topic Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE in Among Friends

MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

Shanus — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 13:38:24 GMT

I'm old fashioned about sending real b'day cards, etc. instead of texts or sites that send the flowery ones and you just type in your good wishes.

Lately, I've noticed I can barely read my writing. I never "write" anything anymore.

Has anyone else seen their handwriting change since email, texts are more the norm?

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

LTT1 — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 13:43:30 GMT

@Shanus

yes...same here! It's a bummer, right?

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

justashopper — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 13:52:08 GMT

I am in the minority... I love my handwriting and I love to write. I like differents pens, pencils, stationery. I am always writing out to do lists and I take a lot of notes about things I see and I want to look into. I journal and make meal plans. I write out the things I have in my wardrobe at the beginning of the season. I keep track of things like-- qvc orders and shipping expenses. LOL

I mean, sure, I can scribble and it's a mess,. However, I can make it look good.

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

On It — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 13:53:18 GMT

My handwriting has changed because of aging. I only write in manuscript these days. Cursive is for signatures only. I think it is because of the weakening of the small muscles in the hand, stiffness, and perhaps even eye-hand-coordination. It's funny. Now that cursive is being phased out, I am finally an early adopter of current trends.

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

sann — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 13:54:01 GMT

Not as good anymore due to annoying arthritis in my hands ....especially my right hand.....

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

RetRN — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 13:59:12 GMT

I make sure that I write something everyday whether it be a list, menus, books I want to put on hold, a check, a note, really anything. Penmanship remains very nice.

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

Shelbelle — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 13:59:38 GMT

I am 70 now and have not written cursive in over 30 years. i started printing everything back then and my printing has really improved, so I just go with that all the time.

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

Shelbelle — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 14:00:52 GMT

So, could this be a reason why public schools have stopped teaching kids to write in cursive, my grandkids will never know how to write in cursive, makes me very sad.

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

tends2dogs — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 14:00:53 GMT

I can relate to @justashopper about having a love for pens and stationary, tablets, you name it. My idea of having fun is the pen aisle at a Staples. My collection is huge and only care for certain type pens....LOL.

I have days where my penmanship is better than others. One thing to note is that if your writing becomes smaller and smaller (they call it pinched), it could be a symptom of Parkinsons. My mother had this. Her once beautiful handwriting became unreadable.

I have two notes in my desk where she wrote and told me she loved me. One was before Parkinsons and one after. Such a difference to look at, but both hold the same meaning. I miss her so......

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

justashopper — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 14:05:24 GMT

Hi @tends2dogs

Yes! I always joke that the reason I work in an office is because I love office supplies. LOL

God Bless you and your late mother's soul. I am fortunate to still have my parents, although we are all a lot older than we used to be :-) And I just dread the day they are gone. I hope those notes comfort you. I always keep the cards my parents give me.. Just for that reason. Gone but never forgotton. (((hugs)))

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

Shanus — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 14:13:47 GMT

The big change has been in my journals! My "always" writing has been a mx of printing and script...artistic, I guess.

Looking back over the years I noticed the changes.

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

781Florist — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 14:14:26 GMT

I thoght there was something wrong with my hand (arthritis? muscle weakness or cramping?) because my writing now resembles chicken scratch and I used to have

really nice Palmer method script. People often complimented me on my handwriting.

For years I worked in a retail flower shop and we had to take orders over the phone by hand. (This was the stone age.) At holidays we would get hundreds of orders phoned in by customers and other florists (FTD etc...) Speed was necessary and after years of the

"quick scribble" I think I started to lose my penmanship.

Now that I am in my "incredibly late thirties" (by thirty!) I am sure it is a touch of arthritis that has made my handwriting look like some kind of coded messaging. I sign my rent checks and the (very) occasional Christmas or Birthday card, but other than that I tend to print. I now communicate a lot via text or email.

John Hancock was 39 when he signed the Declaration of Independence. If that had happened 30 years later we probably wouldn't know anything about him.

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

On It — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 14:20:01 GMT

@Shelbelle wrote:
So, could this be a reason why public schools have stopped teaching kids to write in cursive, my grandkids will never know how to write in cursive, makes me very sad.

I was the teacher whose grade level was responsible for introducing cursive. It was extremely time consuming and devoured a big chunk of the Language Arts time allotment. Its purpose was to increase the speed of communication through the written word. That is no longer necessary. We are quite effectively communicating on this forum without cursive. Today's children have skills in communicating that many of us struggle to implement. Theirs is a different world.

