I was thinking last night while I was running that I should write down some of my random growing up memories. I think this venue is as good as any. I figured I could type a couple down now and then. --Maybe it'll be easier to put them all together one day.
I went to Hunter Elementary in West Valley City in fall of 1984. I had Mrs. Matonen (sp?) as my teacher. She had been my sister's k teacher, and ended up as my brother's as well. As just a little side thing, my mom tells me that when my sister went for her first day of school a couple years earlier, I had a fit. I wanted to go too and did not see how it was fair at all for Mandy to go and not me. She had to keep tossing me in the car because I kept jumping out to go.
Anyway, what I remember about kindergarten is this: I remember cubbies where the fat crayons were kept. I remember a sweet faced little dark headed girl as one of my friends. I think that Candice Jameson was also one of my friends that year. I remember recess out on the little playground and making a little paper kite and trying to fly it out in the wind one day. I remember sitting on the carpeted floor and singing songs as Mrs. Matonen would play the piano. Mrs. Peter's class would come in and sing with us. I remember singing "Peanut Butter and Jelly" the very most. I remember calling my teacher "mom" a couple times and being so embarassed that it had slipped out. She was such a nice lady. She just would quietly and quickly correct you if you made that mistake. I made an Easter bonnet out of paper. I remember playing around a play house in the class with my friends. I remember the smell of the purple ink from the old roller copiers in my early years at the elementary. I remember the gradebooks those years as well since the computers didn't become part of grading at that school until I was in sixth grade. I remember the little worksheets in kindergarten with the big numbers or letters on them. Especially the lines above the vowels for the "hard" sounds. I don't remember much else about kindergarten.
I was trying to remember my time at home with Mom before my school years started, but I really draw a big blank. There are definitely some images and smells though. I remember loving my brother's chubby cheeks and struggling to pick him up so I could kiss them. I remember a few of the decorations from my sister and my room, as well as some toys. I remember playing in the back yard and popping of grass seedlings or dandelion heads with "Mama had a baby and its head popped off!" Where did I get THAT? I remember our old deck with the stairs going down the opposite side of where the stairs ended up when dad built the other deck. I remember mom swirling cloth diapers in the toilet to do the initial cleaning of them. That had to have been early on. I have vague memories of going to Disneyland when I was four or barely five and riding in my great grandma and grandpa Browning's RV. Great Grandpa Frank was the driver, a smoker, and a tease. My memory of him mostly is of him teasing me and telling me that spaghetti was really worms. I didn't believe him, and I was grossed out that he was trying to convince me of this. I did think it was funny that he was teasing me. Again, as far as staying home with mom, I just remember feeling safe at my house. If that's all I remember about her time spent with us, then that is more than enough. Oh, I remember going visiting teaching once with my mom. The grasshoppers were really bad that year and we walked through an area of the sidewalk where they were everywhere. Nasty. I remember going to dance at an early age at Brendance. We held on to the barre to learn the tap steps. Mom attended some dance class when I was little too. I think it was Lori Rupp's. I remember sitting in a side room and watching a little until she was done. I remember Mom sewing our costumes for Brendance.
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