My mother told me of one of her memories from childhood today. We were at the park with my two children and while they'd run off to play in the large, wooden castle, she and I say on the swings and talked about childhood memories.
I didn't realize that when my mother was a child kindergarten wasn't offered in the public school systems, so her first experience with school was first grade. Her memories are vague overall, much like many of mine, but there is one thing she remembers very clearly: her first day riding the bus to school.
My mother said she was a very shy child. She was also quite pale and petit. Walking to the bus stop to climb onto a large vehicle, leaving her mother behind was a scary thought to her. To help her get through that first day, my grandmother put some rouge on my mother's cheeks to make her look bright and happy. My mother said she felt very special and loved as they walked to the bus stop together.
Then, right before she had to get on the bus, my grandmother took her scarf from around her neck and put it on my mother's neck. My mother said she remembered how the combination of those two things gave her confidence and she stepped onto the bus to head to school.
As an adult, she said she remembered that day and the special understanding her mother had for her daughter's needs on that first day of school.
The Big Boy Update: My son needs some roughhousing time with another boy or friend or father or someone because he has had a tough time with punching hands and strong, bossy words today. He is now asleep after some running around at the park. He has two friends coming over for dinner, so maybe they'll have fun together tonight while all four parents go out to dinner together.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter played the beginnings of her first song on a musical instrument the other day. She accidentally happened on the first three notes of Frere Jaques. She tried it again and then decided to sing the rest of the song (or at least the bits she knows.)
No comments:
Post a Comment