I recently posted one of my childhood pictures on Friends of Ricki (Lake) Facebook page, a great place where they are bringing Ricki’s new TV show that is starting this fall and social media together. Today’s theme was childhood photos and I shared mine with the awesome ladies and gents of the group. This picture is of me and my older brother in the Bahamas, we look miserable…but its probably just the hats and the shirts that my mom is making us pose with that is having that effect on us.
I have to say that I don’t remember much of my childhood, and why should I, as a kid we don’t really do very memorable things. We are just learning to adjust to life and our environments. Its a learning process and we don’t spend much time thinking back to when we learned how to speak and write and count. I do remember my friends and playing, but only a little bit. Mostly my upbringing was rather mundane. I didn’t really think much of it or how it was moulding who I was going to be until I was who I was to be, then I started to pick my years under my parents supervision apart and started pointing the finger at them for their mistakes. But that is another blog post.
I was a fairly normal little girl, I thought that there were monsters under my bed, I saw angels flying around in my room, I talked to ghosts and I loved to be outside, fairly routine I’d say.
I played Dukes of Hazards on my bike with my friends in the neighbourhood, we were of course always being chased by Boss Hog, and the big crack in the road was the county line. We played truth or dare, my brother and I rigged up after school haunted houses in our basement for the kids on our street as we were latch key kids. Our babysitters were pot heads and we thought that was great, and they believed that I saw ghosts and even entertained my sightings by speaking to them as well.
If I look back I think I probably really liked being a child, the ages from 1-12 were pretty good for me. I was in the “IN” group at school, as much as you can be at that age, the teachers loved me, I was a good student and like going to school.
I went to gymnastics camp when I was 7 or 8, and I loved it, I slept in a place they called the Zoo and our camp counsellor sang “One Tin Soldier” to us every night before bed and before she went out to party with the rest of the counsellors. Her voice was beautiful and soothing, I still remember it. I also stuck a big wad of gum behind my ear one night because we were making smoores and I wanted to eat them and not have to throw my gum out, I forgot it was there and woke up with all my hair stuck in the gum. It is also the place I learned that if I was strong headed enough the ‘adults’ would eventually let me have my own way. But with that I also realized what true embarrassment was. I got the “WHY” award and had my first crush. I also had a great pair of pink jeans I loved wearing.
Then I turned 15……
