Friday Fives
1. Early childhood discipline. Were you swatted? Grounded? Left on a desert island to contemplate your sins? I can remember getting swatted on perhaps three occassions, but I also remember the threat of a spanking always on the horizon. Mom was best at the guilt and at grounding. Dad was generally a push over and really had a hard time raising a hand against his kids. But he was creative in doling out punishment. I remember once when I was in my mid teens and full of myself and kept putting off mowing the lawn. Dad arranged with the neighbors to have me mown his lawn and the neighbors. I never forgot that.
2. As a child, when was the first time you remember experiencing Them Cold Hard Facts of Life (real disappointment and realization that bad things can happen). (With apologies to Whisperin' Bill Anderson.) I was five when Grandpa Nall died. And there were lots of funeral's as a child but they never really sunk in. I think the first real sadness came later on, around 10 or so and my grandmother was sick and you could just sense the whole house on pins and needles and people kept returning from intensive care and they would be talking and stop abruptly any time I came in the room, triggering a danger sense that there was something wrong. (ultimately, all was well, grandma recovered from her heart attack and lived a marvelous 96 or so years.
3. At bed time, do you need a bed time story or do you fall fast asleep? Any routines that must happen before the slumber? I usually curl up with a book but am generally asleep quickly - the book is just a pretense. I can usually be in deep REM sleep in about 20 minutes. It is frightening.
4. How old were you when you learned to ride a bike? Summer between Kindergarten and First Grade. The neighbor Jay was already on wheels and I had to hustle to catch up.
5. As a teen learning to drive, any driving related altercations that you never told your parents about? I.Can't.Drive! Seriously, I was 15 on a learners permit and snuck the car out drive around the block and had a minor, unreporter fender bender in the parking lot of the 7-11. No harm, no fowl.
posted by majikwah @ 3/11/2005 09:21:00 AM
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