Monday, November 14, 2016

Being a Kid

We all have memories of being a kid. Some good, some bad, but mostly we just remember 'things'. Amirite? I was lucky enough to have a great childhood; I know some aren't as lucky. I wanted to share some of the random things that I remember from being a child. I suppose some of them will feel quite tame nowadays, but hey! that's what happens when you're getting closer to 50. Ahem. I grew up in Southern California and in the mountains of Colorado, so some things might be specific to those areas but I'll bet there are many that are universal, especially for someone around my age.

Things I remember from my childhood:

  • We lived on a cul-de-sac and I remember riding bikes long into the evenings, especially in the summer. The greatest part of this memory, though, is that we would practice 'tricks' on our bikes. Standing on the seat, not holding the handlebars, that kind of thing. And, of course, no helmets.
  • Watching the fireworks at Disneyland from the corner next to my house.
  • Having a crush on the neighbor boy who was a few years older than me. 
  • Playing "Pong" on the tv in the basement and thinking it was the coolest thing in the world that we had a video game in our very own house.
  • Not having cable and needing rabbit-ears to get even a passable signal way up in the mountains. We watched scratchy tv for so long that I was even used to the static!
  • "Party line" telephone lines. We didn't have one, but many of my friends did. That certainly put a damper on talking on the phone for hours for us as teens. 
  • Getting a box of Twinkies (or similar treat,) was a BIG DEAL in our house, and saved for a special occasion. Certainly not an every day thing. 
  • I thought that disco was the coolest thing/music EVER, and wished I was (more than) a few years older so I could go to the bars and dance like that. 
  • I lived about a 1/2 block from my elementary school and don't remember my mom ever walking us to school. (I'm sure that she did at least a few times when we were in kindergarten, but I have no memory of it.) Granted there were at least a half dozen of us from the same cul-de-sac all walking at the same time, but still. (And that's totally ok!)
  • We didn't have a cafeteria or hot lunch program at my elementary school. A few days a year we would have a special lunch day that you could pre-order McDonalds. Later, after moving to Colorado, I loved being able to buy hot lunch. Hmmm. Now that I think about it, maybe that is where my dislike of sandwiches comes from!
  • One time, in the winter when the mornings were still dark, I thought someone was following me as I walked to the bus stop. Turns out it was just the paper guy doing his route. 
What random things do you remember from your childhood? Share them in the comments!

1 comment:

Debby@Just Breathe said...

Enjoyed your list. I remember playing kick the can in the street, flashlight tag at night and walking in the woods for hours having an adventure!