South Hills Country Day School (it hasn't been the same since)

At the age of four, my mom enrolled me in the South Hills Country Day School. I found my yearly report in an old box of childhood stuff and reading it, I realized that the teacher had me pegged pretty well even then, and I have not changed a whole lot since that time. For example:

"Does nice work in all types of constructive play. Very capable of doing delightful work with paint but is still too busy experimenting with all of our equipment to concentrate for long on one piece of work. " Could this have been ADD? I still exhibit signs of a short attention span with everything except flower arranging and blogging!

" Loves music time. Carries a melody delightfully". (That's twice already she used the word delightful). That has changed, as NO ONE would describe my singing that way now, but I do still love nearly all types of music.

"Judy has an excellent vocabulary and expresses herself well". I like to think I still do. Of course, I cuss every now and then, but I intersperse the cussing with some big words just to keep them fresh in my mind.

Under the category "Ability to play with others": "Is in the process of adjusting. Consideration of the group will grow." Hmmmm....maybe. Sometimes I still try try to control things, so maybe I have not grown much here.

In the category, "Ablity to face situations": " It is not easy for Judy to conform to group rules. She understands but disobeys in order to gain attention. This comes from being an only child and the constant center of attention at home. Sometimes sullen. Faces most situations squarely - sometimes fits her stories to suit the needs of the moment." LOL! My husband would often say I am sullen, I suspect, and he thinks I change my stories to fit the moment (but I don't), or that I cry on cue to make him sympathetic (which I don't).

And here is the kicker: "Disliking the job of cleaning up, she has no problem persuading others to do her tasks." LOL, again. I remember a kid in this class who was being mainstreamed. I don't think they called it that in 1945, but he was 5-6 years older than the rest of us and classified as learning disabled (yes, I know they called it retarded back then. Such a horrible term). Joe was especially eager to please, mainly as a way to be included in the group. He proved time and time again that he would do anything I asked of him; such as putting away the toys I had been playing with, rolling up my sleeping bag after nap time, and pushing me on the swings at recess. He even ate the snacks I deemed too putrid to consider.

Since then, I have learned how to put away my own messes and clean up after my family, but I often wish I had a "Joe" to help me now. I wonder what ever happened to him?

The thing I remember most about the time at this school was that during rest time, we had to remove our shoes and slip into quilted "napping bags". I always removed my socks too, which was a No-No, according to the teacher. The rationale was that bare feet would be unsanitary, but I could not stand to lie in that sleeping bag with my socks on. The feel of it was something akin to that horrible sound you get when you scrape your fingernails on the blackboard. I just couldn't take lying there, day after day, with my socks on. So every day, about 5 minutes into the "nap" I would slide my hands down into the bag and take off my socks - and everyday the teacher would yell at me and make me put them back on. I finally learned to do it so surreptitiously that she was unaware - and did it everyday for the rest of the year. I really do think she was very happy when it was time for me to move on to the first grade!

I am well aware that this is the fourth anniversary of 9/11. I was going to post photos of the WTC taken over the years on our trips to the city, but I decided not to, since you have all been bombarded with those images time and time again. The most important thing we can do today is remember those who died due to terrorism perpetrated by cowards and evil men. We must never forget, and we must do all we can to make certain it will not happen again.