- Walking across the small military base to the pool, swimming for hours in the sun, then returning home. Taking a hot shower and smelling the chlorine wash away, then watching a movie with my wet hair turbaned in a towel and a plate with grilled cheese and apples in my lap.
- Puddle stomping with Amanda, back when there were only two of us. I was four, she was nearly two, and we dragged two umbrellas by their hooked ends, collecting puddle water in them, then spinning around so the water flew in all directions. It wasn’t cold. There were no cars in the street. We wore large rubber galoshes that filled quickly with rainwater, our hair dripping wet ropes, cheeks pink, tiny laughing teeth flashing white.
- Laying C across my lap, when she was a baby (back when there were only three of us), and pounding on her back and singing rhymes while she kicked and giggled. Humpity bumpity cow’s back, how many fingers do I have up. Guess C, guess!
- Late night dancing to the Glenn Miller orchestra on Daddy’s stereo – the once-in-a-blue-moon when Mom and Dad let us get ready for bed, put our pajamas on, and then come back out and twirl and twirl to the music, our long flannel nightgowns spinning out around us.
- An old, 70s orange papazan chair that I could curl up in like a cat, and have no part of me hanging off the side, like I was safe on a secret island in the middle of a flaming volcanic lake.
- Sitting on the back porch of the Palomar house, legs dangling over a retaining wall, watching the construction crews build new houses behind ours and eating watermelon.
- Girl Scout camping trips with my mother along, when we used a dunk bag in bleach water to clean our dishes. Walking across the crazy bridge was the highlight of the weekend. Campfires with songs and marshmallows, and the damp and musty smell of decade old camping gear, and lots of other girls to play with. The mothers braided our hair, and it was cold in the mornings so we drank hot chocolate and ate sausages cooked over the fire.
- Teaching Cor, the fifth, the baby, how to tie her shoes, patiently, patiently.
- Getting ready for Halloween, the year I was a mummy. Mom stripped an old sheet, and Dad put Night on Bald Mountain on the stereo and wrapped me up from head to toe, then painted witch-baby Manda’s face green and gave her a tall black hat and teased her hair. We were always something scary, no princesses allowed, and I loved it.
- Practicing my piano lessons with R, when he was the baby, standing next to me, reaching up up up for the keys and pounding along for all he was worth.
- The Christmas that I got a kid-sized kitchen, with sink, fridge, and pantry. I was so excited I threw up, but didn’t let that slow me down.
- Playing hooky to go to Disneyland when I was in elementary school, and telling the teacher excitedly when she called in the morning to see if I was sick. My mother got angry that I tattled on her, but nothing could keep my legs from jiggling with excitement for the whole 2 hour drive in the car, not even a scolding.
- Staying in a cabin on a lake one summer, with no tv and no phone. We went on a long hike – Cor was only 2, and the other kids were pretty small. I was 13, so in the end when the kids got tired, I valiantly shouldered up the 7 year old C, while Dad took R and Mom carried Cor, and Amanda walked all by herself. The hike felt like eternity, though documentary evidence reveals it was less than an hour.
- Reading The Mouse and the Motorcycle; Stuart Little; The Trumpet of the Swan; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; Through the Looking Glass. Watching The Wizard of Oz, The Neverending Story, The Labyrinth.
- Going to Science Olympics in fifth grade, and winning third place in Mystery Powders. Afterwards, a teacher gave me a note that said “You are blessed with beauty, brains, and a loving heart.” It was attached to a brand new box of crayons. I still have the note.
5 Comments
super jane
thank you for sharing your beautiful memories. what a wonderful childhood you had! coming from a small family of 4, i love to read about your larger family. i think i\’ve said this before, but it is evident through your entries that your family is a solid one, built on love and friendship and laughter. i think it\’s amazing.your teacher left out one blessing though – you have the gift of expression through words. thank you for sharing that blessing with us nearly every day. have a great weekend, sweetie.
Nice Girl
The teacher\’s note says it all. You truly are a beauty with brains and a loving heart.
Your family is adorable. I love getting to know them better through the pictures you post and the fun things like this. Your childhood sounds wonderful and fun and busy! How lucky are we that our memories are things like these and not merely video games and iPods?
Amanda 🙂
Aimee
you know…like this entry this is why i come to your space…i enjoy that you share with us your life…and that you are so honest about it…i love that you chereish all the moments that you have in life…never stop blogging…or smiling…
Mission: Possibilities
I chose you as one of my friends that I wanted to visit and tell you why I like you. I hope now that you will accept this mission too.
1. Choose at least 2 people to accept as your mission, the more, the better, the funnier, the happier!!
2. Go to their spaces and comment them PUBLICLY and tell them at least 2 things that you have learned or know about them that you really like –
3. At the bottom of all these fuzzy warm feelings you share, ask them to accept the mission by pasting the script below so the mission can continue to go on.
4. Please go to the blog of the person who shared with YOU and share something you like about them too!
5. TO MAKE IT EVEN NICER >> also share what you told them AND their links if possible to your latest blog at the bottom or to a new blog so everyone can see.
*~* :o) smiles are contagious… :o) so pass one on … :o) soon the whole world will be smiling… :o) *~*
NJaney
What an awesome entry!
I feel like most of our generation watched Wizard Of Oz that once a year they televised it.
I love the new pics of your pup – little doll!
Jennifer
after reading this, i think i love you just a little bit!!
especially the books you read. i lived for beverly cleary when i was little. did you read laura ingalls wilder and L.M. Montgomery as well? because if you did, we\’ll have to run away together!!