Thursday, June 23, 2005

Sigh. Tagged again.

I do like a good meme every now and then. Especially if they're short, like this one. This one's from good 'ol CousinEddie. Here we go:

5 Things I Miss About My Childhood

1. Playing outside every day until it was dark outside. We were never inside. We made up games, played bizarre versions of tag (Toilet Tag was a favorite, you had to "flush" the person to unfreeze them, we also liked TV Tag), we played on the swings, caught lightning bugs, made up obstacle courses, rode our bikes all over creation, went exploring in the woods, and went to the pool.

2. Staying home alone with my sister when we were little. It was the time for a little debauchery. The best game was the aforementioned Don't Touch the Floor. If we made it all the way around the perimeter of the den and the kitchen, we won! Katie was so short I had to build stacks of mom and dad's old college books for her to stand on so she could clambor over the fridge. It was touch and go sometimes when that stack would slip. We were always careful to wipe the footprints off the kitchen table. When we lived in Ohio, we would sneak out to go sledding in the backyard then come inside and blowdry our snowsuits with the hairdryer. One of the favorites was playing with mom's old crutches. The hole that I left in the wall at the bottom of the stairs was pretty tricky to explain. Turns out you should NOT try crutches that are too tall for you while going down a set of stairs. Could be very very dangerous.

3. I miss being the student in a classroom. I loved school. I loved doing my homework as neatly as I could, I loved making A's, I took pride when the teacher picked me to do things. Running a note to the office was awesome. At least I still get to order from Scholastic book orders. Otherwise, I would certainly miss that too. Oh, and recess! We would eat as fast as we could to have more time for practicing Penny Drops and other flips on the bars. Also very, very dangerous. Kids aren't allowed to do that anymore. Bygones.

4. Slumber parties. Those are only acceptable while you are still in school. I'm sure I could do it now, if I so felt the urge...but I'm certain it wouldn't be the same. Planned slumber parties with multiple people were the best. When we were younger, there were always tons of games, often scary games that we played outside like Ghost in the Graveyard. Sometimes there were scavenger hunts. When we were older, there was the prank calling of the boys (ah, the days before *69 and Caller ID...). At any age, there was always the doing of one another's hair. Good times.

5. The right to participate in things and not look like a fool. Trick or Treating (cousineddie and I made that one last as long as we possibly could - 9th grade?), telling Santa what you want, kid's menus, being short enough to play on the sprayground at the Natatorium, not exceeding the weight limit for a Slip 'N Slide, or water toys, Tooth Fairy, all that good stuff. Oh, and skating rinks before in line skates were the way to go. I'm still terrible at those and if I wear the old four-wheeled kind, I'm that old person. Shame.

So, those are mine. I tag Katie Bug, Meredith, Post-hip Chick, Leesepea, and Janet Go!

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