Miss 9 could not grip her pencil for any real length of time or to muster any real pace.
You see, with the saturation of technology in schools, less is written and more is typed.
Tasks for the school day are rarely written on the white board. Get this: children are emailed their assignments. Most work is done on the iPad or Chromebook (for those of us from the good old blackboard generation, that's a computer).
Think about the last time you wrote a letter, penned thoughts or kept a diary that weren't of the digital kind.
The fact is, the physical art of writing is dying.
I know technology has its place but I wonder if we'll lose something special in generations to come when our own unique trademarks become lost or even obsolete. Photo / Getty Images
I have school books with Mrs O'Conner's dreaded red pen scrawled across the bottom of my work saying "Look at this mess... just look at it!" or worse, "See me".
You were shamed into making an effort and getting the hook, stem, slant, crossbar and flourish just right.
But there's something so personal, so unique about the written word and how it's formed.
My mum penned her favourite recipes in a cook book for me. I often open it to look, not so much at the recipe, but at her beautiful handwriting as a reminder of her, now 22 years gone.
Of course there are no shortages of studies on what your handwriting means, the shape and spacing of letters and if they're connected or not. But at the rate we're writing at – (or not) forensic specialists will be out of a job as ransom notes will all be emailed. That'll be a letdown in the movies.
Imagine your significant other typing up a quick love note; printing it and leaving it on your pillow. Doesn't seem quite so - how should I put it – personal.
I went to school with a compass, ruler and a 2B pencil. At high school I graduated to an FX82 calculator. My 7-year-old goes to school with a Chromebook.
Toddlers are learning to swipe the screen before picking up a pencil. Studies have shown that regular handwriting has strong links to excellent cognitive development and academic achievement.
Become too reliant on the keyboard at an early age and we'll likely breed a nation of crap spellers. That wood be relly bad and I am not entyrely shore I wood kope.
I do worry that come exam time, when my kids are older and they have to write under pressure - really write, they're not going to be match fit.
No amount of motherly threats or "rattle your dags" encouragement will have any impact when the mind is willing but the flesh is, literally, weak.
Perhaps there's a future market in Zumba for fingers and hands.
I know technology has its place but I wonder if we'll lose something special in generations to come when our own unique trademarks become lost or even obsolete.
If that's to be believed, it's time for me to log off and hit send. Attend to important matters before the pen is no longer mightier than the emoji.
Pen a cook book for each of my daughters. Handwritten, with love.
