Lauren tells us that this week’s prompt is "Things I Don’t Miss."
I’d like to keep it light and fun to look back on some childhood/young adult things you don’t miss having in your life. It could be an activity you are glad you don’t have to do, a place you are glad you don’t have to go, a habit you’re glad you no longer have, etc. Write about one thing or write about a few.
Uniforms
They weren’t this bad, but still…
Early Bedtime
We were told to go to bed at 8:30 one Friday night because Mom was tired… No lights, no reading, no radio… and this in the days before the Internet…
Gym Class
It was pretty much this…
The Nuns
“What was that you said, Mr. Holton? It didn’t sound like nothing to me…”
Homework
I think we had a major project to do every weekend in sith grade
I hated all of these. We had to wear Grey pants and a blazer. I couldn’t wear Grey pants for over a decade. Nuns….don’t get me started. My mom tried to get me to ved early…never worked. Gym class….hated it. Thank God no more homework
I didn’t like early bedtime. I stayed awake and listened to my transistor radio. I hated gym class when we had to go outside in the heat. Orlando, Fl is very hot in the summer.
I hated going outside in the heat too! I also hated it when the fire alarm went off while we were in our gym uniforms and it was below freezing outside. I remember being out in the parking lot in our skimpy little shorts and sleeveless shirts, doing the Irish jig in an attempt to ward off hypothermia, wishing that it had been a real fire instead of just a stupid fire drill….
They worked it out for us that, if the fire alarm went off while we were in gym, we walked down to the outside door (our gym was on the third floor) and waited inside. If it was the real thing, someone would let us know. It never was. Drat!
I envied the kids who had to wear uniforms to school. Many of the girls at my school got their clothes at Lord & Taylor and Marshall Field and Bonwit Teller, but mine came from Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward. I hated it when the girls with the nice clothes made snarky comments about the girls with the cheap clothes.
That’s one argument for uniforms. Of course, in my neighborhood we all had clothes from Sears or Wards, maybe a couple of things from Carson’s or Field’s. I recall spending Veterans’ Day with Mom at Field’s downtown one year buying a suit, though I don’t remember why…
Thanks for joining in. As usual your gifs had mw cracking up. G-d forbid those nuns being that scary.
As a kid, I was that wierdo that always finished homework as soon as I got home.
They were pretty intimidating in those black habits. When they started wearing more or less regular clothes, they weren’t so much. My nun in 6th grade was in her late 20’s or early 30’s, had a figure like a runway model and gorgeous blue eyes, which we learned about halfway through the semester, when they decided to kick the habits.
We were good about doing our homework until Friday, when we’d leave it until Sunday. Then we did it in the afternoon…
I HATED having to go to bed early when I was a kid! It always took me at least two hours to fall asleep, often longer. (I always knew what time it was because the clock in the living room chimed every hour and half hour, and I could hear it from my room.) I understand Mom wanting us all in bed and out of her hair — the poor woman was exhausted after a full day of dealing with five obstreperous kids — but I wish she had at least let me read in bed. I would have been perfectly quiet and not bothered her at all, and I wouldn’t have been bored out of my mind staring at the ceiling for hours on end.
When we were told to go to bed at 8:30, I couldn’t get to sleep before midnight. Half of that was being mad at Mom, the other half trying to see how far I could push things… I’d walk out to the kitchen and get some cookies, go to the bathroom, turn the radio on low…
Well, it’s one thing I swore I wouldn’t do to my kids, and I didn’t. They had to go to their rooms at bedtime (which was usually around 10pm) and they had to be quiet, but if they wanted to keep the light on and read, that was fine. In fact I encouraged it.
I remember the early bedtimes. I can picture in the summer, it was still light out and it was so hot. I would lay on the bed in my nightgown, sweating. I can almost still feel it…strange.
Great stuff John. Our gym class was similar!
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That was the ’60’s for you.
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Yep.
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I hated all of these. We had to wear Grey pants and a blazer. I couldn’t wear Grey pants for over a decade. Nuns….don’t get me started. My mom tried to get me to ved early…never worked. Gym class….hated it. Thank God no more homework
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Even when I was in bed, I had the radio on.
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I didn’t like early bedtime. I stayed awake and listened to my transistor radio. I hated gym class when we had to go outside in the heat. Orlando, Fl is very hot in the summer.
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I hated going outside in the heat too! I also hated it when the fire alarm went off while we were in our gym uniforms and it was below freezing outside. I remember being out in the parking lot in our skimpy little shorts and sleeveless shirts, doing the Irish jig in an attempt to ward off hypothermia, wishing that it had been a real fire instead of just a stupid fire drill….
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They worked it out for us that, if the fire alarm went off while we were in gym, we walked down to the outside door (our gym was on the third floor) and waited inside. If it was the real thing, someone would let us know. It never was. Drat!
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“sith grade” – Freudian slip? 🙂
I hated early bedtime, too. The closing themes to “The Lawrence Welk Show” and “The Wonderful World of Color/Diisney” were sad, sad songs to me.
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Oops I forgot to keep mine light! Yours was fun to read 🤩
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Clever, John. When did you have to wear a uniform? I went to the same grammar school and we never wore uniforms.
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I was there in the ’60’s, and we wore light blue short-sleeve shirt, navy blue tie and pants, and a sportcoat after 3rd grade.
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I’ll be damned. Wonder who came up with that brilliant idea.
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I envied the kids who had to wear uniforms to school. Many of the girls at my school got their clothes at Lord & Taylor and Marshall Field and Bonwit Teller, but mine came from Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward. I hated it when the girls with the nice clothes made snarky comments about the girls with the cheap clothes.
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That’s one argument for uniforms. Of course, in my neighborhood we all had clothes from Sears or Wards, maybe a couple of things from Carson’s or Field’s. I recall spending Veterans’ Day with Mom at Field’s downtown one year buying a suit, though I don’t remember why…
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Thanks for joining in. As usual your gifs had mw cracking up. G-d forbid those nuns being that scary.
As a kid, I was that wierdo that always finished homework as soon as I got home.
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They were pretty intimidating in those black habits. When they started wearing more or less regular clothes, they weren’t so much. My nun in 6th grade was in her late 20’s or early 30’s, had a figure like a runway model and gorgeous blue eyes, which we learned about halfway through the semester, when they decided to kick the habits.
We were good about doing our homework until Friday, when we’d leave it until Sunday. Then we did it in the afternoon…
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A hot nun must have been a bit confusing.
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I HATED having to go to bed early when I was a kid! It always took me at least two hours to fall asleep, often longer. (I always knew what time it was because the clock in the living room chimed every hour and half hour, and I could hear it from my room.) I understand Mom wanting us all in bed and out of her hair — the poor woman was exhausted after a full day of dealing with five obstreperous kids — but I wish she had at least let me read in bed. I would have been perfectly quiet and not bothered her at all, and I wouldn’t have been bored out of my mind staring at the ceiling for hours on end.
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When we were told to go to bed at 8:30, I couldn’t get to sleep before midnight. Half of that was being mad at Mom, the other half trying to see how far I could push things… I’d walk out to the kitchen and get some cookies, go to the bathroom, turn the radio on low…
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Well, it’s one thing I swore I wouldn’t do to my kids, and I didn’t. They had to go to their rooms at bedtime (which was usually around 10pm) and they had to be quiet, but if they wanted to keep the light on and read, that was fine. In fact I encouraged it.
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I remember the early bedtimes. I can picture in the summer, it was still light out and it was so hot. I would lay on the bed in my nightgown, sweating. I can almost still feel it…strange.
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I can imagine….
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