Once Upon a Time...

I thought that motherhood would automatically grant me the superpowers to fabricate dazzling tales of magic and intrigue, with my words weave the rainbow-hued landscapes of childhood,  permit me to sing an entire catalog of earthy folk tunes from memory, in the voice of an angel - you kow, all those things that make such beautiful memories for children to carry with them from babyhood, on to their own next generation of offspring.  Sadly, I have none of that, and certainly no songs past my croaking of the usual standards, ABC or Twinkle Twinkle, and absolutely no imagination when it comes to telling stories.

None, I'm embarrassed to say.  And I'm really putting myself out on the line here by sharing with you the one, single, uber-pathetic story I have managed to create on my own, to present to Samantha, time and time again, because I have absolutely no idea what else to say.  Thankfully, she hasn't objected...yet.  And thankfully she's usually much happier to have me read a book to her every night at bedtime, effectively letting me off the hook.

For Sammi's and my next Learning Program session next weekend, my homework from our last meeting was to create a reading book personalized for Samantha, something she could read and enjoy over and over again, that would likely mean more and connect better to her than other books.  Not like she hasn't connected to a gazillion other books already, but it is nice to have something special, made for her.  I haven't laminated or bound the pages yet, but will take care of that this week at FedEx/Kinko's. 

I actually had a bit of fun making it, as I enlisted Samantha's help ahead of time.  I told her I was making a book for her to read, and I needed to take some photos of her reading a book, playing a game and having a tea party.  She said, "Sure!" and was incredibly cooperative, so I got the shots for pages 2, 3 and 4 with her assistance.  These kinds of books really are beneficial when teaching your child to read - these are words and concepts that they relate to.  Some of the words in this story are still unfamiliar to Samantha, but for the most part, she has taken a good stab at it and I've helped her out with beautiful, things, once, parties, and happily.  But you can bet, with a few more reads, she'll have them down pat, and you can bet that if they turn up in another one of her books, they will no longer be unfamiliar to her.   

And now, for la piece de resistance, as my ears turn pink and I cower under the covers in horror at my definitive lack of creativity...