Category Archives: childhood

May6

long distance connection.

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how exciting for the class (and for me)

to receive a beautiful poster and message

from our penpal friends

led by a blogging friend/teacher i admire, jennie fitzkee

all the way from the aqua room in massachusetts

connections can be made in so many wonderful ways.

jennie with  the letter we sent back to our friends in massachusetts

https://jenniefitzkee.com/2023/05/03/thank-you-letters/

—

“with a little paper and ink –

and some help from the postal service –

friendship can span many years and many miles.”

-caroline rose kraft

Apr28

outdoors.

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another beautiful outdoor adventure day

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“in this modern world where activity is stressed almost to the point of mania,

quietness as a childhood need is too often overlooked.”

-margaret wise brown, american children’s book author

Apr13

boxed in.

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when the kinder have a bunch of boxes

and decide to play

indoor hide and seek

the teachers know

 they will need a lot of help to find them all.

—

“some of the most wonderful people are the ones who don’t fit into boxes.”

-tori amos

Mar15

bridge mix.

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when we were growing up

our mom would buy bridge mix

for when she had company coming over

 my sibs and i

would quietly sift through and pick out all of our favorite pieces

leaving the rest

we each chose our favorites

until there were not many left at all

i think we left my mother

the giant nuts covered in chocolate and perhaps a cream or two

probably no one’s favorites

 we just couldn’t help ourselves

reasoning out if we each only took a few

no one would notice

but the math was not on our side

nor was our mother, in this case.

—

bridge mix info: (you never know when you will need this info):

bridge mix:  consisting of nuts, fruits, and cremes, covered in milk and dark chocolate.

Brach’s is the major US producer of Bridge Mix. Hershey Canada sells it under the name “Bridge Mixture.”

Bridge Mix was formed mainly when the former employee of Hershey Foods dropped the candies from six conveyor belts on a foot bridge. The bridge was used in the plant to repair equipments and was made to tilt to remove the fallen candies. The candies were then placed in big containers around the facility and the staff was allowed to have candies from the “Bridge Mix”. The Bridge mixture was then given a formal name of “Bridge Mix” by the new management. It has also been found that the name “Bridge Mix” comes from the game of cards, “Bridge” since Bridge matches have been considered notorious for getting snacks and candies on the tournament tables.

—

“one of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.”

-iris murdoch

 

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source credits: brach’s candy company, hershey’s canada, ifood.tv

Feb15

cake4kids.

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Meet Cake4Kids: The Nonprofit That Bakes Birthday Cakes for Foster and At-Risk Children

 Inspired by an article profiling a young girl in the foster care system who burst into tears upon receiving her first birthday cake, Cake4Kids founder Libby Gruender recognized that such a simple gesture could have a profound impact on the lives of underprivileged children. IIn 2010, Cake4Kids launched as a grassroots effort in Sunnyvale, California, with a handful of volunteers baking 13 cakes for a few agencies that support youth. Today, the organization encompasses hundreds of volunteers, serves over 400 social services agencies, and provides over 3,000 custom, homemade cakes or sweets for at-risk kids (ages 1-24) on an annual basis — with more than 40,000 treats delivered in the past 13 years

While a birthday cake may seem like a simple gesture to many, each baked good serves as a sweet reminder to the children and youth in the U.S. foster care system that they are seen, cherished, and not forgotten.

Per the organization’s website, children served by this mission include “youth in foster care, group homes, homeless shelters, transitional and low income housing, domestic violence or human trafficking shelters, substance abuse programs, and refugees.” Agencies partnering with Cake4Kids must serve at-risk or underserved youth, be categorized as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization or government agency, and have offices in an area served by Cake4Kids.

Three years after Cake4Kids began, Gruender sadly passed away, but her mission continues to live on: The organization has since expanded across the country, with chapters all across the United States.

For more information, visit the Cake4Kids website to learn how you can volunteer, start a chapter in your area, and donate.

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“how far that little candle throws his beams! so shines a good deed in a weary world.”

-william shakespeare, the merchant of venice

 

 

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-source credit: julia diddy

Dec20

memories gather and dance.

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Toy Department during Christmas season in the J.L. Hudson store, Detroit – 1957

 loved this view of the toy department at the store during the Christmas season.

toys were displayed on shelves, tables, and display cases,

with decorations featuring elves, a sleigh, and reindeer in background.

—

this is where i went every year

all dressed up fancy

to buy little gifts (with help from the elves) for my family

to see santa

to have a special lunch

 always, always amazed

by the glamour and magic of it all.

—

“like snowflakes, my christmas memories gather and dance –

each, beautiful, unique, and gone too soon.

-deborah whipp

 

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credits: detroit memories, linda yates rudnicki, j.l. hudson’s

Nov19

the land of your childhood.

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first snow of the year – outdoor adventure day

—

first time with sustained snow play for many

running, jumping, sticks, snow angels, footprints, chasing,

snow picnic, snow story, snowballs, duck,duck,polar bear game,

lost mittens, noses running, rosy cheeks

eating lots and lots and lots of snow

one said it was the best snack in the world

and it just might be.

 

—

“there is no land like the land of your childhood.”

-michael powell

Oct31

hot stuff.

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i loved wearing the costumes of my childhood era

and happily ‘suffered for my art.’

recent neighborhood nextdoor comments on the halloween costumes are wonderful:

They were so ugly but if you made your own costume, it wasn’t cool. We had to buy these things…jumpsuit tore easily, and elastic snapped off mask. And the sweat…and trying to breathe through the tiny mouth hole!

Those masks were so HOT! Didn’t hold us back tho! Was so safe then and went out by ourselves.

You couldn’t see out of them, sometimes the parts that touched your face were sharp, the elastic that held it on got tangled in hair. It is a wonder we survived Halloween in these masks!

then the elastic broke so your mom tied it and was even tighter and hotter! 

 and tangled it whatever hair was still left!

I’m surprised there weren’t thunderstorms inside the mask with all the condensation from breathing too. My favorite was my Hot Stuff costume. I still have a picture of me in it!


I totally had one of these costume with the mask…but this…this looks like a Pink Floyd video.

It was miserable wearing those masks, but we didn’t care, we wanted that candy !!

Looking back at those costumes, they were actually a little creepy!!  

How about the little tiny slit near the mouth so that you could attempt to get air? Your parents couldn’t understand why you had to take it off before you went up the steps of the next house. Your face would be drenched with sweat but you would wipe it off and keep going.

Made of suffocating plastic but we loved them anyway.

happy halloween!

—

“when you’re wearing an animal costume and something bad happens,

your facial expression doesn’t change. the animal is deadpan the whole time.

if you’re skiing in a gorilla suit and you fall, you just see a gorilla who has no emotion.

it’s just a stoic gorilla wildly falling down a hill, out of control.”

-dimitiri martin 

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photo credit: vintage pinterest

Sep30

in it.

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with the return of the school year

comes the return of our outdoor adventure days.

 

—

“we could have never loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it.”

-george eliot

 

 

Sep25

crack the whip.

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“crack the whip’ sculpture – sunset hills, flint, mi

j. seward johnson, sculptor

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being the youngest in our neighborhood gang

i was often the smallest

finding myself on the end of ‘the whip’ during this game

sometimes it felt like i was flying

and highly likely that i was.

—

“being smart as a whip means knowing when not to crack it’

-vera nazarian