Oh the little joys of childhood!
I'm adding a few of mine to the list (disclaimer - they are pretty 80's and 90's driven but not all):
-scoring tokens at Circus Pizza (even though you cheated and let your little brother help you smack all those crocodiles!)
-digging large holes in the backyard
-riding your bike down a steep grade with no hands
-learning how to french braid on Barbie
-jumping through the sprinkler and getting grass stuck all the way up your legs
-hanging upside down on the monkey bars
-"markering" in paint-with-water books
-playing school
-camping out in the backyard with your friends and staying up all night drinking Jolt and telling ghost stories
-sleeping on the bus on the way to school (oh to not have to drive in morning traffic!!!)
-buying mood rings at Claire's
-making sweet jumps at the sledding hill
-spinning the crap out of your friends on the tire swing
-view finders!
-getting treated to a box of Barnum's Animal Crackers for going grocery shopping with Mom
-trading stickers!!! (At 28, I still have my old sticker books!)
-setting up a lemonade stand in front of your house (and being tickled when when the mailman says all he's got on him is a buck - oh for JOY!)
-still playing out in the fresh snow well after dark (because the snow makes the sky look bright and red)
-library book sales, especially on "bag day"
-collecting pogs!
-sucking on giant candy cane sticks or gnawing till your tongue is raw on huge layered jawbreakers
-requesting Bette Midler songs on Radio Aahs (only Minnesota children will recall this!)
-Four Square, jump rope, and Hopscotch!
-making sweet forts out of blankets, pillows, and chairs
-spending hours ice skating and then wobbling back into the warming house to play knock hockey during drink breaks
-writing stories and drawing pictures with friends (maybe a girl thing!)
-going to see the Teddy Bear Band with your family (or Club Fun TV)
-carrying Pez dispensers around in your pocket like it was gold
-drawing pictures on the bulletin during church service (although, my brother still does this!)
-or how about getting away with sleeping in church - ha!
-finding a comfortable tree limb on which to sit and read
-wearing cheap, plastic costumes to go Trick or Treating
-mastering the game "Simon"
-spinning in circles as fast as you can to feel dizzy
-tape recording you and your friends being silly (this is the one I had)
-dumping your bulk stash of Legos on the floor - the sky's the limit!
-getting a PINK PANTHER POP with bubble gum eyes (and other treats) from the ice cream man!
-singing the entire Animaniacs song on the top of your lungs with your sibling(s)
-feeling like you're in heaven when you walk into KB Toy store
-playing neighborhood games like "Annie Annie Over", "London Bridge", "Hide and Seek", and "TV Tag"
-standing at the kiosk for over an hour at Target, playing the new Super Nintendo (and begging your mom to get it for Christmas!)
-sneaking around the house in December and finding said NES, feeling guilty and ecstatic at the same time
-riding on your dad's shoulders and shivering with a fear of heights, yet laughing with glee that you can touch the ceiling
-school supply shopping (I swear this will be the reason I have kids!) There is nothing better than a fresh box of Crans! (Crayons, for all you non-Midwesterners!)
-chewing an entire pack of Hubba Bubba at one time (or half a pack of Bubble Tape)
-BOOK IT!! (and scoring personal pan pizzas from Pizza Hut, plus a Land Before Time puppet!)
-lying under the Christmas tree and staring up at the lights
-playing Candy Land with the family (with real candy for the prize) on Sunday nights and eating stove-top-popped popcorn
-having tea parties using water and saltine crackers, and feeling it was pretty real since you didn't have to pretend to swallow
-sweeping under a large pine tree to make a "house"
-getting to lick the batter bowl (ok, so that's not exclusive to childhood...but being given the privilege to lick the bowl is!)
-flying my Rainbow Brite kite at the park
-saving the cereal marshmallows for last so that they get squishy and sweeten the milk
-earning AWANA bucks/shares and bringing home a bag full of bouncy balls, plastic bracelets, and tootsie rolls
-getting your mom to let you ride the carousel outside Red Owl grocery store
-being scared to tear the tag off the pillow after watching this
-rolling down a steep, grassy hill (and running back up to do it again!)
-devouring a 9-piece Chicken McNugget drenched in BBQ sauce (I can almost taste them - but am sadly done with them forever)
-Getting to "play Santa" by passing out all the presents at Christmas. Such an important job!
-laughing at everything, no holding back
-having Big Wheel races with the neighbor kids
-listening to Wee Sing tapes on your Walkman
-making intricate friendship bracelets and feeling so accomplished!
-fighting over the middle back seat and "round spoon" (this one's for you, Justin!)
-NO CABLE OR INTERNET!!! (love/hate of the worst kind)
-experimenting with baking and making up recipes with your friends (Oh, so cake needs leavening!)
-twirling unabashedly in a dress
-making (and wearing) dandelion crowns
-kiddie pools!!
-getting to bring a toy/stuffed animal everywhere you go
-having somebody cut up your pork chop/pancake/baked potato for you
-Pin the Tail on the Donkey
-playing "Don't Touch the Ground" in the basement, in the dark
-getting your hair braided at night so it's crimped in the morning
-cartoon lunch boxes, backpacks, notebooks, and folders
-library storytime
-getting to "eat over" at a friend's house (or a friend eating at your house)
-watching CBS Storybreak
-footy pajamas
-showering every other day (or every few days...)
-inviting your whole class to your birthday party
-playing dress-up and getting into your friend's mom's makeup
-coming home dirty every summer night
-being amazed by card tricks
-when a year seemed to last forever
-eating Spaghetti-O's for lunch and Pop Tarts for snacks
-wearing pigtails and ribbons
-writing real letters to pen pals who live all across the country
-being blissfully ignorant your family never had much money
-getting measured and seeing how much you've grown by comparing it to the last marking on the wall
-wearing clip-on ties or hook belts
-being so excited to go to the park that you skip the whole way there
-going on field trips to the nature center or science museum (especially when your mom chaperoned!)
-finding "secret passage ways" through your neighbors' yards
2 comments:
You have a good memory.
Oh my goodness....I LOVE it! I loved so much of this stuff...
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