Rebecca Morton
Bio
An older Gen X-er, my childhood was surrounded by theatre people. My adulthood has been surrounded by children, first my students, then my own, and now more students! You can also find me on Medium here: https://medium.com/@becklesjm
Stories (61/0)
Days of A Christmas Carol Past, My Thirty Year Relationship With Victorian Ghosts, Chapter One
I thought my red tights would be better with my navy blue skirt and red turtleneck because it would be a pattern with red, blue, red. Mom said that was, “TOO matching, like too perfect.” I had never heard of “too perfect”, and the fact that my mother, who seemed to have a mission to make everything perfect, would say this amazed me.
By Rebecca Morton6 months ago in Chapters
Two More Chapters From "Failproof Motherhood for a Failproof Child"
CHAPTER THREE: Your Baby’s Vehicle Congratulations! Your baby has been conceived. The fun is now over (if getting here had anything to do with an intimate relationship with your baby’s father), and your work now begins. As the chapter title says, you are now your baby’s vehicle. You are also her home for nine months, so do not let her ride get too bumpy. EVERYTHING you do, eat, drink, and think about must have the goal of keeping your baby in comfort and at peace throughout this, her first journey in life.
By Rebecca Morton6 months ago in Humor
The Perfect Gift for Every Perfectionist Mom-to-Be
INTRODUCTION to Failproof Motherhood for a Failproof Child: This is the project of projects that you are about to undertake. Your baby will be just that: YOUR BABY, no one else’s. (In some cases, the father’s baby as well, but that is beside the point.) Your goal of goals — the best baby your baby can be — is completely reliant on you alone. In other words, your baby is yours to nurture or to ruin.
By Rebecca Morton6 months ago in Humor
A Thanksgiving TV Memory
From 1973 to 1981, my family and I always began our Thanksgiving by watching The CBS All-American Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV from 9AM until noon. While NBC covered only New York City’s Macy’s Parade, this CBS show covered about thirty minutes each of five different parades throughout the USA and one in Canada.
By Rebecca Morton6 months ago in Geeks
Orson Welles and Martians Shaped My Teaching Career
It’s been eighty-five years since Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater on the Air players frightened America with their radio broadcast making it sound, to listeners who tuned in after the introduction, like Martians were really landing in New Jersey.
By Rebecca Morton7 months ago in Education
You Know You've Outgrown Trick or Treating
My ninth grade year was the last year I went trick or treating for Halloween with my school friends. I didn’t realize it would be my last until I was walking home through the rain, hours later, candy and apples rolling around in puddles on the street.
By Rebecca Morton7 months ago in Confessions
Trick or Treating by Car
My mother wasn’t great with holidays when my sister and I were children. That was my dad’s department. He’s the one who got the Christmas tree, cooked the Christmas dinner, boiled the eggs and supervised dying them for Easter, carved the Halloween pumpkin and took us out trick or treating.
By Rebecca Morton7 months ago in Families
- Second Place in Extraterrestrial Challenge
Two College Students Escort Me Out of My First Grade Classroom
When I was in the first grade (or perhaps the second grade) sometime between 1973 and 1974, I attended a large public elementary school in the American Midwest. Located next door to an extension campus of a state university, we young students had unique access to the world of higher learning. By this I mean we could see hippie college students sitting on the grass playing guitars as we walked home from school.
By Rebecca Morton8 months ago in Education
Kicked Out of Our Rental House
On December 30, 2021, (what my family calls “New Year’s Eve Eve"), my husband got a text from our landlords. He probably thought, when he saw it was from this kind older couple, that it was to wish our family a Happy New Year. We had been good tenants for three and a half years, always paying our rent on time, keeping up the yard and making minor repairs inside and outside the house. But the text said they wanted their house back as soon as possible.
By Rebecca Morton8 months ago in Families