“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”
If this were Ghana, I’d think we were in the middle of the rainy season. The sun hasn’t been around in a while. The air stays damp and the sky stays cloudy. Rain is predicted starting on Wednesday.
I was six when I learned to tie my shoes. My very patient mother taught me before I started school because other than my winter boots, all my shoes were tie shoes. I was learning an essential task. Tying the bow was easy. Tightening the loops was not.
I learned to tell time when I was seven. My first watch was a Cinderella watch my aunt gave me for my First Communion. Cinderella was wearing her blue gown.
I knew the value of a penny, and it had value when I was a kid, and I knew nickels and dimes. A dollar seemed like immense wealth. I learned to count money in the first grade. We had arithmetic work sheets with pictures of coins. We had to add and subtract the coins. I learned things like two dimes and a nickel equal a quarter.
I never saw a bike with training wheels. We all got two wheelers with backpedal brakes. Learning to balance was the key. On my first attempts, my bike would lean to one side or the other, but my mother was there to keep it and me from falling. She’d hold the bike and keep it straight. She’d tell me to pedal and keep pedaling. She didn’t let go until she was sure I’d gotten the whole balance thing. I remember how excited I was that I had learned to ride a bike.
When I was young, my mother or father cut my meat. I tried, but I couldn’t quite figure out the right way to hold the knife. The fork part was easy. My first few solo attempts resulted in shredded meat, but it still tasted the same, finely cut or shredded.
I think I learned to roller skate first before learning to ice skate. Four wheels were far easier than a single blade.
Being a kid was filled with learning new things, but learning doesn’t really ever stop. I still love to try new things. Look at me and my uke.
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
March 4, 2024 at 9:33 pm
Hi Kat,
Today was another beautiful clear day with the high temperature hit 86°. It’s difficult for you to imagine it being this warm in early March. Neither can I.
I can’t remember the my age when I learned the tasks you listed. They just seemed to happen when I was a little kid. During the Covid-19 lockdown and my furlough from work, I started writing a journal or something to keep me busy. The other reason was that I wanted to leave behind some of my experiences that occurred during my career before they completely fade away.
March 4, 2024 at 11:49 pm
Hi Bob,
It stayed cloudy and damp all day and in the 40’s. We’re expecting three days of rain in the next four days. It has been raining a lot. We got over an inch just the other day. I’m glad it isn’t snow.
Those were such monumental things to learn that they were etched into my memory drawers. My mother taught me to ride a bike. I remember she rode it first,and I was amazed my mother could ride a bike. I guess I never envisioned a mother or father on a bike in those days.