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| Clowning Around With My Sister |
Late Six
Being born late in July, I was the last of my age group to turn six. What does that mean? It meant that I always felt a little behind everyone when I finally entered school. Not a terribly big deal at the time, but I usually felt like the youngest kid on the block. Combined with my short stature and lack of sports sense, it sometimes made me the odd-man-out.
As I think about kindergarten, I remember it being a great time. We still had milk & graham crackers back then, and nap time with a stack of square carpet pieces. I remember being afraid that I got Mrs. Bankhead for a teacher because she was reputedly the meanest teacher at Lincoln Elementary. She ended up being really nice and had lots of fun learning activities.
The one I remember the most? It would be the one where we sat along the walls of the classroom while a popcorn popper (in the middle of the room) began popping without it's lid on. This was in the old days back before microwave popcorn. Back when you popped popcorn with hot oil and watched the kernels explode behind the safety of it's plastic shield. Every kid wondered what would happen if that lid wasn't on. It was the greatest scientific experiment I'd seen up to that point.
My biggest regret? Yeah, I still have one from kindergarten.
I had a friend named Roy and he'd just gotten a haircut. He looked good, but I decided to tease him. So I got the whole class chanting, "Roy got a haircut. Roy got a haircut," in that stupid sing-song kids use.
Roy cried and I felt... well... ashamed.
I know I was just a kid, but even then I knew I was a jerk.
Oh, kids,
ReplyDeleteLove the story and the pictures. I was raised with 3 brothers and a sister and everyday one of was the victim. When I wasn't the victim I was part of the mob who picked on the victim. It was a matter of survival. :)
So cute!
"I know I was just a kid, but even then I knew I was a jerk."
ReplyDeleteBest first sentence for a book!
Yes, I love that line too. This is so reminiscent of childhood - how often we did insensitive things without thinking, and then felt guilty. And then did similar things again. The lure of making everyone laugh, of gaining peer approval, was just so strong. But there's that guilt that makes us learn to resist the urge as adults.
ReplyDelete