OT - Jamie stories (2)

Wonderful stories, VJ

Cheers,
Carla

vj wrote:
when she was very, very small, Jamie wanted a "Tickle-Me Elmo" doll in
the WORST way. and there wasn't one to be found anywhere. for any
amount of money. they sold out more than a month before Christmas and
there were fights in toy stores over who got them. as things go,
eventually they were replaced with other 'Elmo' toys, but not
"Tickle-Me Elmo". so Jamie went without.

this year, while sitting here typing, i saw a commercial for a
different Elmo doll . . . . this one sings "E-L-M-O" to the tune of
"Y-M-C-A". i had to have one for Jamie. so i called Johnny, who went
and got one off the shelf for me before they could sell out. he
called me to let me know he had it, and said, "Mom, this is one of the
ugliest dolls i've ever seen - she's sure to love it."

so, on Christmas Day, she calls me. she's so sick with the flu, she's
having trouble even using the phone. but she's absolutely over the
moon about the doll. she's played with it all day long. and she's
driving Ben completely nutz, because of course, he doesn't 'get' it.
and she says, "and Mom, did you know? when he falls over, he says 'i
could use a little help here please?' and 'thank you' when you pick
him up?"

-------------------

months ago i mentioned to Oran that Jamie had a hard time with some
things because she just does NOT read for pleasure.

when she was in grade school, i put money aside each month for the
kids to use to buy books from Scholastic, because they were cheaper
that way and i could afford more books for them. Jamie got hooked on
the 'Goosebumps' books, which i grimaced at, but put up with.

then she got older and wanted the 'Fear Street' books. and i made the
HUGE mistake of saying 'no!' **sigh** i didn't say she couldn't read
them - just that i would not pay for them. i considered them "Stephen
King" wannabes and i didn't think they made good reading for
suggestible children. i should have kept my father more in mind, but
that's a different story.

so, Jamie gets TOTALLY ****ED OFF at me, stomps her foot, and insists
that if i won't buy her what she wants to read, she won't read
anything - at all - ever! of course, she did have reading she had to
do for school, and she developed a deep love of "To Kill A
Mockingbird", but she never read anything for pleasure again. and no
amount of talking from me was going to change that.

of course, what i knew and Jamie didn't, was that reading for pleasure
has a lot to do with your reading comprehension, grammar skills, etc.
so when she called last year and said she needed help, all i could
tell her was that the best way to improve her skills was to read - for
fun. you can imagine her reaction to that one.

and then, when i related the story to Oran, he had a suggestion. i
came home, logged into Amazon.com and found the 'Fear Street' books.
i ordered five or six, and had them drop-shipped to Jamie with a note
that said, "I was wrong -- I give in! love, Mom".

when they arrived, she called practically rolling on the floor she was
laughing so hard. and, of course, her roommates don't have ANY idea
why her mother is sending her books intended for gradeschoolers.

but the kicker is -- she sat down and read them - cover to cover - one
right after the other. AND HAS NOT STOPPED READING FOR FUN SINCE!

Good for you, and good for Jamie for relearning the pleasure of reading! I
read that type of book with Jim through his early teen years. They werent
the classiest stories ever written but not terrible. He went straight from
RL Stine to Stephen King, and from King he he went on to read T.S. Elliot (I
will show you fear in a handful of dust).
What I have found about literature aimed at specific age groups is that if
it is well written will be fun to read at any age.
Diana


--
Weird people need beads, too
"vj" wrote in message
...
when she was very, very small, Jamie wanted a "Tickle-Me Elmo" doll in
the WORST way. and there wasn't one to be found anywhere. for any
amount of money. they sold out more than a month before Christmas and
there were fights in toy stores over who got them. as things go,
eventually they were replaced with other 'Elmo' toys, but not
"Tickle-Me Elmo". so Jamie went without.

this year, while sitting here typing, i saw a commercial for a
different Elmo doll . . . . this one sings "E-L-M-O" to the tune of
"Y-M-C-A". i had to have one for Jamie. so i called Johnny, who went
and got one off the shelf for me before they could sell out. he
called me to let me know he had it, and said, "Mom, this is one of the
ugliest dolls i've ever seen - she's sure to love it."

so, on Christmas Day, she calls me. she's so sick with the flu, she's
having trouble even using the phone. but she's absolutely over the
moon about the doll. she's played with it all day long. and she's
driving Ben completely nutz, because of course, he doesn't 'get' it.
and she says, "and Mom, did you know? when he falls over, he says 'i
could use a little help here please?' and 'thank you' when you pick
him up?"

