The Most High and Holy Jaynova tagged me for this little seven thingy.
So here are seven random and useless things about me. Sorta.
No. 1 – Baby Jesus is MIA. My daughters have this cute Fisher Price Little People Nativity Set. Since my baby loves the Little People the set is out all the time and is played with all through the year. Baby Jesus is missing!!
No. 2 – I still have the pillow blankie from when I was a little girl. My grandmother made it for me.
My pillow blankie even went to college with me and it’s still in my bedroom and was a certain points in bed with me and my husband when I was married. For some reason when I was pregnant I needed to sleep with my pillow blankie. It still has the remnant of my name that was sown on it to take it to daycare when I was 3.
No. 3 – I have read Goodnight Moon and Brown Bear, Brown Bear more times than I can even count but I still don’t have them memorized. Did you know that research has shown that before a child is ready to learn to read the number of books that a child will need to have had read to them is 1,000. Not 1,000 different books but that the child will need to have had at least that many readings done for them.
No. 4 – I love the smell of Play-Doh. I know that I could easily make my own Play-Doh but it’s not that expensive and the smell of Play-Doh is one of those comforting smells, like new Crayola crayons. Smells that harken back to childhood and now to my own children. Since I’m on the topic of Crayola. There is no other crayon that a child should use. The cheaper crayons just don’t have the deepness of colors and they break easily not to mention the smell of a new box of Crayola crayons. Right now Crayola is picking the Color of Courage. This was inspired by the children receiving treatment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. If you click here you can help pick the color that best shows courage and describe what courage is to you. What a great thing for kids to do. My seven year old will do it today.
No 5.- Creamed Peas on Toast is my favorite comfort food. My Mom used to make it for me. When she was no longer able to cook I once called her on the phone and she walked me through how to make it. Now it’s one of my daughters favorites.
No. 6 – I woke up with this feeling of dread this morning. It’s weird. I wrote to someone about it. Maybe I’m just coming down with a cold and maybe I was affected when I read about the death of Queen Victoria’s husband right before bed. I woke up at midnight, 2, 4 and 7. I think I’ll make creamed peas on toast today!
No. 7 – This song seems to be virally covered lately. This one is my favorite. I’m a huge fan of Mandy Moore.
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I’m not sure who has been tagged or done this already. If Dailytri, UU, Tigereye, and Truddle haven’t done it I’ll tag them and anyone else. If they have they can just smack me for not keeping up on my blog reading/remembering.
Now playing: Colbie Caillat – Magic
via FoxyTunes
The nice thing about memes is that I always learn something new about people from reading them.
Goodnight Moon and Green Eggs & Ham were the two books I read most. I did memorize part of Green Eggs & Ham, but none of Goodnight Moon.
1,000 readings doesn’t seem like so much. But maybe it is.
I don’t think that 1,000 is a lot either. I learned that recently at a training I went to on brain development and reading. I’d like to be able to track just how much I read to my girls.
My oldest is in 2nd grade and has just been tested and is reading at a 5th grade level. I suppose it was those thousands of readings that I did.
Hmmm…I don’t think I was read to 1000 times in my life! No…seriously, though, I don’t think my parents read to my that often. and I learned to read early. My brother learned earlier…when he was 4 years old, he was reading at a second grade level! (he was reading my books).
I don’t think that a child HAS to be read to that many times. I’m not sure if I was. One of my pet peeves are those Leap Frogs with the recorded voices that supposedly read books to kids and teach them how to read. There is nothing sadder to me than those commercials where the parents are watching a child play with their Leap Frog on a bedroom floor all by themselves and the parents stand in the doorway beaming with pride. They should be ashamed of themselves and scoop that child up and snuggle with them on the sofa. Reading should be a warm fuzzy. A time spent with someone special who takes you in their lap and shares the joy of reading. Not something that some 3 year old does with a battery operated/computer generated voice. I think that’s where the significance of the 1,000 readings comes in. And with a library card it’s totally free.
Thanks for the tag. Here’s my list of seven random and useless things about me.
http://dailytri.wordpress.com/2007/11/24/random-and-useless-meme/
#1 is true in a universal and philosophical sense, as well, I fear.
You brought a lot of memories to mind and I’d planned on pointing them out in my comment, but by the time I was done reading I’d realized my comment would be as long as your article.
Then I decided to just tell you that the smell of new dolls is one of those comfort things for me. I always flash back to being a little girl when I’m allowed that olfactory experience.
Then I decided I better tell you who I am, but since we all seem to be keeping things secret here, maybe I should just ask you if you still want to come over for a play date with me and Kevin?
I’d know that cat anywhere! Of course I’ll come and play! I’m so happy you found me!
When I read #4, I had an immediate olfactory memory of the smell of play-doh. I didn’t often have real play-doh as a child, but when I did, it was my favourite thing. Thank you for that memory.
Playdoh… ish! I’m glad someone likes the smell of it.
I had the same PlayDoh experience — I closed my eyes, and even with a head cold I could smell it. I understand why some kids wanted to eat it — there’s something about the scent that makes the mouth water. I love the smell of Crayolas too, and those long-lost markers that wrote in gold or silver with a highlight color around it.
Also, I totally agree with you about reading to kids. My mom read to me so often when I was young, I can’t really remember anything else. She says my favorite was the Grinch, although I also remember The Tawny Scrawny Lion and a long-lost favorite book called Fraidy Cat. I think this is how we’re all supposed to learn to read, ideally.
You’re so right about the leapfrogs. It’s no better than leaving a child in a playpen with television as the babysitter.
I sometimes wake up with a feeling of dread, too. Or panicked, like something terrible is about to happen. This has never lead to something terrible happening, at least not to my knowledge. It seems to happen when I’m taking a short nap more often than when I’m taking a long sleep, so manybe your many wake-ups had something to do with it.
Hope you feel better soon.