Motivation and Wisdom

“It takes a village to raise a child” is a quote that I have heard most of my life, but it was not until I was in my early 30s that the meaning begin to sink in. It started with the observation of a few children in the neighborhood where I grew up. A group of children got off of the school bus at 3:15pm and played outside in their yard until their mother returned home from work at 7:00pm. I began to think how nice it would have been to have a neighbor, a center or someplace available for the children: a safe place where assistance with homework, a snack or even a hot meal was given. Watching the children,    I begin to reminisce of my childhood. My parents sacrificed some luxuries, so that my mom could stay at home to be available for us. She made was available to help us with our homework, picked us up from basketball, football and track practice. The memory that brings a smile to my face is how my mother was there for some of the neighborhood children as well. Many of the mothers did not have the option to become stay-at- home moms; they had to work in order provide the necessities for their children, but because my mother was available some of the parents added her name as a contact on their child’s information for school. There were more than a few occasions when my mother was called to the school to pick up a sick child. There were even occasions when some of the neighbor’s children spent the night because the mother had to work extra late or was hospitalized and family was not available.

The reflection of the past allowed me to see that it requires more than just parents or guardians to shape a child’s life. The meaning of the proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” became real to me. I realized that day that everyone in a child’s life shapes him/her. Every teacher, doctor, neighbor and even religious leaders play a role in making a child. Simply put, the community shapes a child’s future.                                                      

http://www.amazon.com/Goose-Goofs-Sweet-Pickles-Series/dp/0030180864

A Children’s Book that I love is from the Sweet Pickles series entitled Goose Goofs off (author: Jacquelyn Reinach, Richard Hefter). I love the book one because it reminds me of my childhood. My youngest brother would always play the record to that book while we would lie in the floor and read a long. I also love the book because the book taught the reader/listener a lesson about procrastination and goofing off. 

http://www.amazon.com/Fingers-Thumb-Bright-Early-Board/dp/0679890483

Another one of my childhood favorites is Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumbs written by: Al Perkins and illustrated by Eric Gurney. My parents subscribed to the cat in the hat book club and that was one of the books sent to us. I was so young and had not started school yet, but I still have memories of my dad reading the book to my sister, my brothers and me.  Even now, I can still hear him changing his voice as he read out the repeated rhythm Dum ditty, dum ditty, dum dum dum.

A heart touching story

       I have many heart touching stories that I could share, but there is one story that really sticks out in my mind. When the child was born, he was a healthy 8 lb baby. Everyone was thrilled to see that he had  everything in working order because a few months prior to his birth, the family was not sure that he or his mother would even survive long enough for him to be born. The beginning of the pregnancy was normal, but his mom caught the flu; she was so sick that by the time she was rushed to the hospital she was severely dehydrated which caused her to go into contractions when she was four or five months pregnant. The flu put so much stress on her body that she was about to miscarry her child. She was place on complete bed rest in the hospital for a couple of months. While she was in the hospital, the doctors had her on some strong medication in order to save the baby. The same medicine that the doctor gave her to save the baby caused more stress on an already stressed body. The mother was fighting to live for her and her unborn child. March 3, 2001 a baby boy came into the world. Everything appeared normal, at times; he seemed to be ahead of the learning curve. He was weaned from his bottle by six months, by ten months he was potty trained and walking; he was able to talk. He was a healthy, happy little boy running and playing with his big brother. It was not until he started pre-K the family noticed that there was something wrong. He had a hard time learning his site words. Every day he would come home and his mother, grandmother, granddaddy, aunt or uncle would help him study. He did not seem to remember the words that he learned a day or so ago. He would sit at the table and cry. He would say to his mother “I just can’t remember.”  The teachers tried different things to help him and they worked with his mother, but he still had hard time retaining information. The family consulted the doctor searching for possible answers. The doctor informed the family the memory issues may come from the medicine that was pumped through the mother’s veins to help her baby boy survive. There was nothing medical that the doctor could do. The situation was so bad that the pre-K teachers told his mother he may not advance to kindergarten.  Nevertheless, every day he would work extremely hard. He had gotten to the point that he did not want to play because he wanted to study; he did not want what was going on with him to get the best of him. Nothing changed for a while; he would still come home and the family would work with him every day. The family created flash cards, games and songs to help him remember his words. At the time, nothing seemed to work. One day he came home sits at the table and begins to read his sight worlds to his mother. No one knows what memory practices he employed; whatever it was it was working. He was able to advance to kindergarten; he struggled a little in kindergarten when learning to read, but he was able to successfully pass his test to go to the first grade. He never had to repeat a grade in school. He is now a happy 11 year old six grader who has remained on the honor roll and star honor roll since first grade. He is now a member of Junior Beta. He loves to read and every two or three days he asks for a new book. He makes sure to remind everyone that he likes fiction books with plenty of action. It is great to know that the future lawyer (his desired profession) no longer cries when doing his home work.

My 1st grade picture while living in Washington DC

My 2nd grade picture while in Georgia

My current picture