Play Time

When I was a little girl, my sister, our friends and neighbors and I played a lot things using mostly our imaginations and sometimes a few props.

One of the things we played was "horses."  This was done in two different ways.  One way was to pretend we were horses and we galloped and neighed all around our large yard.  We would choose what we looked like--I was usually a powerful black stallion--and we named ourselves.  We played this type horses mainly at our house on Arlington Street in Pueblo.

The other way we played horses was by riding our bicycles with ropes attached to each end of the handlebars.  The bikes were the horses and we were the riders.  We would ride our horses around and around the block. There were times when we would count how many times we went around and tried to ride around 100 times.  (Probably we did the 100 times around the block by just riding, not pretending the bikes were horses.)  We did this on 25th Street in Pueblo.

Sometimes we played "love."  Someone would be the woman and someone would be the man (I think we played this with just girls).  I think this theme sometimes included "war."  The man would come back from the war, and then man and woman would kiss--by putting our hands flat against our mouths and then just kissing our own hands.  We played this on Arlington Street.

We played "fairies" which only meant the little flying people with beautiful wings.  We flew everywhere.  You know, I dreamed about flying when I was young.  I even tried to really fly at one time.  One day I had a stomach ache, and I told my mom.  She told me to say over and over, "I don't have a stomach ache; I don't have a stomach ache."  I did it, and my stomach ache went away.  So I thought maybe this could happen with flying.  One day I said over and over, and I mean over and over, "I can fly; I can fly; I can fly."  I said it for several hours, and every once in a while I would jump up to see if it was working.  It never did, but it wasn't for lack of trying. (On Arlington)

We also played "house."  My folks had a stack of old boards back behind the garage.  We took some of the boards and outlined rooms to make our houses.  It was fun--until our parents got rid of the boards.  They didn't even ask us.  It was sad.  This also was on Arlington.

We played beauty contest and school.  We played with our dolls.  We played our little red record player and sang songs.  We had clubs.  With the neighbor's permission we ate fresh veggies out of her garden. We climbed trees--there were a number of times I had to be rescued out of the tree.  We rode our bikes and hunted for four-leaf clovers over at the school grounds.  We roller skated and jumped rope.  We were very active and we didn't watch much TV--there wasn't much on.  We read comic books and real books.  We sold lemonade and some of those comic books.  We walked to the store and we rode the bus when were we older to go downtown and spend a dollar.  And of course, we had chores.

Life was good.  We were creative and busy and active.  We were blessed.

13 Thursday Songs of My Childhood

1. Goodbye Old Paint, I'm a leavin' Cheyenne

2. You Are My Sunshine, My Only Sunshine

3. Catch a Falling Star and Put It in Your Pocket

4. Que Sera Sera, Whatever Will Be Will Be

5. Make New Friends But Keep the Old

6. Everything's Alright in My Father's House

7. You Can Smile When You Can't Say a Word

8. Jesus and Others and You

9. My Lord Knows the Way through the Wilderness

10. Tis the Land Where the Columbines Grow

11. High, Betty Martin, Tip Toe, Tip Toe

12. Ring the Bells of Heaven

13. Pony Boy, Pony Boy

My sister and I had a little red record player when we were little. Some of these songs were on the red records. Others I learned from camp, church, TV and Girl Scouts.

When I was a little girl, my best friend was the Tooth Fairy. I would say things like, "The Tooth Fairy and I are going to play dolls;" "The Tooth Fairy is taking me to the store." Apparently I talked about the Tooth Fairy a lot.

One day my mother told me there was no such thing as a Tooth Fairy. It broke my heart. I couldn't believe it, not after we had meant so much to each other. At that time, she was the love and center of my strange little life. I was bereft for awhile, but I guess I got over it. The Tooth Fairy and I haven't even talked for years. I wonder if she is still out there.

Also when I was a little girl, one day I suddenly had problems swallowing. I couldn't get cereal down. My mom even bought some peanut candy for me, but I couldn't get it down. Over the week or two that I couldn't swallow, I lost weight and looked haggard. Finally my mom took me to the doctor. She thought maybe I had a growth in my throat.

The doctor looked in my throat, but there was nothing wrong. As soon as he said the actual words, "There's nothing wrong with you," I was cured. It was a miracle. I just needed to hear the words from someone who knew.

Sometimes I think about trying to get that problem back--not being able to swallow--so I could lose some weight. But then I think about the problems I could have if I really made myself not be able to swallow, and it makes me nervous, so I don't do it.

I'm sure I was a strange child, but I think everyone probably was. How about you? Will you confess to doing something strange as a child?