Part I

"Sit down and be quiet." "Pay attention." "Stop wiggling." These common phrases formed the soundtrack of my early childhood. They came at me from every direction-from my parents, preschool teachers, and other adults.

No one seemed to understand that I wasn't trying to misbehave! I jumped out of my chair before I knew I was going to get up. Words just popped out of my mouth. I didn't mean to be bad; it just happened. There was so much to see and do!

"Sit down and be quiet"-over and over-except from my father. He simply said, "Mind your mother."

Mom talks about a time when my preschool teacher passed out a paper with pictures of lots of different dogs. We were told to color the ones that were the same. I followed my teacher's instructions and was done before she had finished passing out the papers! I jumped out of my seat to show her, and she got mad. I got every one correct, but no one said, "Wow! That was good!" No one told me I was fast or smart. They got angry and said, "Sit down and be quiet." The teacher tattled to my mother, who told me, "You must sit in your chair and wait until the teacher says it's okay to get up."

I was no good at sitting and waiting. Was grade school going to be like this? What would I do? How would I manage?

Part II