Before I ever started school, I would accompany my Mom and my Gramma to the grocery store to stock up on food and essentials. My Mom would throw me in the backseat (not literally) and we would drive up the road to pick my Gramma up. She would climb into the front seat, dig through her purse, and hand me a half a piece of Trident gum. There may be some debate on when to give a child gum, but that was a highlight for me. We would then drive to town to go to the only grocery store.
childhood
Take Me Away, Kindergarten!
I mentioned in my last post that I got to visit my niece at her school. I not only got to drop her off and pick her up, but was able to eat lunch with her where I got to go to recess right after.
For the love of everything good and pleasant and sunshiny in the world– I want to be in kindergarten again!
Seriously, I remember my time in kindergarten like it 
was yesterday. It was clearly a very happy time. Though you probably wouldn’t guess it from my school photo. Yes, that’s me in kindergarten. For the first five or six years of school, I am leaning and dopey looking in every school photo. I’m not sure why exactly. Maybe my parents secretly slipped me NyQuil in my grape juice and I was doped up for much of my childhood. Then again, I’m still pretty dopey looking. So it’s anyone’s guess. But I digress.
Ask me about high school, I probably won’t be able to tell you too much. Ask me about kindergarten and I can tell you in incredible detail about people and things we did and the building where I attended it. It’s quite amazing what I can recall from that time in my life. I’m sure we all have that moment when we were kids where we wish we could go return to. Of course, I would love to have kindergarten back, but wouldn’t want to have to go through all the years that followed – ick. So there is that.
I Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Lunch Money
It seems to be a stereotype that many people do not (or didn’t) like school lunch. Eating the cafeteria food is often seen as a form of cruel punishment equivalent to pulling out fingernails and breaking knuckles. I will note here, that in grade school our food at school was incredible. It was a small private school and the food was actually the kind you looked forward to. Plus, my Mom was one of the cooks. Insert lunch lady joke here.
A Stored Childhood
This time of the year includes so many great things. For many of us, it involves traveling to spend time with family. As in my case, it’s going back to my parents’ house where I grew up. Thankfully this year, I was able to do so again. I didn’t think it was going to happen for various reasons, but alas, my Daddy came to the rescue. There are the obvious perks to it, seeing family, the warm, fuzzy feeling from being able to spend Christmas with loved ones, and having that time to unwind in a different setting than where I actually live. It also brings out the curiosity in me to scour the basement and closets for lost items and forgotten treasures. It might be better than going to an antique store to peruse.
Where Does All The Birthday Glory Go?
Most people seem to not like their birthday because they don’t want to be reminded of how they’re getting older. Maybe, it also has something to do with how not that many people care it’s your birthday when you’re older. Remember when you were little and you would get birthday parties with presents and balloons and cake? How come most of us don’t get that when we’re older?
Contents May Cause Twitching
I have the most horrendous sweet tooth. As will be evidenced by this blog post. You have been forewarned.
Candy cigarettes were one of my ultimate favorites as a child. I would ride around on my bicycle, pretending it was my car, “cruising,” all while pretending to puff away on a candy cigarette. Horrible, right? Can you believe I have never once taken even one puff of a real cigarette? Well, it’s true. So, it apparently wasn’t all that horrible. Most people would say 
that this candy tasted chalky, and it did. That was the best part of it! Would you believe that they peddle these as candy sticks now? Perhaps children would be more inclined to smoke later on in life because of candy cigarettes, but what are the statistics on children who became vampires from eating and playing with waxed fangs? I make light, seriously kids, don’t smoke, it’s gross. In fact, you can still get authentic candy cigarettes online from several different sites. (Sidenote: They also kind of remind me of the disk-like candy that tasted like Pepto-Bismal. I don’t remember the name of it, but I remember always wanting one of the small bags of them when I would go to the grocery store with my Mom. Anyone remember what those were called and if you can still get them?)
A Limitless Playground
Our gravel road.
Of the many things that seem to be lacking today, one of the saddest and probably most needed, is an outdoor childhood. That really encompasses so many things. Once again, as great as technology is and the ways it makes our lives easier, it also robs us of many incredible experiences and opportunities to stretch our own abilities and imaginations.
Keep the World Spinning
Carousels have that distinct quality of being able to enamor me in a beautifully historical way and an unadulterated childlike makes-me-want-to-go-weeee kind of way.
Santa Monica Pier Carousel inside the Looff Hippodrome. Built in 1922.
Lovely Shades of Nostalgia 