Moving out of elementary school was a huge deal. I would be able to ride the bus to Junior High because it was farther away. Junior High consisted of 7th - 9th graders back then. I tried out for the cheerleading team and made it. There were only eight of us on the team so I felt pretty lucky. We were the Vikings and I loved my cheerleading uniform, it was purple and white and the pom poms snapped together to be able to hold them with one hand. I look back now and laugh because I didn't know one thing about football or basketball yet I cheered for both teams. We girls would just sit on the sidelines talking about boys or looking for boys or doing each others' hair until the coach told us it was time to cheer and what cheer to do. At halftime, we had an actual routine that we performed, I'm sure the only people paying attention were our parents! I really enjoyed cheerleading even though it seemed silly to be cheering on a bunch of guys when they didn't cheer us on when we performed. I would later have this attitude in High School and switch to doing dance team because of it.
I was a great student, that came very easy for me. I was a part of the National Honor Society and was Student of the Month several times. There was a time when I was not so good. My friend Shannon and I got in a fight over something in the hallway by the lockers. She was really mad and started to pull my hair. We both fought (like girls, I'm sure) by slapping each other and knocking each other into the lockers. A male friend of mine pulled her away from me by her hair and told me to get out of there. I ran and Shannon ended up getting suspended. I'm such a goodie two shoes! I can't remember what the fight was about, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was over a boy. It was the first time, though, that I learned I could fight back when someone was being mean. I also learned that I had friends that would stick up for me and help me when I needed them. I always had more guy friends than I ever did girl friends.
I rode my bike everywhere! I would be gone for hours at a time and never reported where I was going. I would ride with my friends or by myself anywhere I wanted to go and any time I wanted to also. I would go visit friends, boys and girls, and go to their houses and my parents had no clue where I was. They just trusted me and trusted that I was safe wherever I was. Times have truly changed in that regard. Parents really hover over their children and have to know where they are and who they are with every minute of the day. I blame cell phones for this, it makes everyone too accessible. Anyway, I bet there were very few streets in the three cities around me that I hadn't rode my bike on at some point in my middle school years. My friends and I would go boy hunting and see if we could find any to flirt with. Boys were a huge part of my life from here on out and I loved to flirt with all of them!
Curfew? What is that? I never had one. My parents just expected me to head home when it started getting dark, but they weren't very strict about it and never made me feel bad for being a little late. Some of my friends had the post light at the end of their driveway and, when that was turned on, it meant that it was time to get home.
Grounded? What is that? My parents never grounded me. I was a good kid and didn't do anything to get in trouble with them in the first place but, I also loved being at home and, especially down in my room listening to music. They didn't think that grounding was very effective because it being home is something I enjoyed anyway. In my adult parenting years I never grounded my children because I didn't want our home to be seen as a punishment either.
Time out? I didn't have that either! I'm not exactly sure what my parents did to punish us if they needed to but, it wasn't time out. I did get mouth washing of soap once for saying a swear word. I will never forget that one! I don't believe I have ever said another swear word since then either. I had learned my lesson. When my children got older, I used regular vinegar instead. Vinegar is actually edible - it just tastes bad on its own and it was very effective in helping the kids use good language. No one likes a potty mouth!
For my birthday, my Dad had bought me a jacket and a new purse. I had them in my locker during the school day and when I returned to my locker after school, they were both gone. I couldn't understand where they were and didn't realize that someone had broken into my locker and stole them. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before. The school security eventually found my jacket and purse shredded and the empty wallet at the park across the street from the school. I just couldn't believe someone would do something like this, how could someone be so mean?
We used to wrap the legs of our jeans tightly around our calves and pin them like that, then pull legwarmers over that and wear ballet shoes to school. Real dancing ballet shoes not ballet flats that are popular now. Also, mini skirts became very popular and wearing long johns instead of pants. I tried getting out of the house dressed like this once but I didn't make it past the front door!
In 7th grade I met a friend in gym class named Margaret. Those first days at a new school can be pretty rough trying to make friends, but she and I just clicked. A few days later, she invited me to her house after school. She showed me a metal Band-Aid box full of cigarettes and asked me if I wanted to smoke with her. No way! That was gross! I never did like the smell of them and putting them to my mouth just seemed repulsive. It was the only time I was ever offered a cigarette in my whole life and I was never offered anything else either, like alcohol, drugs, or anything like that. There definitely were the groups of kids who did those things, but they kept it to themselves and didn't really offer it to anyone outside their group. Needless to say, she and I didn't stay friends, I became a cheerleader and she became a stoner.
I loved boys! I loved having friends that were boys, I loved having boyfriends, I loved flirting with boys, and I thought about and daydreamed about boys all the time! It was always easier for me to be friends with boys because girls were just so emotional and moody. Boys were always cool! I have a journal from this time period that I kept and pretty much every single post is about boys in general or some boy in particular. I drew in some of the pages with my first and middle name and their last name just to see how it would sound! I know, I was a little crazy, but boys were fun!
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