Monday, April 27, 2009

No, really. How do you REALLY do it?


True confession: I do not hold a pencil properly when I write.


There. It is now out on the 'net for all to see.

I am well past the point of flinching when someone notices me holding a pen. At most I may drop a "Yep, that REALLY is the way I write." when my pencil-claw grip is pointed out. Of course, working around a bunch of pre-school teachers, this gets noticed a lot. But I gave up actually caring about it in the 6th grade.

Back then, after every grammar school teacher I encountered tried to correct my pencil-holding abilities, I looked Miss Anders in the eye during an after school pencil holding lesson and told her "This way works for me. OK?" I guess it was OK, because no teacher ever tried (very hard) to correct my pencil-grip-of-death after that.

But truth be told, I still cringe when I see the pretty, little, colorful corrective pencil grip rubber things. I bet I have thrown a million of those things away over the years.

Evidently my writing skillz have been on The Talker's mind. First thing he said to me this morning: Not, 'good morning' or 'hi, dad', but "Dad, I think they have these things at school so that you can hang onto a pencil the right way. Want me to see if I can bring you one?"

Now, like many others before him, The Talker now stands, squarely looking failure in the face. He can try to correct my pencil hold. He may even bring a rubber coated specialized grip to me. But in the end, the last man standing - with a pencil in a modified Half-Nelson-Super-Claw, will be me!

Unless he whines about it for a long time.

Then I usually cave, just to have some peace and quiet.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dude, that's pretty whack! (can I say that at my age?)

From a born lefty, who was forced to become a righty, I empathize with your woes. And while I hold the implement normally, my handwriting has always sucked!

I never got better than a "C" in handwriting.

Mike said...

I didn't even mention how bad this thing actually looks on paper.

Believe me, there is a reason I am pretty good at the keyboard.

The Father of Five said...

P & P are in the same boat that way... Born lefty, and "converted" righty...

I HAVE / HAD a odd way of holding my pencil... Around 6th grade both my parents and my teachers pushed REAL hard to get me to change. It worked to a degree.. I seem to use both now... When my hand gets tired holding one way, I move to the other.

The other odd thing? My handwriting. It's Horrible. I gave up on that around 8th grade. I print... It all caps. All the time...

Mike, maybe your son's teacher is trying to correct you through him... "I've see these kinds before... They never listen to the like of me, so maybe I can get his kid to do my dirty work"..

I'm with you on it... If it works for you, then GO FOR IT!

alanmoore78 said...

English professor at TCC made me write in cursive for on-campus essays. Meanie. I haven't written anything in cursive since it was last mandatory in the 5th grade.

My handwriting looks like what you'd see on an architectural blueprint. Bubbly small caps all over the place. I'll use lowercase when it suits me. People who complain about my handwriting get letters typed in ALL CAPS on a DOT MATRIX printer.

Eric said...

You've been tagged - http://www.ohmygodimadaddy.blogspot.com

Label Daddy Mommy said...

Oh that's FUNNY! I, too, have a crazy grip that makes my handwriting freakishly perfect. I stand firm in my grip technique, but have had that convo with my 1st grader when he said, "Mom, did you ever LEARN how to write?"

Love you're blog and plan on linking you on the blog roll at Label Daddy!

Anonymous said...

Still scares me everytime I see it.
KRB