A Mortifying Mistake
When I was
in fourth grade, a school assignment was to memorize and present a poem for the
class. My mom encouraged me to memorize
a poem she had learned when she was a child called “A Mortifying Mistake.” She looked it up and found it in a set of
books we had downstairs on our bookshelf called The Book of Knowledge. I learned it and presented it to my class. I remember the happy feeling I had when my
classmates laughed.
Later, when
I was a mom, I taught the poem to each of my daughters and each of them
presented it in their classes. Now it’s
time for my grandchildren and maybe later my great -grandchildren to learn it. It has/ will become a link for our family
generations. I googled it and found it
is by Anna Maria Pratt. Ask your mom to
recite it. She knows it. Let me know when you have memorized it.
I studied my tables over
and over
And backward and forward too
But I couldn't remember six times nine
And I didn't know what to do
'Til my sister told me to play with my doll
And not to bother my head
"If you call her 'Fifty-four' for a while
You'll learn it by heart', she said.
So I took my favorite, Mary Anne,
Though I thought 'twas a dreadful shame
To give such a perfectly lovely child
Such a perfectly horrible name,
And I called her my little Fifty-four
A hundred times 'til I knew
The answer of six times nine
As well as the answer of two times two.
Next day, Elizabeth Wigglesworth,
Who always acted so proud
Said, "Six times nine is fifty-two,
And I nearly laughed out loud
But I wished I hadn't when teacher said,
"Now Dorothy, tell if you can."
For I thought of my doll and sakes alive!
I answered, "Mary Anne!"
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