Category Archives: Things

Guides to My Book House Books

Reading, Things

I’ve written elsewhere about My Book House Books. When I was in Elgin in February I brought the parents’ guide to the set back to Bethesda.

The first of the two guides is called “In Your Hands: A Parents’ Guidebook” and features such quotes as “The child who reads is the child who leads.” and “…..Today is one fleeting moment…..A miracle and unrepeatable.”

The first part of the book is full of guidance to parents on raising their children to become readers which will help them become solid citizens with not only an appreciation of literature but also a firm grasp of language skills and a good character to boot. The rest of the book continues the guidance in a more age-specific way from birth through age twelve. At the end are chapters on how to use the book for holidays or seasons of the year. At the end of the book is a “Character Building” index for different parts of “My Book House.”

Reading through this now, as dated as the photos and some of the guidance is, it does mention ideas that are still popular in current thinking about children and books such as “if your children see you enjoying books, they are more likely to enjoy reading”. Here’s what “In Your Hands” says about that:

Baby Reflects Your Attitude Toward Books

Children quickly sense your attitude and actions toward books as well as other things. You will find your child imitating the very things you do when handling a book.

Of course, most of the photos of a parent reading to their children are of women. There is one photo of a father and son, but they are standing outside and on a page with a poem titled “A Little Fellow that Follows Me.”

The second of the two guides is called “Your Child’s World: The Specific Approach to Daily Problems.” The first chapter, called “Some Ideas About the Home, the Family and Being a Parent” talks about how to make a creative home, how to foster security at home and why parents say “no.”

The rest of the book is packed full of scenarios that may occur in the home and tips to handle them as well as a discussion at the end.

For instance here’s one titled “What Would You do about Father’s Ill-timed Treats?”

What Would You do about Father’s Ill-timed Treats?

Evelyn, age six, and her brother, age four, rush up to greet their father upon his return from work and he usually has some candy treats for them. However, when they eat the candy this spoils their appetite for dinner.

If you were the parents of Evelyn and her brother, what would YOU do?

  1. Make them promise to save the candy until after dinner,
  2. Give the candy into Mother’s safekeeping until after dinner,
  3. Take it away from them and gie them none the next day if they begin on it before dinner,
  4. Let them have a little taste before dinner, saving the greater part until after the meal is over,
  5. Insist that they eat a certain amount of dinner “no matter what.”
  6. Have Father postpone giving them anything until after they have finished eating.

Discussion

This issue is a matter for parental unity. The most efficient and reasonable approach is (f). All of the others represent needless compromise which is difficult on all concerned. (a) would be an acceptable first step if it works, and it may. However, if it results in broken promise, such punishment as is involved in (c) is not good. (e) would probably create more problems and larger ones than the orignal. (d) would cerate a lot of fuss and even a “little taste” may take the edge off the children’s appetite. (b) is not quite fair to Mother since it puts her in the position of withholding, and in addition, the sight of the candy may make the dinner less attractive. Father should be able to hold off with his largesse and, who knows,may he not in the long run be assured that they are running to greet him for himself and not for the goodies?

I don’t think my mom read much of these books, but I might be wrong. I don’t remember he going through the Book House Books with me, but I do remember reading them on my own. Whatever the case, I am so grateful that she and Dad bought the books because I attribute my love of reading to them.

Moonlit Merry-go-round

Emotions, Things, ,

When? It was probably 1980 or 1981, it could have been later, but by then we were living in Pittsburgh. Where? It was probably Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg. I don’t remember the exact circumstances, but I do remember the emotion. I don’t even remember who I was with when I first saw it — maybe Mom and Aunt Ginny. All I really remember is walking past the window and seeing the painting and having a powerful feeling of sadness, but also a feeling of desire. I wanted to own the painting.

I must have talked to Dean who probably reluctantly agreed to visit the Merill Chase Gallery in the mall to see if he wanted to own it too. I do remember going into the gallery and telling a Merill Chase employee that we were interested in purchasing the painting in the window. The employee showed us a small room with a sofa or comfortable chairs and invited us to sit while she had the painting brought to us and placed on an easel. She left us alone for a few minutes while we talked about it. I explained why I liked it. I don’t recall Dean’s responses. I really wanted it. It was not too expensive, as I recall something we could afford, but not easily. It turned out that the painting was actually a serigraph and came with a certificate of authenticity.

We bought the serigraph and it hung in the living room of our Pittsburgh apartment. It must have hung in our Alexandria homes — in places where visitors could see it. For many years it hung above our bed in Bethesda. One night Clare and Andrew asked me the story of the painting. Since I didn’t know the actual story, I made one up. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but it had something to do with the merry-go-round being magical so the horses could still run on it but one horse wanted to run free and jumped off the carousel, only to freeze a few hundred feet away from the merry-go-round. No happy ending. I think it made the kids very sad.

Once I realized that the Internet knew everything, I looked up the artist, Robert Addison. I found a few things about him. His other work was often as depressing. The merry-go-round in my serigraph is featured in some of his other work. Its origin is based on seeing a bombed out merry-go-round when he was stationed in England during World War 2. The painting was completed in 1979. I think he did two versions of it because there is mention of “Moonlit Merry-go-Round, II” on the Internet. More recent searches have found that Dennis De Young from Styx used Moonlit Merry-go-Round on an album called One Hundred Days from Now.

Once I established my attic office the painting was taken there. I think it makes Dean sad, and he doesn’t really like it — I don’t think he ever did. But I do, I still do. Only I ever see it now — or Dean when he comes to the attic. Very rarely do guests visit the attic so, the only actual piece of art (by an artist who is not a friend or family member) is hidden away for only a few sets of eyes. And that makes me sad.

Old Writing: Part 15::A Mirror on my Dresser

Things, Writing,

This has no date but it does have an illustration. While there was some creative license taken, the bit about talking to my reflection is true, but that was a different mirror.

A Mirror on my Dresser

The old mirror on my dresser is a shadowbox. I talk to my reflection whenever I am alone in the house. Sometimes my reflection and I get upset with one another because we are always trying to say the same things at the same time. We gave up saying “jinks, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten you owe me a bottle of pop” whenever we say the same thing because, as I told you earlier, we always say the same thing at the same time and we always end up leaving angry as we owe each other 22,500 bottles of pop so far.

There are shelves on the mirror and I have knickknacks all over it. Here is a picture of it:

The mirror itself does not talk too much, except to the wall when the wall complains about the mirror being too heavy, or it talks to the dresser, warning it to watch out below because it feels its screws getting loose. Sometimes it gossips to the floor or the door about things happening around the room, as it can’t see or hear farther than the door.

Here is a real picture of part of it. And it was above my bed, not part of my dresser, however the room may have been rearranged after this photo was taken. I am sure I wasn’t eleven when I wrote this, despite the childish drawing above. I was probably more likely thirteen or fourteen. I also just noticed that I gave the drawing too many shelves.

Young Dona and cousin Pam talking on toy phones in Dona’s childhood bedroom