I miss the first teacher who taught me how to read
Who taught me how to write
Who taught me how to speak
You made sure I knew all these before the age of six
You bought me my first A-BA-KA-DA book
And made me watch Batibot and Sesame Street
You made sure I read comic books
You made sure I read your lips
You pointed your finger at each syllable
And you made me repeat, and repeat, and repeat, repeatedly
You gave me my first pad paper and pencil
The very first time I've ever held them
You made sure I knew I held my pencil right
You made sure I placed my pad in line
You squeezed my hand tight to make sure
That I never wrote a crooked line
However, you made me curve my J, and U, and small n, and C
But the rest you made sure were straight and upright
You'd be pleased to know my lines are crooked no more
In fact, some people tell me my handwriting is beautiful
You made sure I knew how to speak well
You made sure my p's and f's and my semi-vowels sound better
You made me repeat after you over and over again
Until I get the sound right, then we'd do it all over again
You'd be pleased to know, Mommy,
That reading, writing, and speaking are my personal favorites
In fact, I read, and write, and speak for a living
You live in me.
