"Back in the Day" Tuesdays

Today one of our vendors complimented me on my beautiful handwriting. It made me laugh because it brought back how that came to be.

Due to this, I got this idea to dedicate Tuesdays to stories about my childhood. Because it is actually my childhood that has made me, me! Some stories might be downright weird, some might make you scratch your head and some might make you laugh out loud. Whichever of the ones that might happen, I know that it was a hilarious ride and I am happy that I actually want to share a few stories.

How did I get to have such beautiful handwriting you might ask?

Well, growing up, I had downright horrible handwriting. Everytime my parents went to a teacher, parent conference that was their only complaint. "Faith is a great student. She listens well, participates and gets along with all her classmates, but she needs to work on her handwriting skills."

Each time after these meetings my parents would tell me, "Faith, don't rush too much. Slow down when you are doing your homework. Write neatly."

It went in and right out my ears. I continued to be a sloppy mess.

When I was in sixth grade and my new teacher had the same complaint my dad decided that obviously the talking wasn't working for me. They came home after that meeting and my dad asked me how old I was. I began to cry. I knew what that meant. It meant that I was going to get a spanking. I never bothered to lie. It was a trick question. My dad knew how old I was and if I lied (I learned from one of my smart sisters) I just got an extra spanking. I said, "Ten years old."

I got ten spankings on my behind that day.

The next day at school, my handwriting suddenly changed and soon I was getting all sorts of compliments on how beautiful my handwriting was.

My handwriting is so great that when I did my place cards and the addresses on the invitation's envelopes, people thought I hired a professional to do them.

The next time my parents had a parent, teacher conference there was no complaint about my handwriting but my teacher did mention that I talked to fast. When my parents got home and they told me this my heart sunk. Another spanking? My dad smiled and said, "Your teacher said you talk too fast but you got that from me. You can't change that!"

Haha. And this is how I got the handwriting I have today! I guess spankings do work! :)