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

Shelbelle — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 14:35:57 GMT

@On It wrote:
@Shelbelle wrote:
So, could this be a reason why public schools have stopped teaching kids to write in cursive, my grandkids will never know how to write in cursive, makes me very sad.
I was the teacher whose grade level was responsible for introducing cursive. It was extremely time consuming and devoured a big chunk of the Language Arts time allotment. Its purpose was to increase the speed of communication through the written word. That is no longer necessary. We are quite effectively communicating on this forum without cursive. Today's children have skills in communicating that many of us struggle to implement. Theirs is a different world.

I get it, but what I dont get is his how are the kids today supposed to develop their own signature in the adult world?

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

drizzellla — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 14:48:01 GMT

Once a year, I am reminded how poor my handwriting has become. When I write notes on my Christmas cards. Every year my handwriting seems worse. I rarely write anything anymore, maybe a list for the grocery store.

But that is like so many things with my life presently.

I asked my husband to bring done a Rubbermaid tub of summer clothes from the attic. He dutify brought down a tub. Well, is was a tub of really nice tops and sweaters. The items were made with cashmere and merino wool. It was so sad to see them. Most still had their tags on them. Stuff I will probably never wear.

My life now is so low key. I doubt I will ever wear those clothes again.

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

Desert Lily — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 14:49:37 GMT

I watched my parents' handwriting change over the years. My dad's cursive got smaller as the years passed. He still had his individual style, but it looked more deliberate, harder pressed. My mom's (a little wiggly) & the slant of her sentences increased. I could tell they were getting older by their handwriting.

I skipped 3rd grade, when kids learned cursive, and broke my arm in 4th grade. My 5th grade teacher told me I wrote like "chicken scratch." When I was in college, I bought a cursive practice book. Now, I sometimes write in a cursive & print combo.

When my child was in 6th grade & just learning to keyboard fast, I typed the essays at home. I couldn't read the writing & my child had to sit next to me while I typed. Several teachers had nasty comments that they couldn't read my child's writing, but I stood up for my child who became a National Merit Scholar & ended up at ivy league colleges & with a doctorate in physics. Notebooks came home on college semester breaks filled with pages of letters & numbers that look like something out of a movie. I found them when I moved last year, & they made me cry. I can't imagine the thought processes that went into those equations.

It's ok if our handwriting isn't perfect.

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

Lucky Charm — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 15:05:17 GMT

My handwriting is a mix of cursive and written. The capital letter may be cursive and the rest of the word is printed or vice versa or some letters in cursive and some letters not. Oh well.

If I take my time, my penmanship is beautiful. I was writing smaller because it seemed to look prettier. Then I read that people who write small--don't think highly of themselves, so I purposely started writing BIG. LOL

But I scribble lists usually. There are times I'll hand a shopping list to my husband and say 'what's that say?'.

All my grandkids know cursive writing and they are a mix of public and private schools. So it's still currently being taught in places, I guess. Maybe we spent too much time at it and kids catch on easier than we thought. It's something that can be done at home on paper. A teacher doesn't need to stand at the blackboard (do they still have blackboards?) to show them. Just simply practice on lined paper at home.

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

Carmie — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 15:14:52 GMT

My handwriting has never been beautiful, but is it legible. I still write pretty often. My handwriting hasn't changed at all.

I noticed that my older sister's handwriting has changed a lot.

She doesn't write often and has really bad arthritis and gnarled fingers. I got a card from her and didn't reconize her handwriting.

Her handwriting was always so beautiful that people used to pay her to address wedding invites. Getting older and arthritis changes things.

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

On It — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 15:51:31 GMT

@Shelbelle Technology has changed that. There is little need for their own signature in today's world. I just worked through a real estate transaction by using virtual signatures on the documents. Verification is done through the IP address and the approval of the signee to use the chosen font.

The actual transfer of title was done in front of a notary. An "X" would have worked just as well as our cursive signatures since the notary saw our identification documents and notarized our signatures. Papers were overnighted to the closing, and the transaction was complete.

Today's students not learning cursive will write their signature in manuscript. That is their signature and will appear on a driver's license, passport, and all the other necessary documents. Each person's manuscript is distinctive.

Re: MY HANDWRITING IS ILLEGIBLE

CatsyCline — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 16:11:20 GMT

i have arthritis in my neck and shoulder. no longer have the range of movement for clear handwriting and i misspell words and leave out letters. frustrating...