What I Miss about Being a Kid

The magical way clean clothes appeared in my dresser drawers every Monday.

Jumping rope. My dad put a hook in our box elder tree so that he could 'twirl' while I jumped. And jumped. And jumped.

How we all went to church on Wednesday night. Nobody ever asked if I felt like going. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. I would have gone. It was the done thing.

Having the bathtub seem really big.

Playing 'airplane crash' with my dolls. I wasn't a big fan of dolls, but one of the delights of my life was ripping off my dolls arms, legs and heads, and then putting them back together again. (i HATE to fly.)

Three balanced meals put in front of me everyday, without fail. I don't remember my mother being so sick that she didn't feed us. I'm sure she was.

There is NOTHING quite like sleeping in the back seat of a big old Buick. NOTHING.

Treasures in a toy box. Especially the bits and pieces of stuff that fell to the bottom of the box. Like game pieces, blocks and doll underwear.

'Calling' at my friend's back door. No one ever telephoned ahead, or even rang the doorbell. You just went up to the door, and called your friend's name in a loud sing-songy voice. It caused them to appear.

Reading. In my mind, I can still walk into my elementary school library and find my way to all my favorite books. They never seemed to be anyone else's favorite books, so they were always right there.

The 'old people' that I knew who are all dead now.

Rootbeer popcycles. The pharmacy around the corner had them. Yum!

Watching TV with Grandpa in his chair. He smelled wonderfully of cigarettes and butterscotch, with a hint of some aftershave no one else I have ever known wears.

Walking to school in the rain. Everything smelled wonderful. (why is it now that everything wet stinks?)

Having 'school' clothes, 'play' clothes and 'church' clothes. The same with shoes. And coats.

The candy store by school. It was the most amazing store in all the world. They always had wax lips. Sometimes, wax lips with a tongue sticking out.

Having 'boys' for friends. It seems they were all named either David or Kenny. If they picked me first for kickball, all the better!

Not needing a purse.

When I didn't want to do something, being able to say 'my mom said no'. (i tried this recently, it didn't fly.)