Those Were The Days! (Childhood Memories)

Member Name: GuruOnAMountain

Product:	Childhood Memories
Date:	13/08/04 (613 review reads)
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Advantages: Having not a worry in the world.

Disadvantages: Not being allowed any responsibility.

Childhood...ah! They were great times, although I remember being distinctly disappointed with them at the time. I tried my hardest to evade playgroup at every opportunity, and things didn't get any better when I started school. My poor father and mother had to drag me up to the school gates over their shoulders while I gave my best attempt at maiming them with my flailing limbs, or deafening them with my screams.

Mind you, once I settled in at primary school, I really did like it. I think I was particularly lucky. My parents chose to send me to a further away school as they didn't like the ones nearer me, and my primary school was possibly the happiest place on the planet. I remember how foreboding it used to seem, though, when I approached the gates clutching onto my mum's hand before I'd started it. We'd drop off my big sister and I'd go home glad that I didn't have to join her there quite yet. It was an old Victorian building, with the suffix Academy attached to its name. Mind you, once I had started there I got to see a different side to it. It was immensely colourful. Our massive assembly hall was decorated every year on a theme. The one theme that stuck out in my mind was a Disney one we once did. Every class in the school would be given something related to the theme and asked to make a frieze on it, and they'd all go up in the hall.

I remember crying in primary one almost constantly, once because I wasn't sure how to write a 'k' and I was sitting next to a girl who's initials were 'K.K.', so it must have made me feel inadequate! In primary two and three we got to use the water tub at the Infants entrance, in front of the cloakrooms and infants toilets, and that was a real treat! Primary 3, I can remember the teacher who was a bird w
atcher who used to take us into the playground to see what feathered friends we could see. The same teacher had a metal tin decorated with birds and flowers which was full of sweeties and at the end of the day she'd ask us all questions and if we answered correctly we'd get to take a sweetie. We had to say 'thank you' in French for it. In primary 4 I had possibly the most enthusiastic teacher of my life who threw herself right into projects. I particularly remember a project on the Romans we did where we all made ourselves Roman armour, shields and swords and she took us out into the playground to practice marching and tortoise formation. She also researched Roman names and gave us all one, and we were all only allowed to address each other by them. Some of the most colourful people I know were teachers at my old primary school. My primary 6 teacher who terrified me at first, but who I grew to love. My old depute head teacher who had spent time teaching in London and America and who would come into school wearing leather trousers, huge oversize multi-coloured shirts, large hoop earrings and kipper ties and would lead us all in sing-a-long on a Friday. Sing-a-long itself holds a special place in my memory. As a Friday treat, all pupils would get to go into the assembly hall on a Friday morning and sing songs from words shown on the overhead projector. School news would be discussed, sometimes pupils would go up to take their place on 'the soapbox' where they could voice an opinion on something or perform a song or a dance. 'Weekly Wonders' would be announced for each class. These could be just awards for a good general all rounder, or for something more specific eg. a public service award, an award for musical talent, an award for endeavour. The Weekly Wonder from each class would go out the front and pick a prize from a
small box.

I also remember the reward cupboard, which I now realise was an ingenius idea. Each class had a discipline book, and any pupil who misbehaved had their name written in it. If you managed a month without having your name in it, you'd receive a token. Then, at the end of every month, you'd be offered the chance to go the reward cupboard and spend you tokens. You could get pencils, rubbers etc. for 1 token, or things like t-shirts and umbrellas for more tokens.

Outside of school, I remember fighting with my sister constantly, and then getting into trouble off mum. The generally weekly days out we had as a family on a Saturday, which of course, as kids we never appreciated. It didn't matter how much money our parents paid to get us into a castle, a museum etc. we were always more interested in a park we drove by on our way home. However, now I'm a little history geek at Uni, so those visits must have had some impact on us.

Trips to the baths where the chlorine would nip our eyes, but we'd still insist on diving under the water, and where I used to cling onto my dad's waist when the wave machine was turned on.

Brownies, and when I got older Guides, where I'd run around the hall like a maniac and buy far more tuck-shop sweets than were strictly necessary. I used to be hell bent on getting badges and always had a sash full, while everyone else just had a handful...I realise now how much of a little show off I must have looked to all the others!

Halloween when mum used to hand make my sister and I's costumes. It used to be great fun deciding over who to go as. I remember my sister dressing as Minnie Mouse one year, me as Micky. Another year I went as John Virgo (I didn't let the fact I was female stop me!) and my face-painted beard melted und
er the heat and dripped down my shirt. Then going to a Brownie party when I was a helper at a pack as Darth Vader and scaring all the little tykes!

Summer holidays were always fun when we'd all pile in the car and drive down south. Nine and ten hour drives took their toll on my sis and I, but probably did more damage to our parents who had to listen to our squacking all the way down there. Service station visits always seemed much more fun than they should be!

I wish I could go back to those times! I guess I'll just have to have my own anklebiters one day and relive it all through them!

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