Category Archives: childhood

Feb18

hostage.

Posted on by
Standard

ted’s

where i spent many hours of my childhood

famous to many as a woodward drive-in restaurant and hot rod cruising spot back in the day

famous to me as the scene of many family dinners and celebration spot

and that one suumer day

when my older sisters and i walked up to ted’s

all on our own

the hostess seated us in a booth

feeling very grown up

 pooling all of our change

looking at the menus

ordering 2 plates of french fries and lots of ketchup to share

when we finished, so proud of ourselves

the waitress dropped off our bill

my older sisters knew math

 realizing that we didn’t have enough money to pay the bill

my sisters somehow negotiated with the waitress

 to leave me in the booth while they ran home to get more money

 i sat in the booth quietly waiting for their return

feeling what it meant to be a hostage

without ever having heard the word in my young life

i’d still like to know

how they got the waitress to agree to this

how they talked my mom into letting us go up there alone in the first place

perhaps we snuck up there

and what they told my mom when they returned home without me to get more money?

i’ll ask my sister the next time we meet.

not at ted’s.

—

“every happiness is a hostage to fortune.”

-arthur helps

Feb10

*happy lmtwgrblkufgdw.

Posted on by
Standard

 

so happy to be celebrating

*Love Makes the World Go Round;

But, Laughter Keeps Us From Getting Dizzy Week: 8-14 

i feel lucky to have a job that keeps me laughing.

who else gets to say/respond to such great things at work?

–

“you need to have pants on.”

“try not to touch every person in the room”

“i know you washed your hands this morning, but it is afternoon now.”

“fish don’t really like to be hugged.”

“try to bend your legs to sit on the sled, that is called making them stiff and that is different, try to bend…..”

“did you call me grandpa?”

“it’s important to have both shoes.”

“before we start we all have to promise not to cry if we don’t get to the candy castle first.”

“behind you is that way.”

“why did she call you beth?”

“if you put that in your nose, it might not come out.”

“your snowpants are backwards, let’s see if i can help you fix that.”

“you want to be called something new?”

“i’m pretty sure these are your boots because your parents put them in your bag and they have your name on them.”

“your mom is having a baby but you’re not supposed to tell anyone yet?”

“i’m not sure that ranch dressing is good to drink.”

—

each day is the best day ever.

never a day goes by without a laugh or ten. 

 

 

 

—

image credit: puffin puff pastry, google images

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feb9

child’s story.

Posted on by
Standard

one of my favorite things is to hear a child tell a story.

 

 

 

—

image credit: nicolette sowder, wilderchild

Jan30

snow panda.

Posted on by
Standard

the brave little snow panda masters the road

with a few big challenges along the way. 

 

—

“this would not be a problem if i were driving a snowplow.”

-aaron allston

Jan22

do you remember?

Posted on by
Standard

who remembers this?

sitting backwards

making faces

rolling around on turns

cigarette smoke-filled air

fighting over who could sit there

the door that swung open

back window down

best seat ever.

 

—

“like all great travelers, i have seen more than i remember, and remember more than i have seen.”

-benjamin disraeli

 

 

 

 

 

—

image credit: doyouremember.com

Dec10

sudden.

Posted on by
Standard

a quick exit.

why so sudden?

had goldilocks been there and heard the bears coming home?

 

—

“the first bowl of chocolate pudding was too hot, but goldilocks ate it all anyway because, hey, it’s chocolate pudding, right?”

-Mo Willems (author)

Nov25

box-sledding.

Posted on by
Standard

what could be better

then box-sledding 

on dirt and dried grass

while dreaming of snow?

 

—

“my first playpen was a cardboard box.”

-michael lee-chin

Nov23

atomic.

Posted on by
Standard

what child wouldn’t put this on their holiday wish list?

—

 

“it is the weight, not numbers of experiments that is to be regarded.”

-isaac newton

 

 

—

credits: Rogue NASA, Weird History

Oct25

reaching out.

Posted on by
Standard

one friend shares her flower with another

 

—

as a teacher of young children

i am always struck

by the natural way

that children connect with each other

reaching out

with genuine kindness and kinship.

 

—

“anyone who takes time to be kind is beautiful.”

-author unknown

Oct14

it’s complicated.

Posted on by
Standard

oh, we all have those days

you start out by not having your water bottle

so you get a special halloween cup of water

 it gets tipped over when you are cutting

you go to get a paper towel to dry it up

but you come back with what you can find

toilet paper

 that gets wet and mushy

 the extra part rolls out on the floor

 your coat falls off of the back of your chair

 the paper you were cutting gets soaked and chopped into little pieces

because you are really good at cutting

 you can’t find the cap to your marker

because it rolled off your table

 now it might dry up

all you have left are the dark color crayons

 you don’t get time to finish your cheez-its

because you are trying to clean up

the ones that are left get wet and are mushy

you go out to recess and run and run and go on a pirate adventure

your teachers love you anyway and tell you it happens to them too

and it’s all okay.

—

“there’s no limit to how complicated things can get,

on account of one thing always leading to another.”

-E. B. White