Tattle Pup and Whiny Kitty

Mona was a teacher and she loved her job. She taught piano and voice, she conducted church choirs and school choirs, she taught preschool and kindergarten and even home-schooled our kids for several years. She loved teaching and she loved her kids and she was always on the lookout for ways to help them learn. 

Did you ever hear about the conga line she'd set up to help her 5 year-olds learn their vowels? Hands on the shoulders of the child in front of them, she would lead them around the classroom chanting in-step "A-E-I-O-U -- Uh! A-E-I-O-U -- Uh!" The first day it snowed was always reserved for going outside and playing before there was a chance the rest of the day would be cancelled. And have you ever heard of a school teacher who taught their kids to blow bubbles with bubble gum? That was Mrs. Veatch.

And no story about my wife's teaching career would be complete without telling you about Tattle Pup and Whiny Kitty. One summer Mona found two large cartoon drawings of a puppy dog and a kitten, printed them out, laminated them, and posted them eye-high-for-a-five-year-old in a corner of her classroom. Every year on the first day of school she introduced her kids to Tattle Pup and Whiny Kitty, explaining the important job each had. "I'm just so busy I don't have time to listen to tattling or whining," she'd explain, "so if you're tattling or whining you'll have to tell it to Tattle Pup or Whiny Kitty." 

It usually took a week or two for the kids to catch on but they always did. "I'm sorry," she'd tell them, "but you're tattling and I don't listen to tattling. That's Tattle Pup's job so you need to go tell Tattle Pup." It was the same for Whiny Kitty. "That sounds a lot like whining and I don't listen to whining," she'd remind them. "You'd better go tell Whiny Kitty." And they would!

My wife is in the special care unit of the nursing home now, and she's the youngest person there by far. The staff has told me she's at least 15 years younger than any other resident and this is a new experience for them. Early-onset Alzheimer's can be different from -- what do you call it? -- regular Alzheimer's. I won't try to explain it in medical terms because I can't, but I can tell you with early-onset you almost have to ignore what your eyes are telling you, you almost have to suspend belief. This is a chance for the staff at the nursing home to go to school.

I think about that often. That in the midst of this horrible, cruel disease my wife is still doing what she loves. She's still teaching. 

Tattle Pup and Whiny Kitty would approve.