True Story:  This is the mind of a 10-year-old… And I haven’t changed one bit.

I found a folder made of faded blue construction paper with a “picture” I had drawn of myself titled, My Booklet About Me. 

Those of us mothers know that  teachers send this crap home on a daily basis. My 2-year-old son’s teacher helped him glue a cotton ball to a primitively drawn sheep. Wow!

Don’t judge. I save most of it, especially the ones G Monkey thought only needed 1 line of crayon. Done. Those show real vision I think. So, a lot of it gets tossed after a day on the frig.

My Mom, inevitably with 4 of us, tossed a lot of crap. But she saved a few gems.  A couple of years ago when we were all home for a holiday she handed each of us a large bag of stuff, pictures & memorabilia from our childhood. She said something about having our own families now etc… But really I think she meant, “I’m tired of this crap sitting around my house”. Can’t blame her. 

You can’t help but wonder why some  things were spared. I went through my stash the other day while making a stash for MY son and found the following Booklet about Me.

True Story:  I have always believed that you are who you are when you come out of the womb. And I have known a few people that long actually, in my life, and can attest to the fact that they haven’t changed.

That makes it even more fun when you look back at yourself and realize YOU haven’t changed either. Though on a smaller, more elementary scale, I realize I still had a healthy self-confidence (a little too healthy), a sense of humor, goal-oriented and really, was just pretty ridiculous.

*My 10-year-old words are written in Bold.

My Booklet About ME – Picture of a girl on a balance beam, written below (This is what I like to do!)

On the 1st page there is a puzzle with descriptive words in each piece. You are to color in the ones that describe you.

I colored: thoughtful, brown hair, neat, green eyes, friendly, hazel eyes, careful, outgoing, well-groomed, curious, average height, helpful, happy, proud, cheerful and only 1/2 of the serious puzzle piece.

Ha! I think many would argue the well-groomed choice, and I am obviously quite proud of myself. I have never been careful, and who knew I was so deep with the 1/2 serious.

I specifically did not color in sad, shy, quiet, or kind. hmmm…

Fill in the _________!

I am 10 years old.

I have 2 sisters and 1 brother.

My favorite subject in school is reading.

My favorite TV program is The Cosby Show.

When I grow up I want to be an architect.  (Ha!)

Today I feel like doing gymnastics.

I feel bad when I am sick.  (Why else would I feel bad, right?)

I am afraid when  I get a bad grade on my report card. 

I hope I will never break a bone.   (Oh, young, wishful thinking.)

I wish my teacher wouldn’t load us down with work.  

I often worry about nuclear war.  (This was before I paid health insurance, mortgages and bought diapers & toilet paper, obviously).

I wish I never get a paddling.   (Well, not the case. Got them often, usually for “talking”. Corporal punishment in the 1980s was fo real.

I like riding 4 wheelers.   (I will not allow my son on these death traps as of this writing).

I don’t like wrecks.   (No shit Sherlock?)

I wish my mother would notice that I am older than B and L ( my script was so big and long that I put a little arrow and pointed to the back of the page so I could spell their names and finish my sentence. I still do this today! Over-explainer. If you get a thank you note or anything written from me, it will inevitably have an arrow somewhere on it pointing to more script that was “necessary” for me to tell you.

I wish my father________________________ ( Blank. Nothing. I guess he was perfect. This surely pissed my mom off).

I would like to win a gold medal in gymnastics.  (I was probably referring to the Olympics, which, of course, didn’t happen. No baby steps for this chick.)

I wish people would not tease me.  (I hate bullies).

When I take my report card home I show it to my Mom. She usually says it’s good but not this six weeks I think.    

I would read more if I had more interesting books.

I wish my parents knew _______________ (I didn’t write anything. .. Deep, dark secrets I guess).

When I am alone I’m bored. (Yes!)

I wish I had more friends.  (Always) 

I wish people would _________________ ( Looks like I erased some top-secret info here).

When I have free time I Read, Watch TV, Jump on the trampoline, do gymnastics and Play tennis. (Wow, what a life!)

I like to go on vacations. (Duh.)

On Sunday I go to church. (Like a good girl.)

My best friend is Jennifer Cooke. (I need to find her… Wonder if she is on FB?)

School is okay sometimes and groce other times.  (Apparently I needed to keep going so I could learn how to spell gross.

Girls are Okay.   Boys are OKay.  (I still feel this way. I don’t think anybody is really ALL that and a bag of chips).

If I ran the school we would get out for lunch.  (Food is still very important to me.)

If I had a million dollars I would buy a go-cart. (hahahahahahahaha!)

I wish everyone knew that I _______________________.  (Hmmm… Again with the secrets.)

True Story:  We were then required to write little essays about ourselves.

I am Special

I am special because I am on a gymnastics team. I have good grades. I have lots of friends. I am not starving or anything horrible like that.

That about says it. I am still very grateful to not be starving or anything horrible like that. So grateful, I go ahead and stuff whatever food I can find in my mouth just in case something horrible like that happens.

When I was Happy

I had been wanting to go see Lionel Richie in concert real bad, but they were all sold out, so I was sad. But when I got home from school one day Mother had tickets. I was real excited.

True Story:  Still one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen. Pointer Sisters opened up the All Night Long tour. I couldn’t decide which friend to take so I flipped a coin. Mom let us stand on our chairs and dance. Good Times!

When I was Sad

We were in Aspen, Colorado. It was our last day to ski. Guess what? It was a blizzard on top of the mountain. And we couldn’t ski. I was mad because I probably wouldn’t get to ski for another three years.

Spoiled little “you know what”.

Someone I like

I like Jennifer Cooke. The reason I like her is that she is nice, and she’s my kind of person. She is funny. That’s why I like her.

True Story:  This is exactly how I choose girlfriends today. And I will stalk them if I think we should be friends. I will ask them out on a “friend date”. Oh Jennifer??? Where are you my long-lost buddy???

When I was really afraid

I was really afraid when I had to do a back hand-spring on the beam by myself. I was in a meet and when it came time for my back hand-spring I stopped. I wouldn’t do it. I was too scared. I stood there. When I looked back at my coach she gave me a mean look and said go or get down. So I went and I didn’t fall off. That’s what made me look like a big baby.

True Story:  I can remember it like it was yesterday. Still haunts me.

To do list:  Dig out one of these old treasures if you have any, pour a glass of wine and laugh, laugh, laugh.