Reading Things

Jolena found Mandy knitting on the porch.

It was breezy, and Mandy's ball of yarn kept trying to roll away, so she put it into her knitting bag. 

"Mandy," Jolena began, "I've been wondering. I know I need to wear special glasses when the sun is bright, but why do you wear glasses indoors sometimes? I mean glasses that aren't sunglasses"

Mandy looked up from her knitting. 

"Some dolls that come with glasses need to wear theirs all the time because they can't see far away, or maybe they have to wear glasses when they read because they can’t see things that are close," Mandy explained. "They told me when they put the glasses into my box in the factory that I should wear the glasses when I read or do any close work, like knitting," she said. "It is supposed to keep me from getting nearsighted. If I become nearsighted, I won't be able to see as well far away." 

"Does wearing your glasses when you knit keep you from making a mistake?" Jolena asked.

"No, I still make mistakes, even with my glasses on, but not because I can't see," Mandy went on, "For instance, before you came to live with us I was knitting a sweater."

"I remember I saw a mistake in the sweater when I was working on the sleeve, and I had to rip out three rows and knit them again," Mandy admitted. "I was upset."

"Why do you knit if it upsets you," Jolena wanted to know.

"I knit because it's fun," Mandy explained. "Sometimes I make a mistake if I'm thinking about something else or I forget where I am in my work. When I make a mistake, I might be upset at first, but I learn from it, and fix the mistake. Then my knitting gets better. That makes knitting more fun."

"How did you find your mistake," Jolena asked.
"I have learned to read my work," Mandy explained. "That means I can look at my knitting and see what stitches I have made. It's like reading a book." she said. "Let's go inside. I want to wind some more yarn while we talk."

(Jolena had a feeling talking might make Mandy make a mistake, because maybe she couldn't "read her work" and talk at the same time.)

The dolls climbed off the bench, and Mandy put her yarn bag on her back.

"Mandy, your needles are sticking out," Jolena said. "You could get poked. Let me help you," Jolena went on. " I can push them down at bit."

"Thank you, Jolena," Mandy said. "You are so good at seeing when things need to be fixed. That's a kind of reading, too. I'm not afraid of being poked, though, because it doesn't really hurt," Mandy pointed out. "Dolls only feel imaginary pain, but it could leave a mark on my body."

Mandy led Jolena to another part of the porch. "Before we wind the yarn," she said, "let me show you some thermometers. We have to know how to read them, too." She pointed to a big thermometer on the side of the rail.

"This kind of thermometer tells us how warm the air is right here," she explained. "Besides wind and clouds, this is one way people read the weather. If they can read the weather, they know when dangerous weather is coming," Mandy said.
"I see two sets of number," Jolena said. "Why is that?"
"That's because people use two different ways of telling temperature depending on where they live, so thermometers are made with both," Mandy replied. "Can you see the top of the red line in the middle?"
"Yes," Jolena answered. "There is a 74 on one side and a 23 on the other."
"People who understand each way of reading the temperature will know that it's comfortable outdoors, so we don't need to wear sweaters," Mandy said. "The 74 is using Fahrenheit (FAIR-in-hyt) and the 23 is using the other way, Celsius (SELL-see-us).
The dolls went into the house. "Let me show you another kind of thermometer," Mandy suggested. They went into the bathroom and climbed up on the sink. Mandy reached over into a drawer and pulled out a long stick of glass.
"This thermometer measures how warm a person's body is," Mandy said.

"Why do they need to know that," Jolena wanted to know.

"It's one way to tell if they are sick," Mandy said. "When someone goes to the doctor, they have their temperature read, even if they are not sick. If it is normal, the doctor or nurse will read something close to 98.6 in Fahrenheit or 37 in Celsius, depending on which way they are using to read temperature."
"If we have a thermometer at home, why do they need to go to the doctor," Jolena asked.
"Doctors and nurses have been trained to read people's bodies to find out if something is wrong," Mandy answered. "Temperature is just one way. They might look that person all over, ask questions and use special equipment to listen to the person's heart and lungs, look into their eyes or mouth, or they might poke around at the person's tummy. Now come help me wind the yarn."

Mandy found the rest of her yarn. They found a place where they had space to wind the new ball. Mandy asked Jolena to put out both of her arms. Then she put the yarn around Jolena's wrists.

"Just hold your arms out like that, and I'll do the work," Mandy said. Jolena held her arms out in front of her.

"People learn to read each other by how they look, not just what they say."
"There seem to be lots of things to read," Jolena decided. "We can read books, but we can read lots of other things, too."

Mandy wound the yarn around and around, making a ball out of it. "That's right," she said, "and you already know how to read some things because you pay attention to what is going on around you."

"Maybe that's like how I read the wind direction and how strong it is when I start a run on my skis," Jolena suggested. "I know how to take off into the air by how I feel the wind is right."
"Yes," Mandy replied. "You're good at that. I only know enough to tell that the breeze might blow my ball of yarn onto the porch. You know where things are and what your body is doing. That's why you're good at skiing and dancing. You also can read when something is out of place, like my knitting needles."

"You looked at your knitting and knew you had a mistake," Jolena pointed out, "and then you read your knitting to see what you needed to do to fix it."

Then Jolena looked up. "Mandy, will you teach me to knit?"
"Yes, of course I can teach you!" Mandy exclaimed. "I think you will be very good at it, because you can see when things are out of place."

So Mandy found another pair of needles and some yarn and taught Jolena how to knit. Jolena made a dishcloth for The Writer, who was very grateful. She could read Jolena and knew it meant that Jolena was a kind doll.

Cast--

Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen

Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015

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Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
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Image on Mariah's yellow T-shirt used with permission, from Free To Be Kids, where human-size shirts with this image are available.

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