First Grade Trauma

Jerry Springer sent me a picture the other day of a first grade class that was taken at Garfield Elementary School in Cherokee. The two children that I recognize in the picture was the beautiful red head, Pam Long and Jerry, himself. Aren’t these pictures so much fun? I have a scrapbook that has lots of these pictures and I just laugh because some of them are so awful.
I did not go to Garfield, I went to Lincoln Elementary but I was thinking how traumatic first grade was for me. The teacher’s name was Miss Blackwell and as far as I was concerned she was the meanest woman I had ever seen in my life. I don’t remember who the child was, but Miss Blackwell pulled up her dress and spanked her in front of the class. Two things snapped in my mind, my parents didn’t spank and two, to lift up her dress in front of the class was unheard of. The first thing I did when I got home was to tell my mom what happened. I can remember she frowned and did the mom “hmm” but she did tell me this. “If I ever hear that you get spanked at school, you will get another one at home.” I have never forgotten that and for the most part I was always good at school. I am sure Mom just forgot to say, “If the spanking was warranted.”
The second thing that happened that year was in the dead of an Iowa winter and Rosemary stuck her tongue on the fire escape. Everybody was so scared, I was scared. No one had ever told me not to do that. I don’t remember how they got her loose probably poured warm water over it, but it sure caused a stir. It seemed like everybody on the playground had come to watch to see if they could get her loose and how long it was going to take and if they were going to have to cut her tongue off etc. etc.
You know I always wanted to be a teacher, I eventually taught classes in Kansas for caring for Alzheimer’s patients, but I think now what if I would have been the teacher that day trying to calm a screaming child and attempting to keep her from tearing her tongue on that fire escape

Miss Quirk Memories

If any of you that are reading this remember Miss Quirk, I think you will understand that I had a problem with her. I don’t remember what her title was, or if she had a self made title.
I do remember that she taught penmanship and I suffered her wrath with a ruler on my hand. I was angry and embarrassed, but did not tell my mother, I remembered what Mother had said about being disciplined in school and I figured I could do better at writing cursive. The crack on my knuckles only happened once so either I got better at writing skills or she was in a better mood from then on.
She always wore what they called nylons in those days with seams in them. She was so skinny that the nylons and the seams wavered on her legs. That used to fascinate me and I found myself watching her legs as she walked up and down the rows of desks in the classroom.
One day she came to me and ordered me, Miss Quirk never asked, to make coffee for the Parent Teacher Conference. She did not tell me that the meeting was going to be in the evening. So she told me how much coffee and where the coffee pot in the basement was located. She could have gotten the coffee started in the amount of time that it took for her to tell me how to do it.
When I got to the basement I made the coffee. Whew, the roof blew off the school, she let me have it with both barrels and proceeded to tell me that the meeting wasn’t until evening and generally how stupid I was. If I remember correctly she didn’t call me stupid, clever of her, wasn’t it.

Lu Has A New "Do"

Ever since I can remember which was about five years old, I have had a permanent in my hair. I posted about my traumatic experience with an electric permanent machine when I was five on the January 28, 2009 post. I thought I was going to be fried alive. My hair is straight and it started turning gray here and there when I was twenty seven. My mother also turned gray at a very early age and didn’t have the money or the ability to get to the beauty shop to get it colored. She made me promise her on several occasions to always keep my hair colored. Well, I have kept that promise. Sometimes I did it myself, other times I had the beauty operator do it. But boy, I am telling you even in this rural area I live in it costs eighty dollars to have my hair permed and colored. So I happened to meet a friend of mine at the beauty shop the other day not much younger than me and she had this very cool “do” and the beauty operator said I would look good in it too. I silently said, “Sorry Mom” and had the beauty operator cut the curl off and make my hair spiked yes, spiked and straight. When I walk into a room now people are in shock, especially the people that have known me for years with curly hair. My own daughter doesn’t know that have done this so I’m anxious to see what she thinks, Oh by the way I didn’t have her color it either. AuNatural!

