When I was a kid...

Brianna got upset with me today because I reminded her to go get her "book-bag" when apparently it's called a "backpack". I replied, "Well, when I was a kid it was called a book-bag." Maybe it's because we actually had books instead of a laptop at the age of five. Here comes an ahhhhhh moment.

I began remembering the days of being told "When I was a kid I walked barefoot to school leaving bloody footprints in the snow", or "when I was a kid I was never allowed to wear bright pink nail polish, so you are so lucky."

And then I began to think about when I was a kid and if there were things that were just down-right horrible so I could tell my kids how painful life was for me. But I couldn't think of much. That made me happy. And those happy thoughts turned into memories that made me...remember. Instead of the tragic tales that often accompany those words, let them be tales of happiness and wonderment. And so, when I was a kid....

-I went on a field trip to McDonald's when the workers used to wear paper hats. We each got one to take home with us. When I got home I wore it to the playground and told a five year old that I worked there. He totally believed me.

-I would swing so high on the swing sets that I would pretend I was flying each time I went up. I remember the wind on my face and the exhilaration from pretending to touch the clouds. Then I would watch "The boy who could fly" which was simply the best movie ever.

-I would save the smarties from my Halloween candy and use them as medicine when I played "Dr. Brown at the Hospital" --coming to a theater near you.

-I would wash the dishes and pretend that I was the star on a cooking show. Macaroni and cheese was an audience favorite.

-I would eat saltwater taffy by the pounds and end up with piles of wax paper wrappers at my feet. Waste not want not, so I put little balls of play dough in them and sold them to the younger kids. When they said it tasted salty I exclaimed, "Hello? It's saltwater taffy!"

-I would wake up at the crack of dawn before anyone else, make myself some hot chocolate, sit in my kid chair at the coffee table and watch the morning news. I remember the feeling as it was silent and the sun shined in the window...that THIS was what being a grown up was all about.

-I loved hopscotch and tether ball and ballet because I was better than anyone in my ballet class. But do you know why? I practiced practiced practiced.

-Everyone was my best friend. And would be forever.

-Billy Lewis was the childhood love of my life. Oh Billy..where are you?

-Making snow ice cream and going sledding on Thanksgiving was the most beautiful day in existence. Oh by the way, yellow snow is really good for you. Go ahead and eat it.