My
last post was about the treasures I discovered on 8mm tapes. Yesterday I found a notebook with a couple of
stories that I would like to share. The
first came from Jenna's head when she was three going on four. I wish I had filmed her telling it, for it
doesn't read quite the same (even with visual aids) as it is to watch her tell
the story as she uses "Cootie" parts to emphasize particular parts in
the story.
For
my readers who may not be familiar with the Milton Bradley game, Cooties, here is
a brief description and history.
The
younger generation may view "Cooties" as "cute" game
pieces. The heads on the game I grew up
with looked like ants.
Keep
in mind that Jenna was using a cootie body to demonstrate as she told her story
(again and again)
And
So the story unfolds:
Once upon a time there was a
caterpillar named
Date who
wanted
to grow up to be a butterfly.
But
his mom said that he would
not be one right now and would
have to wait until
tomorrow.
So he went to bed and the next
morning he woke up and made a
cocoon
so he popped off his head (she told me later that she had said out, but I had heard off)
and slept in his cocoon and when he came out he was a beautiful
butterfly
who flew around . And he flew
and he flew until he was dead. And then
they sweeped him up.
I don't remember laughing at
her. I thought her ending was kind of
morbid - I mean - where did she come up with that? but I do remember her dad and brothers laughing. She was amused that they found it amusing,
and thus repeated the story. It's funny
that I had forgotten that she had once told it quite often (which is how I
remembered what words to write down)
I also had struggles with getting
her to eat a balanced meal (still do) and used this story on her.
Once upon a time there was a beautiful
girl named Jill. She had brown hair and
brown eyes and a wonderful imagination.
Jill could ride unicorns to school and fly home on the wings of a giant
bird. She could grant wishes with her
magic wand. She could swim in the oceans
with mermaids. She could be a doctor, a
teacher, a mother, model, dancer, magician, even and animal. Jill could do and be whatever she wanted
except for one thing. Jill could not eat
whatever or whenever she wanted to.
Her imagination didn't work in her
mouth or her stomach. It wouldn't have been
so bad if Jill would eat fruit and vegetables as a snack and not just candy or
if she would eat the same dinner as the rest of her family and use her imagination
to make believe it tasted like cake or ice cream. Jill didn't always appreciate the snacks that
her mom would give her. Often Jill
wished she could really perform real magic, then she could eat whatever and whenever
she wanted. But then so could her mother
who was fat and whose teeth were falling out because she had eaten whatever and
whenever she wanted her entire life.
Jill's' mother loved her and didn't want Jill
to become fat and toothless and sickly because of her poor eating choices. She also wanted Jill to be grateful.
One day Jill ate a casserole that her
mom had made - even though it had red sauce and meat. Jill imagined she was Goldilocks and that
mom's casserole was baby bear's porridge.
Jill ate it all up. And it was
good. She didn't throw up. And she didn't die. Jill and her mom made a deal with one
another. Jill could have a candy bar
once a week. And she would always eat
nutritious food such as apples, pears and even broccoli. And Jill and her mom lived happily ever after
in good health.
It
didn't work then. There's no way it's
going to work on her now. She does like
fruit and will eat two or three apples in a given day. However Vegetables are still a sore subject.
I
also have (in her handwriting - er, print) "The Happy Feather" by
Jenna, illustrated by Jenna . . . that is all.
No story. No illustration. It's nice to have an example of her writing
however.
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