Tying Shoes

I don't know if everyone remembers when they finally understood how to tie their shoes.  I remember struggling to learn how to tie shoes.  I did't understand how tie a shoe when you start with only one loop, wrap the opposing lace around it and come up with a second loop.  Some refer to this as the "Rabbit (or Squirrel) around the Tree" method.  I still don't get that one.  I learned how to tie my shoes using the "Bunny Ears" method which I learned from a little purple duck on Sesame Street.  When it clicked, it was quite the revelation for me.

For Lyn, she learned how to tie shoes a little differently as well.  We'll let Mom explain:

"She was in third grade at McArthur Elementary.  I kept hearing her talk about "Nana" and had no idea who or what "nana" meant.  A couple of weeks into the school year, she wanted to show me something.  She promptly untied her shoes and retied them.  First, you make a loop with each end then loop the around one another.  They were tied.  I'd never seen it done that way but so what, the shoes were tied.

A few weeks later I was at the school for something, PTA perhaps.  I asked about her tying her shoes and the teacher informed me "Nana taught her."  Imagine my surprise.  He went on to say the school had a Foster Grandparent Program since there are so many low-income elderly in that area.  The grandparents come to the school mid-morning until mid-afternoon.  They matched them with a student for some special one on one time.  They were in the classroom and lunch room with their student for about four hours each day.

It turns out that Nana was an 80 year old woman who spoke no English, only Spanish.  She and Lyn bonded right off the bat.  One day, a shoe was untied and Nana realized Lyn couldn't tie it.  LOL, within one week hearing instructions in Spanish Lyn learned this task.  The teacher assumed Jenn knew "some" Spanish and was surprised when he learned she didn't.

Nana knit a little purse that she gave Lyn for Christmas.  I can see it now--pink, green, yellow & UGLY.  Lyn loved it for about 3 weeks then it disappeared.  No, I didn't get rid of it."