Who knew my preschool monster would be become the example …
Today is my son’s 18th birthday. I asked him several weeks ago what his favorite book was and saved his response for a special day. He told me it was The Monster at the End of This Book. My reply: “I read that to you until the back cover fell off.” He quickly retorted that my memory was failing due to old age because he read it long after the back cover fell off!
There were times when I thought that David was the monster at the end of the book as he terrorized my home with his antics. As a preschooler, I caught him sitting on the top of a 6 foot shelf swinging his legs, throwing Oreos at the neighbor’s house in an experiment to see if they would stick to the siding and even making cookies in my vase of flowers (with the flowers still in them). As he got older, the shenanigans got more elaborate like when he roped off the court next to our home to make it a toll road (in an attempt to earn some money) or throwing and smashing apples off the neighbor’s tree to make steaming applesauce on the pavement. This boy has kept me ever alert which prompted me to instigate a ‘quiet time’ each afternoon to read.
David has been a great reader his entire life. Many of my favorite memories with David are snuggling up next to him and reading with him. There were many times, when he could read himself, that we share the couch and read our separate books. He is a highly intelligent young man who seeks out learning in every situation.
In this case, as my son becomes an adult, I wish him a Happy Birthday and recognize that the student has become the scholar and example to his mother.
Cover of the Monster at the end of this Book. (Click on image.)
(Originally posted August 14, 2015)
By Tracy Atkinson
Tracy Atkinson, mother of six, lives in the Midwest with her husband. She is a teacher, having taught elementary school to higher education, holding degrees in elementary education and a master’s in higher education. Her passion is researching, studying and investigating the attributes related to self-directed learners. She has published several titles, including Calais: The Annals of the Hidden, Lemosa: The Annals of the Hidden, Book Two, Rachel’s 8 and Securing Your Tent. She is currently working on a non-fiction text exploring the attributes of self-directed learners: The Five Characteristics of Self-directed Learners.
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