Every night the boys ask me to tell them a story about when I was a little girl. I tried to expedite the process a few nights ago by telling this story-
When I was a little girl my mom used to make graham crackers with chocolate frosting on them for a snack. The end. Now go to bed.
To which Noah responded, "No, Mommy, you have to tell us a story about when you were a
naughty little girl!"
So I dug a little deeper and I have told them so many stories, all of which took place in our home in Alabama when I was ages 6 to 8. This little house with the huge trees and the endless yard was my world.
-Their favorite story lately is the one when I got mad at my little brother Jared and hid his blankie behind the dryer, then lied to my mom about it, and then got in a whole bunch of trouble when I admitted what I did and we pulled it out and it was all dusty and my mom said I could have burned the house down.
-The second runner up favorite story is the time that I got to wear my very first pair of real nylons that were given to me by my best friend Mandy's mom after Mandy died (a separate story is all about the Three Musketeers Melanie, Megan and Mandy) and my mom told me not to climb the magnolia tree in the front yard after church, but I did and I ended up falling and snagging my first pair of nylons and hanging from the tree by my nylons.
-Our teddy bear Malou sinking to the bottom of the slimy green swimming pool in the fall then getting pulled out in the spring only to discover it was covered in maggots.
-The plastic swimming pool that we played in and on and under, and the time that we got stuck under it for
days while
vultures circled overhead and even landed on the pool so we couldn't escape.
-The time we begged and begged our parents to let us take our Barbies into the big swimming pool, even though they told us not to take our toys into the pool, and we left them there and found them, headless, the next morning, with their heads floating around in the filter.
-The hammock that we whipped each other around in, which was really fun until my brother fell out of it and landed on his head.
-The secret bush fort that we hid in and made super important top secret plans.
-The amazing kids clubhouse that my grandparents fixed up for us on the side of the shed, where we pretended we were orphans (my own children's favorite game, actually) and ate bread and milk from orange and brown Tupperware cups.
-Sammy the chipmunk, who lived in the hole of a hollow stump in the front yard and peeked his head out to gather the peanuts that we set out for him.
-The time my brother Aaron threw sand in my face and it got in my eyes and my mouth.
-The night that a huge storm shook our whole house with thunder and lightening and wind and we all piled into our parents bed to stay safe, and the next morning we woke up to discover that one of the giant evergreens in our neighbor's yard had fallen on their house.
-The time baby Jared ate a bug off the fireplace hearth.
-The computer games we played with a joystick on our Commodore 64.
-How my big sister used to slide out of bed and creep across the bedroom floor in the dark of night and pop up by my bed to scare me.
-The pet hamster we had for a little while that lived on the enclosed porch and eventually froze to death.
-The meanest babysitters in the world, who made us take a bath in two inches of cold water and swallow our toothpaste when we were brushing our teeth.
-The time my big sister blackmailed me into unloading the silverware from the dishwasher from her because she caught me dumping my vegetables down the drain.
-Kittystone Elementary School, where my principal Mark Washington taught me to dodge raindrops.
-All about the room I shared with my sister Heather, our matching scratchy pastel rainbow comforters, the red carpet, and my Minnie and Mickey Mouse poster that Heather ripped when she was swinging a laundry basket around the room and sent it flying.
-The time my parents left me at church because I didn't get in the car when they told me to and I was so worried that I would have to live at the church for a whole week before they came back to get me.
-The time I rode my mom's bike down a giant hill and ended up with stitches in my head. I still have the scars to illustrate that story.
Rocking that crimped hair!
And there are plenty more stories left I could still tell them-
-Playing at my best friend Ginger Baker's house, and the time that we got into her hot tub even though my mom told me I couldn't, then I took a bath and came home with no good explanation for why I had wet hair.
-The kids trips to Boozers drugstore, where we spend our quarters on candy and baseball cards, and the time I dropped my Sugar Daddy in the dirt, washed it off and then ate it.
-The leaf mazes that my dad would rake up on the basketball court.
-The box turtles that we would rescue from the side of the road.
-The time I didn't get a Christmas candy cane in kindergarten because my napping mat had a rip in it, even though it wasn't my fault!
-The mysterious bullet hole that was in the living room window.
-The time we pretended to be the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker in the bathtub.
Childhood in Alabama was so good! I hope our kids have as many happy memories of their childhood to share with their kids when they grow up (and I hope this blog helps remember how good it was!)
