Reading the Word- My earliest Memories

My earliest memory of learning to read took place at a very young age. My teacher must have told my parents that a great way for us to learn to read the most common words would be to write them in big letters on note cards and then run through the stack every day after school. I remember hating this activity more than anything, but my mom always bribed me into sitting down for 10 minutes and going through the cards with a snack like a cookie. The one word that still sticks out to me today that I could somehow NEVER remember being able to read was ironically the word "T-H-E!" When I look back on this today, it makes me laugh at how frustrated I remember getting. At that time, the spelling just did not make any sense to me! I suppose I have come a long way since my flash card days and perhaps have developed my sweet tooth because of them!