-------------------

months ago i mentioned to Oran that Jamie had a hard time with some
things because she just does NOT read for pleasure.

when she was in grade school, i put money aside each month for the
kids to use to buy books from Scholastic, because they were cheaper
that way and i could afford more books for them. Jamie got hooked on
the 'Goosebumps' books, which i grimaced at, but put up with.

then she got older and wanted the 'Fear Street' books. and i made the
HUGE mistake of saying 'no!' **sigh** i didn't say she couldn't read
them - just that i would not pay for them. i considered them "Stephen
King" wannabes and i didn't think they made good reading for
suggestible children. i should have kept my father more in mind, but
that's a different story.

so, Jamie gets TOTALLY ****ED OFF at me, stomps her foot, and insists
that if i won't buy her what she wants to read, she won't read
anything - at all - ever! of course, she did have reading she had to
do for school, and she developed a deep love of "To Kill A
Mockingbird", but she never read anything for pleasure again. and no
amount of talking from me was going to change that.

of course, what i knew and Jamie didn't, was that reading for pleasure
has a lot to do with your reading comprehension, grammar skills, etc.
so when she called last year and said she needed help, all i could
tell her was that the best way to improve her skills was to read - for
fun. you can imagine her reaction to that one.

and then, when i related the story to Oran, he had a suggestion. i
came home, logged into Amazon.com and found the 'Fear Street' books.
i ordered five or six, and had them drop-shipped to Jamie with a note
that said, "I was wrong -- I give in! love, Mom".

when they arrived, she called practically rolling on the floor she was
laughing so hard. and, of course, her roommates don't have ANY idea
why her mother is sending her books intended for gradeschoolers.

but the kicker is -- she sat down and read them - cover to cover - one
right after the other. AND HAS NOT STOPPED READING FOR FUN SINCE!


--
@vicki [SnuggleWench]
(Books) http://www.booksnbytes.com
(Jewelry) http://www.vickijean.com/new.html
(Metalsmithing) http://www.vickijean.com/metalsmithing/index.html
yahooID: vjean95967
-----------
The measure of the menace of a man is not what hardware he carries,
but what ideas he believes. -- Jeff Jordan

Awwwwwwwwwwwww. Great stories! What a cool Mom you are!

When my DD was in 2nd grade, we went to the parent/teacher conference and
her only complaint was that DD read TOO much. Lol. She would finish her
work and then take out a book while she waited on the rest of the class.
The only problem was, she'd be so engrossed in her book that she never
noticed when the teacher changed subjects and kids were getting out the
books for the next subject, etc. There DD sat, nose in her book, oblivious.
Lol.

--
Jerri
www.beadbimbo.com

Mysteries and Romance novels are the most often checked out books in the
library. Not my cuppa..
Whats wrong with reading King? He has gotten to be quite the wonderful story
teller.
Diana

--
Weird people need beads, too
"vj" wrote in message
...
vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Diana Curtis"
:

]He went straight from
]RL Stine to Stephen King, and from King he he went on to read T.S. Elliot
(I
]will show you fear in a handful of dust).

it was that leap to King i wanted to avoid. **shudder**
i should have known better, with the father i had. he kept telling
librarians that complained about kids reading 'Nancy Drew' when there
was so much "good" literature available for children to get over it
and just be glad the kids wanted to read.

she isn't much into fiction, however. she's hooked on 'true crime' of
all things!


--
@vicki [SnuggleWench]
(Books) http://www.booksnbytes.com
(Jewelry) http://www.vickijean.com/new.html
(Metalsmithing) http://www.vickijean.com/metalsmithing/index.html
yahooID: vjean95967
-----------
The measure of the menace of a man is not what hardware he carries,
but what ideas he believes. -- Jeff Jordan

That begs the question, what is wrong with it becoming acceptable? Im not a
fan of his early works.. to much squick and gore, but recently his works are
more classic story telling than *gross them out* type horror.
Its true, some children wouldnt handle early King or the Goosebumps well,
and thats a matter that each parent and child need to discuss before
reading. Id much rather see my children read classic, well told stories of
any genre than not read at all. Id like to ban romance novels. :-) Those
scare me worse than anything King ever wrote! lol
Diana

--
Weird people need beads, too
"vj" wrote in message
...
vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Diana Curtis"
:

]Whats wrong with reading King? He has gotten to be quite the wonderful
story
]teller.

our frames of reference obviously differ! children with active
imaginations and subject to nightmares should probably not read that
stuff. personally, i think King must have had a REALLY warped
childhood, although he says he was taught that if he wrote it out, it
wouldn't happen.

also, there's the idea that the more of that sort of thing you read,
the more 'acceptable' it becomes. i'm not sure how accurate that bit
is, tho, so don't hold me to it.


