We always had a lot of fun playing there. Often if Mom was gone over lunchtime Grandpa would sit on his creaky rocking chair and ask us to come to him. He would have both hands closed and tell us we can have whatever is inside. We would tug and pull at his fingers until we finally had them open, and then get the treats he had hidden there for us. Most often it was a kids chewable papaya tablet, that we called monkey candy, other times there would be a few sunflower seeds. We didn't really mind what he held in his hands, the most fun was in opening them.
One day after Mom came back from town and we were talking to Grandma yet before we started for home, she told me that she bought something for me and I could go look in the back of the buggy in a certain bag.
I ran to the see what is there, and found a tin lunch box with Care Bear Cousins. To me it was the most beautiful one I had ever seen. I showed it to John and David and then had to run and find Vernie and Grandpa to make sure they see my new treasure too.
Mom told me I could use it to go to school. I was so excited and eagerly counted off the days until I could finally use it.
When the morning dawned for the first day of school I watched excitedly as Mom packed my lunch. I wore a new green dress that Grandma had made for me. Mom hitched Jim to the buggy and we headed for school. Once we got there they went inside with me and helped find the desk that had my name on it. There was a brand new pencil laying on top and several shiny new books. I loved books and could hardly wait to start coloring and writing and what ever else was involved with this exciting new event.
But then Mom said "Good-bye" and went out the door with John and David and headed home without me. My shiny new lunchbox and the books and pencil lost their charm as huge lumps started forming in my throat. I wanted desperately to cry and run home to Mom. Cousin Emma was also in first grade and was sitting right across the aisle from me. She wasn't having any qualms about going to school and told the teacher that "MaryAnn is going to cry." The teacher was very friendly and soon had me calmed down with some pretty pictures to color.
By the end of the first day Mom was waiting for me as soon as school let out. I decided school isn't too bad, there were a lot of interesting things to do and all my friends were there too. And at the end of the day I could go to the place I loved best. Home.
What fun memories. I remember feeling the same way on my first day of school. I soon grew to love it though and became quite the little bookworm.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Betsy
I didn't want to stay at school on my first day & so I went home. We lived on the same street as the school.
ReplyDeleteI loved the care bears, I remember when my Mom gave us ours. Mine was rainbow bear, my sister Samantha got the one with the heart, and my youngest sister Stephanie got the one with the moon and stars on it. :)
ReplyDeleteOn my first day of school I too cried and had to go sit with my big brother, much to his chagrin.
ReplyDeleteI remember the Care Bear Cousins!
ReplyDeleteIf that is a photo of your lunchbox you were quite the careful one with it. It is in mint condition.
ReplyDeleteI loved the Care Bear Movie when one bear would say "Care Bears, stare!" They pointed their bellies in the same direction to form a rainbow. I was already a grown-up when the Care Bears came out, but I admittedly watched intently with my children.
Mary Ann, you were braver than I was on my first day of first grade. I clung to my mother and begged her not to leave me. I was a mess! Thankfully, I survived and went on to graduate from both high school and college. I never had a cool lunch box, though. My parents made us either buy the lunch that the cafeteria offered or "brown bag it."
ReplyDeleteI don't remember my first day of school but I do remember my girls' first days. They had already been to kindergarten, so it was not so traumatic, but the eldest had to go from the school itself to an annex. The bus driver herded them into the gym, and the teachers got them sorted into classes.
ReplyDelete"What did you do then?"
"We all cried."
I never understood why the school decided to send the smallest ones to the annex instead of an older class.