Why Do We Always Watch What Allie Wants to Watch?
A young girl named Harper was frustrated. She never was able to watch the shows her friends watched at school on TV. Instead, when she was at home, they always watched what her younger sister, Allie, wanted to watch, and she was just so sick of veggie tales and Elmo. As seven years old, she was mature enough to watch Hannah Montana and deserved to. She behaved well and always did her homework. Allie never listened and always climbed on the counters. She just did not understand why Allie always had control of the TV.
Allie was home alone all day with her mom because she was only three. She had not yet started preschool. During this time she planned control of the TV at night. The girl's mom limited their electronic usage, so she never watched TV when she was home alone. She wanted the TV all to herself later when everyone was home.
The girl's mom started picking up on what Allie was doing and she wanted to stop the fighting between Harper and Allie, so she tried to get Allie to spend her electric time earlier. She told Allie, "Hey, your favorite movie is on, let's sit down and watch it."
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| A Screaming Toddler |
Allie, not willing to give up her time later, screamed, "Only if I get to watch Magic School Bus tonight with dad." The mom saw a losing battle and reluctantly agreed. They continued to play this dance for a week until the mom just asked Allie why she insisted so persistently on watching her TV shows every night with everyone. Allie responded, "If you guys watch my shows you pay attention to me! When you watch your shows you don't."
The mom was moved by the answer and as long as Allie stayed off the counter, they always watched what Allie wanted to watch.
Author's Note-- Spider Tales
This story is loosely based after the story "How we got the name 'Spider Tales.'" In that story, the spider is really conceited and wants every story to be about him. He goes through the trials which seem impossible and it gets them named after him. I thought he sounded a bit like my little sister growing up who always wanted control so I wrote a story along those lines. The three trials did not fit with a toddler so I adjusted it a bit but still made the family come to a consensus after some trial.
Hey Caitlin! I really enjoyed how you pulled from personal experience to rewrite this story! At first, I was confused as to how a story about a a toddler tied into mythology, but your author's note cleared that up for me!! It was a really creative way for you to relate to the original, and made the story very enjoyable!
ReplyDeleteHi Caitlin! This was a really cute story. I loved how you combined your own personal experiences at home with stories you've read in this class. It was a really interesting and creative idea and you did a great job! I have to admit, I'm kind of sad that the mom doesn't stand up to Allie and let Harper have some time with the TV. Harper deserves to get to watch her shows too!
ReplyDeleteCaitlin,
ReplyDeleteI love that you chose the Spider Tales story as the base. I also read this story, and had no idea it was based off of the Spider story, but in the author's note it made so much sense! I thought it was a brilliant use of taking one story and transforming it to create a new one. Awesome story!