Friday, August 19, 2011

Ah, life was...or seemed to be...so much easier when I was a kid
Get up....eat breakfast made by mom
Get dressed with clothes mom washed and ironed and paid for
Put on shoes polished or shined by dad (no gym shoes then)
Walk to school
Greet my best friend,Evanis, every morning, hang up my coat..put my books away...blab until the teacher told us to rise for the pledge of allegiance, then prayer....
Then it was 3 hours of class.....
When recess time came.....we had 3 of them...15minutes in the morning,15 minute after lunch recess,and later...we had tiptoe recess...where you tiptoed quietly to the bathroom ..
At recess we played tag, jump rope, red rover,hopscotch,hide and seek...girls and boys usually in different "camps"
Lunchtime we sat at our desks and opened our lunch boxes or paper bags
my mom packed me a baloney sandwich and an apple or banana
After lunch there was more pay attention in class until 3:15...when we would close our day
with prayer and an evening hymn before leaving school... that we all return safely the next day
I would walk with Evanis to the corner where she caught a bus home
and I headed home on foot
When I walked in the backdoor of our house ( I can still here that creaky hinge) 
I would grab a glass of milk, and on Fridays my mom had cupcakes waiting on the counter
I would then go to my room to
either listen to records,watch Garfield Goose on TV in the front-room , or the Three Stooges (my brother's favorite)
or go call my girlfriend Patsy
and I mean call.....yoa Pat,yoa Pat,yoa Patsy
at her back door....we dare not ring a bell
 around 5pm I would come home for supper...My dad would be getting up...he worked nights,and we would eat dinner together..yum cooked by mom..always 2 bowls and a platter
a vegetable, potatoes or noodles or rice,and meat
no desert, except on Sunday...and milk...always a big glass of milk
Then it would be off  to share dish-washing duty with my brother.....he liked to dry
return to my room to do my homework, do my memory work (Bibles passages and hymns or prayers)
later watch TV with my parents in the "living room"
recite my memory work to my parents 
take a bath, put on fresh PJs that mom had ironed
sit with mom and dad a bit ...then prayers....and lights out

How much I remember that I wanted to grow up
live my own life
eat what I wanted to eat
dress with clothes I picked at the store
be the boss of my own life
and never memorize another thing

Now I wish I could go back in time and really enjoy and know what I had, say 
thanks dad...for such a loving safe and secure childhood.
I have thanked my mom.
And, oh, the Bible verses and hymns....they come to me in times of trouble
this I am thankful for, too
....a comfort that is hardwired inside of me
as is a good childhood



11 comments:

  1. This kind of upbringing is a gift! I had this kind of childhood too.
    Somewhere along the years parents gave up on being parents and child became the decision makers.
    Few adults have these kinds of memories to fill them with strength and love. They have no resources to be parents to their children. No one gave them good examples of how to be strong and loving. No one made them Cupcakes on Fridays.
    What a shame.

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  2. Such wonderful childhood memories!! Very similar to mine--maybe not in the details but in that overall sense of safety and love and security. There was no place like home!! Only thing is, I knew I had it good and I NEVER wanted to grow up!!! And still don't! Me and Peter Pan have a lot in common!!

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  3. Back to school time always makes me think back to my childhood...

    I feel so blessed to have had a safe home and loving parents :) I hope I can provide the same experience to a handful of kids some day!

    And somedays I wish I could just go home and still have my mom and dad take care of me :)

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  4. So comfortingly remembered and shared. Yes, it WAS simpler for us then, wasn't it? You make us remember and appreciate!

    Rick

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  5. smiles. what lovely memories...there are certainly days i would love to go back and be a child again and cherish those days once more...

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  6. The innocence of young life.................. Wonderfully written Suz.

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  7. Oh, Suz, How I Loved this detailed piece of your heart, your life, your love of childhood. I grew up very similar to yours., loved with hugs, healthy meals, always at the same time of day and together as a family, prayers together, Catechism memory work (which I had a love/hate relationship with) but remember it all. Like you said, hardwired inside of me.
    Thanks for sharing your heart and taking us home for a bit.
    BlessYourHeart

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  8. Wonderful images (the creaking door hinge, the freshly ironed pajamas.)

    It is a different world, but I hope I can give my boys the same sense of security you had as a child, Suz (though I don't iron their pajamas or polish their shoes...)

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  9. Great memories. Grew up Catholic, Lutheran now.

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  10. Such a lovely post! The gift of a happy childhood is a wonderful thing.

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