Slip And Slide At Grandma's House

As I mentioned yesterday, the weather was not tropical when Melanie and the children were here. It was very nice the first afternoon they got here, but time was used to explore Grandma’s house. The first thing that happened was a bunch of yelling that Ben had tipped the swing over. I thought to myself, “How could that happen?” Well there that big old thing laid on it’s back. Sure enough Ben had made it go a little too high (it’s made for old folks to gently swing in). Melanie and I set it back up on it’s legs and all was well. Ben just gave me a look like, “Why would anyone have a swing that you couldn’t go high in.”
We have a trampoline that someone left here when they moved out. I know Melanie would like us to burn it because the kids always want to jump on it. It sits on a slant and has no sides on it. The kids have one at home, but it has the sides and is safe. The children have to have someone with them when they jump on this one.
So someone got the idea to use their slip and slide in the cold weather. I thought it was a horrible idea, but I got out the towels and they had a wonderful time, so did Fran. Fran had six children also, so my grandchildren, I am sure, give him memories galore. Here are some pictures.

The Tooth Fairy Couldn't Visit At Grandma's House

We had Melanie and her six children came to visit for one day only. I was really upset because I hadn’t seen them since Christmas, but you know what, I think it was ok with the kids. We live in a small trailer and yes we have a big yard and a big porch but our house would fit in their basement.
Then I got a phone call that they were going to turn the water off to put in new shut offs. Eek! No water with nine people so Melanie turned around and went home after dinner.
The weather wasn’t even cooperating. It was cool and misty and windy. The kids wanted to slip and slide and they had a ball. Cool, no I say cold! But, I am not a kid any more needless to say
Fran fixed their favorites to eat, he grilled humongous hot dogs for one meal and brats for another meal and hamburgers and I fixed spaghetti for one meal. As long as there is Honey Nut Cheerios for snacks and breakfast everyone is happy.
Yesterday afternoon Ben came to me with a bloody Kleenex and a tooth, so we went to work and fixed a place where the Tooth Fairy would be sure to find it, well we had to tell mom about a detour for the Tooth Fairy.
I love hats and I have a wall just for hats so some of the kids modeled for me with my hats on. The older ones weren’t real happy, but they humored me.
I so enjoyed getting hugs from those sweet babies.

My Birthday

My birthday was the best birthday that I can remember. I was on the phone at eight o’clock in the morning until one thirty in the afternoon with birthday wishes. That includes computer calls and instant messages. Then in the afternoon my best friends came for a pot luck. I burned the ham, put the beans in the microwave and didn’t serve them. Put out my salad which is good and a Mexican dip and won two hands of cards. Can you even imagine a better birthday than that?
I got new acrylic nails, clamato juice, an herbal garden a gardening bag and tools, a wonderful cake pan with my name engraved on it and a table top for my lap top which was also part of my birthday present. My very best part though, was getting a card from my brother. I haven’t seen him for several years and I haven’t seen my sister-in-law since my mother died about nine years ago. It will be just wonderful to see her again. I almost forgot, Fran got me a new cowboy hat and a new pair of boots that didn’t come from Walmart. Whoopee! I didn’t know there was a life without Walmart.
I just want to thank all my friends and relatives that made this such a wonderful birthday. I don’t think I will ever forget it.
While we were playing cards we got to arguing about the different kinds of adhesive for false teeth. I said "Did you ever in the world think...." we all got out the different kinds of medicine in our purses and put on the table and they said "put this in your stories, Lu!" So this is what happens at age 65!

Memorial Day/Decoration Day

My family always celebrated Memorial Day with a picnic. Now that’s how I remember it. My first memory was of real flowers being put on the graves. Then when I was a teenager artificial peonies were put on the graves and to tell the truth they never looked shoddy.
At the picnics at the park, mother gave only a sparse history lesson of our family and it’s soldiers. Our family had more pioneers than soldiers, but that’s ok, we needed pioneers then too.
We used to mark Memorial Day as the day it was okay to wear white shoes, the beginning of summer, unofficially.
Oh one thing I do remember distinctly was always getting lost in the cemetery. Rosie and Mom would always argue and I would always grin in the back seat.
One Memorial Day I was helping get the artificial peonies out of the trunk. I told Mom that they almost smelled real. She smiled and said, “It’s my perfume.” She liked to tell that story.