Now I'm not sure if it was a letter or number came after that 16. It could have been 16-A or maybe 16-7. I just remember my grammatical errors we in section 16 of that dreaded handbook. Obviously, I did not learn from my mistakes. I received notations on every paper to check "16" such and so. Why didn't I get it? Could it be I wasn't paying attention? Or dreaded writing? Did I just (gasp) not care? I know I cared, but probably not very much.
What I learned in that class was that I was not a good writer. That I was a bad writer. I could never be good enough for an "A". It wasn't perfect. OK, so what is perfect? I've searched for perfection and only have found it in a bar of chocolate. Or Chocolate Stuff from Barbara Jean's restaurant on St. Simons Island.
Today I chose to write because I like it. It's fun. It is an expression of how I feel and what I think. It's my effort is to make people laugh, reflect and enjoy life. How can we instill wanting to write in our children? How can we encourage them? How can we make it fun? In my opinion, everything we do should be as much fun as possible. Let's face it. Lots of things, well, just aren't fun - unless we search to find the fun in the task at hand.
All those years ago, I remember John for encouraging me. John was so smart. He still is. Maybe I thought some of his "smart" would rub off on me. NOT! He did help me put things into perspective. For that, I am grateful and thanks to John, I got one good grade in Senior English. It was for TALKING though. Now, THAT's something I'm good at . . .
Just Bebe
Friday, May 11, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Which Way To The Playground?
A couple of days ago I read an article on the internet about children being injured on playgrounds. The title grabbed my attention immediately.
What grandma wants that? Of course, I clicked on the link and quickly read through the advice the author mentioned. Seems if you ride with the child on your lap, their leg could get caught and could be easily broken. So, don't do that!
You know in this internet age there are people that post comments on every article they read. After reading the article, it was like a huge vacuum drawing me toward those comments. Sarcasm. I love it.
The first was a quip about being amazed that he survived being a child. What with sliding down slides and hanging on bars and climbing flag poles, all without the benefit of a helmet, shin guards or elbow pads.
The next comment went further and mentioned riding a bike without a helmet, shoeless and having a sister or brother on the handlebars. Again, how did we survive?
I posted a comment on my facebook page about the article and mentioned our elementary school playground. Seems there were quite a few memories about the merry go round. "Best scar ever" was what one of my friends had to say.
Later in the week I had the pleasure of attending recess at a local elementary school. Yes, contrary to popular belief, they still have recess. (Remember, I said I loved sarcasm. I think there should be a font especially for sarcasm.) What I noticed on today's playground was a lot more "stuff." Brightly colored things for kids to climb on, slide down, climb through, shimmy down and balance on. Lots more to play on than our selection of metal gray/brown slides, swings and maybe a monkey bar or two.
Despite all of the brightly colored slides, swings and monkey bars I couldn't help but notice that most of the kids went to the open field and played kick ball. Funny, all these years later kicking a ball with your classmates is the first choice. Oh, for a repeat of 5th grade. On second thought, maybe not.
Just Bebe
Danger on the Playground: Riding the Slide with Your Toddler in Your Lap Could Break Her Leg
What grandma wants that? Of course, I clicked on the link and quickly read through the advice the author mentioned. Seems if you ride with the child on your lap, their leg could get caught and could be easily broken. So, don't do that!
You know in this internet age there are people that post comments on every article they read. After reading the article, it was like a huge vacuum drawing me toward those comments. Sarcasm. I love it.
The first was a quip about being amazed that he survived being a child. What with sliding down slides and hanging on bars and climbing flag poles, all without the benefit of a helmet, shin guards or elbow pads.
The next comment went further and mentioned riding a bike without a helmet, shoeless and having a sister or brother on the handlebars. Again, how did we survive?
I posted a comment on my facebook page about the article and mentioned our elementary school playground. Seems there were quite a few memories about the merry go round. "Best scar ever" was what one of my friends had to say.
Later in the week I had the pleasure of attending recess at a local elementary school. Yes, contrary to popular belief, they still have recess. (Remember, I said I loved sarcasm. I think there should be a font especially for sarcasm.) What I noticed on today's playground was a lot more "stuff." Brightly colored things for kids to climb on, slide down, climb through, shimmy down and balance on. Lots more to play on than our selection of metal gray/brown slides, swings and maybe a monkey bar or two.
Despite all of the brightly colored slides, swings and monkey bars I couldn't help but notice that most of the kids went to the open field and played kick ball. Funny, all these years later kicking a ball with your classmates is the first choice. Oh, for a repeat of 5th grade. On second thought, maybe not.
Just Bebe
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