Do you Remember the days when girls HAD to where dresses? Yes, that is the way I grew up, even in the dead of winter, I wore a dress, tights and corduroy pants with my fancy like-everyone-Else's goulashes (sp). I really have a heart for the lower grade teachers who had to help 20 something little kids removing the ugly black over boots, then trying to match the dozens of boots lined up under the coat hooks, to the dozens of squirmy little kids. Once David Dick paid (I guess his name should go unmentioned) this kid to go out and pee in every one's boots. Next to the heat radiator the smell ruined the end of the day for every kid, but it was so funny. Of course the corduroy pants had to come off at school, so all the girls froze at recess, too posh to put the pants on again. O the cost of vanity. In corduroy pants, you are never walking alone, zup, zup, the sound of two legs rubbing the cord with the roy.
But what I remember about fourth grade was the spring day when I got another one of my brilliant ideas. I tend to learn from experience, so life was interesting, and full of embarrassing moments. Tuffy was my golden hamster, mostly nocturnal, kind of a dud of a pet in reality. But in my imagination Tuffy was full of character and I created many adventures for Tuffy in my mind. This spring day, Tuffy had a real adventure and I had the longest day of school in my life. Where was the little voice to protect me from my own foolishness? I guess my creative side won most of the internal arguments that happened in my head. My mother worked, so the only person to see me off was my high school age brother, who just made sure I didn't go to school with my underwear on my head. So, it was easy to get Tuffy out of the house, sleeping in my dress pocket. That part was the only part that was easy. I swear this little nocturnal beast had been hit by a sudden burst of ADDHD. Tuffy was a closet overactive hamster, a hamster-zilla! How much sweat can a little girl sweat, I found out that day. I just knew I would get the horrid punishment of going to the office, to visit the dread paddle. The paddle viewing happened only once, the rest of the memory was blank. Tuffy spent hours in my desk, after-cont. in next post