--
@vicki [SnuggleWench]
(Books) http://www.booksnbytes.com
(Jewelry) http://www.vickijean.com/new.html
(Metalsmithing) http://www.vickijean.com/metalsmithing/index.html
yahooID: vjean95967
-----------
The measure of the menace of a man is not what hardware he carries,
but what ideas he believes. -- Jeff Jordan

On Tue, 28 Dec 2004 9:00:35 -0500, Diana Curtis wrote
(in message ):

Id like to ban romance novels. :-) Those
scare me worse than anything King ever wrote! lol

You would be laughing out loud, if you read them aloud in a group.
When I was in college, we'd break out the popcorn and a romance
novel, and sit in one of the dorm rooms, quaffing Tab, and taking
turns reading the "dirty" parts of romance novels.

Oh. My. God.

There is little funnier than the sound of one of these things being
read aloud, and I have no idea how the writers ever manage to put
them on paper. I know I could write a romance novel, they follow a
very strict formula, but I'd have to do it under a pseudonym. Even
then, I would probably give myself away by falling on the floor and
laughing every time someone said, "Pirate" for example.

BTW, if someone came near me with "a burning wand of flesh," I'd put
it out with my glass of water to keep the flames from spreading.
Poor Buster would probably need lifelong therapy and a huge supply of
Viagra after his encounter with me, though. Oh well. Serves him
right for smouldering in bed.

Kathy N-V

Kathy, you really really need to write one. Id read it. Aloud.
You got me with burning wand of flesh. I read one romance novel, once was
enough. How many euphemisms are there for the breast and penis?
Thank you for the laugh.
Diana

--
Weird people need beads, too
"Kathy N-V" wrote in message
. giganews.com...
On Tue, 28 Dec 2004 9:00:35 -0500, Diana Curtis wrote
(in message ):

Id like to ban romance novels. :-) Those
scare me worse than anything King ever wrote! lol

You would be laughing out loud, if you read them aloud in a group.
When I was in college, we'd break out the popcorn and a romance
novel, and sit in one of the dorm rooms, quaffing Tab, and taking
turns reading the "dirty" parts of romance novels.

Oh. My. God.

There is little funnier than the sound of one of these things being
read aloud, and I have no idea how the writers ever manage to put
them on paper. I know I could write a romance novel, they follow a
very strict formula, but I'd have to do it under a pseudonym. Even
then, I would probably give myself away by falling on the floor and
laughing every time someone said, "Pirate" for example.

BTW, if someone came near me with "a burning wand of flesh," I'd put
it out with my glass of water to keep the flames from spreading.
Poor Buster would probably need lifelong therapy and a huge supply of
Viagra after his encounter with me, though. Oh well. Serves him
right for smouldering in bed.

Kathy N-V

Just outta curiousity - why didn't you want her to read Stephen King?

Cheers,
Carla

vj wrote:
vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Diana Curtis"
:

]He went straight from
]RL Stine to Stephen King, and from King he he went on to read T.S. Elliot (I
]will show you fear in a handful of dust).

it was that leap to King i wanted to avoid. **shudder**
i should have known better, with the father i had. he kept telling
librarians that complained about kids reading 'Nancy Drew' when there
was so much "good" literature available for children to get over it
and just be glad the kids wanted to read.

she isn't much into fiction, however. she's hooked on 'true crime' of
all things!

Ah, I see. I asked the question myself, before seeing this post

Cheers,
Carla

vj wrote:

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Diana Curtis"
:

]Whats wrong with reading King? He has gotten to be quite the wonderful story
]teller.

our frames of reference obviously differ! children with active
imaginations and subject to nightmares should probably not read that
stuff. personally, i think King must have had a REALLY warped
childhood, although he says he was taught that if he wrote it out, it
wouldn't happen.

also, there's the idea that the more of that sort of thing you read,
the more 'acceptable' it becomes. i'm not sure how accurate that bit
is, tho, so don't hold me to it.

"Diana Curtis" wrote in message
...
That begs the question, what is wrong with it becoming acceptable? Im not
a
fan of his early works.. to much squick and gore, but recently his works
are
more classic story telling than *gross them out* type horror.
Its true, some children wouldnt handle early King or the Goosebumps well,
and thats a matter that each parent and child need to discuss before
reading. Id much rather see my children read classic, well told stories of
any genre than not read at all. Id like to ban romance novels. :-) Those
scare me worse than anything King ever wrote! lol
Diana


Diana, you hit it right on the head!

Harlequin Romance novels have warped more young women than anything else I
can think of! It gives them a completely distorted view of life and love
and I wouldn't have them in the house. But I never censored anything my
daughter wanted to read. Or watch. Or listen to. Instead, I read, watched
and listened to stuff with her so that we could talk about what we read saw
and heard. She didn't become a sex maniac, a drug addict, an axe murderer
or an idiot.

And yeah, I guess I can see why people wouldn't want vampire activity to
become "acceptable".

Cindy