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Dressing up and Acting out
In elementary school the girls were required to wear dresses or skirts. The only time
we were allowed to wear pants was if it rained. We often wore shorts under our dresses
so we could swing and play on the bars without the boys seeing our underwear. By 8th
grade we were allowed to wear floor length skirts and by high school pants. I was such a
conservative kid- highly motivated to conform to the group norm but I did have a run in
with the elementary school principal. We were allowed to buy an ice cream dessert for 10
cents if we finished our cafeteria lunch. One day I really wanted ice cream, but the
dessert was tapioca pudding, which I despise. When the principal refused to let me get
ice cream and turned his back I stuck my tongue out at him about as far as you can stick
out your tongue and of course he caught me out of the corner of his eye. He made me sit
in his office while he finished lunch duty. I was SWEATING BULLETS just sitting there.
After about a half hour of self- imposed torture he asked me if he needed to call my
mother for a discussion and I vowed NEVER to be a problem again if he promised not to
call her. Needless to say, he had a pretty good handle on managing young kids.
Speaking of other naughty behavior, Allison and I would sometimes stop and buy candy
at the liquor store on the way home from school. This WAS NOT ALLOWED! But boy
did we love it. Having been caught once by mom, she made us set the punishment and we
decided our allowance should be kept in the cupboard for a month so we had no access to
it. Other money matters---I had a wonderful wooden box with a key and a hidden chamber
that I kept my money in—I was also known to pay Roy ten cents to make his bed. Not
sure what possessed me on that one??
It is unusual in this day, but we had breakfast and dinner together as a family every
day. I admire mom’s ability to make this happen and the great meals she served. I
especially loved to come into the house on a weekend and smell leg of lamb and potatoes
roasting. It just makes my mouth water still. After dinner I often sat in pop’s lap
while mom and pop talked. He would smoke a cigar and I have wonderful associations with
the smell of cigars and feelings of security.
Every year at Christmas mom gave certain gifts to people providing services. I think
it is quite memorable that she would put a six-pack of beer out for the trash men, with
a bow on it. I’m sure this was much appreciated by the men, but I’m not sure it is
any longer politically correct! We made peppermint fondant every year also and gave it
to our teachers and the crossing guard. It seems to me one year we also made taffy and
pulled it and pulled it to get it the right consistency.
Speaking of crossing guards- when the mom’s in our neighborhood decided that a
crossing guard was warranted they drove over and over the counter on the street to “up
the numbers” and sure enough, we got the crossing guard. |
