We had joy, we had fun...

I was reminiscing with my friend, Kathy, recently – she has known me since we were both about five years old.  We used to live across the street from each other in a little neighborhood called “Lilliput Village”…  Yes, really.  I visited that neighborhood some years ago, just to drive by the old house.  The place had turned into quite the slum….very sad. 

I have some fond memories from that time in our lives.  We used to play with our Barbie dolls under the trees in her front yard.  Both Kathy and I had unruly hair – mine was just cut badly and hers was very curly.  I believe this is why we were always cutting our Barbie’s hair.  On at least one occasion, we even cut each other’s hair.  I was sentenced to the ‘Dorothy Hamill’ haircut or a pixi because my hair was so thick, I couldn’t grow it out without it looking like a mop.  At one point, I even remember a mullet!

Does anyone else have that one song that completely defines your early childhood?  We do.  Our “theme song” is “Seasons in the Sun” by Terry Jacks.  I actually found it on iTunes and put it on my iPod! It’s one of those songs that’s fun to embarrass Emmy with now. 

It’s funny what we remember from our childhood.  ‘Course, when I was a kid, there was no such thing as the internet, video games, cell phones or iPods.  We had cassette tapes, records and three channels on TV.  I believed that removing mattress and pillow tags really was against the law.  I believed that my teachers lived at school, so if we ran into them at a store, I was awestruck. 

When we disappeared into the woods to play for the day, no one missed us.  No one worried.  As long as our feet crossed the threshold before the street lights came on, we were ‘safe’. 

Shawn Cassidy was sooooo cute and I wanted Marsha Brady’s hair.  I wanted to be a TV star like Donny and Marie Osmond.  I thought Jamie Sommers was so cool and I wanted bionic hearing SO bad!  And of course, I remember when Michael Jackson was black.

Times were tough, so Mom made a lot of our clothes or we got “new” clothes from the church ‘clothing exchange’.  I was jealous of the girls who wore Jordache or James Jeans.  I was over-the-moon excited when I found a pair of James Jeans at the clothing exchange!

I always got “Love’s Baby Soft” perfume at Christmas.  Because my birthday is in December, I always got the “this is for your birthday AND Christmas” gift from Grandma. 

Our car had “panel” siding and that seat in the back that faced the other direction.  My brother and I used to try to get truckers to honk at us.  When my kids did that, I remember being startled when the trucks would actually DO it, so I can imagine it was just as “fun” for Mom and Dad.  I remember getting pajama’s on and curling up in the back of that car at the drive-in to watch ‘Lady and the Tramp’ when it came out! 

The best thing I remember though?  ‘Little House on the Prairie’ was the only show we were allowed to watch besides the Sunday Night Disney Movies.  I wanted to be Laura Ingalls so badly.  I watched it over and over through the years so much so that I think it’s part of my DNA.  Must be…..Em has all 10 seasons on DVD and she insists on watching it once a year.  It IS genetic!