Middle Aged Memories

NativeMainer · February 2010

My mother put me in a Pixie cut from kindergarten until I was old enough to earn the money for my own haircuts. My hair is hip length, hasn't been cut (except trims) since I was about 12.

Oh, the onsie gym suit! Had to wear one in high school, it was green stripes on top, green bottom. The HS colors were kelly green and white. I've been overweight since infancy, and I looked horrible in that get up, and all the girls in my class let me know that!

Home perms--my mother used to use them. She wouldn't let me use them because "they ruin your hair." One day I asked her why she used them if they ruined her hair--I found out THAT was the wrong thing to say! Apparently the perms only ruined teen age hair but not adult hair. Wink But that didn't stop her from making me put up my "long straggely hair" in rollers every Sunday night.

Meece · February 2010

Elimar, Mary Martin was famouse for the haircut because it made her look like a little boy. Why would our mothers want us to look that way?

NM, my mother burned my hair a couple of times with home perms. My hair is so fine it barely holds a curl, and can't stand up to the perm solution.

Anonymous · February 2010

I just got my lst post chemo haircut on Wed. and it actually looks like a PIXIE!! My hair had grown to about 3inches and I was having to mess with it because it would look pretty wild sometimes when I woke up in the morning, so I told my hairdresser to cut it really short. I never would have just gone and cut my hair this short on my own, but I got so many compliments when it started coming back in and was supershort that I decided to keep it that way. I think mothers were in favor of this hairstyle because it was great for summer.....could get out of the pool and not even have to comb it.

I have my old white gym suit. A classmate who ended up being the phys ed teacher at our HS found it stuffed way back in the old lockers they had stopped using when they were cleaning things out before tearing down our HS and building the new one a few years ago. I don't think I could fit my arm into one of those leg holes today. She knew it was mine because my mother embroidered my name on everything since I had a way of losing and forgetting my clothes.

gillyone · February 2010

I had my hair singed many times as a kid when my mother would try and put a little curl in it with curling tongs that were heated up on the gas stove. Needless to say sometimes it was too hot and ZAP went the hair.

Flmgkat · February 2010

egads, after reading a few of these posts, I guess the grays (and what's left of them after chemo #2) were reminding me, so here goes:

I first learned computering on a WANG computer, with a whole 1MB of ram, very popular at that time LOL. And of course, the Radio Shack TRS80, which was called the trash 80..

my platforms shoes were fro 4" to 8", made of wood and definite heels...I think I still have em!

transportation of first a TransAm, v-6 I think and the fights I had to get to drive it

those PomPoms puffy like hair extenders that I wore, along with the HotPants and fishnets...which I wore after I left the house for school, I changed clothes in the girl's gym because my mother didn't allow my sisters and me to wear that 'slutty looking outfits'

more later...this has got me thinking

Meece · February 2010

All it takes is a little jog, and the memories start flowing, don't they?

elimar86861 · February 2010

For Valentine's Day, my mom usually got me the same three things each year from a local candy store. One was a small chocolate heart in foil on top of a larger one wrapped in red cellophane; another was a large heart-shaped cherry sucker that was as transparent as red glass; and then some conversation hearts in a plastic heart-shaped box. It might have lacked variety, but on the other hand I can remember them after all these years.

conversation hearts Pictures, Images and Photos

NativeMainer · February 2010

There's a lot to be said for traditions that can't be said for variety!

elimar86861 · February 2010

I was wondering if most everyone on here went to kindergarten, and was it a half day kindergarten either mornings or afternoons? I went to afternoon session. I remember the first day, my neighbor who was a month younger than me got homesick and started to cry and he did not come back the next day.

I remember some books from storytime, The Five Chinese Brothers, Stone Soup, Make Way For Ducklings, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, several Snipp, Snapp & Snurr books, a lot of Dr. Seuss.

Meece · February 2010

I have Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (Maryann) somewhere in a box of my childhood memorabilia! I went to Morning KG, I was in Mrs. Harper's class, and Mrs. Frazier was her Aide. I remember we had tables, not desks, and brown mats that folded in half to take our "naps" on.

elimar86861 · February 2010

My teacher was Miss Jane. First name basis (like how pre-schools are now, it seems.) We had naptime too. Geez! We were only there three hours, but it was a quiet time anyway. Each kids had to bring a throw rug to nap on, the kind that could roll up.

Meece · February 2010

Our brown mats were vinyl and had tan on the other side. They were filled with 1/2 " sponge.

NativeMainer · February 2010

I went to half-day kindergarten, we switched from morning to afternoon halfway through the year. I don't recall nap time, but I do remember racing outside at recess to get one of the swings and not giving it up until recess was over! I remember sitting in a big circle, and the teacher would ask a question and we'd go around the circle answering the question--usually yes or no. I can remember not remembering what the question was when it got to me and just saying whatever the kid before me said!

Meece · February 2010

That's too funny, NM!!!

I remember the carpet where we had story time, but my favorite place was where we did finger-paintings (remeber how the starch in the Tempra paint smelled?) and the easles for painting at.

elimar86861 · February 2010

I remember how the flour and water paste smelled. And tasted.

Meece · February 2010

I never remember eating paste, but remember the smell. I remember the playground for the kindergarteners was painted green. No big kids could come from the balck top to the green top. We couldn't wait to play on the BIG playground.

elimar86861 · February 2010

We had a gravel playground, but the lower grades got to use a little grass playground. It had a giant sandbox. I found a green army man in there and a boy traded me for a plastic enameled pin that had a guitar and the word "Rock" on it. I still have the pin. Very retro-cool!

That reminds me, our kindergarten had a pretty big sand table inside too. Once in a while the teacher would ask a kid to rake through it and take out little toys that kids left in there, like snap blocks, puzzle pieces, etc.

Caya · February 2010

I am also late to the party, but I read most of the previous 23 pages, and wow, my memory certainly was jogged.

Anyone remember troll dolls? - My parents brought me a two headed troll from a vacation and it was the biggest hit at school - nobody had one like that - I sure wish I had kept it.

As for gym class - in junior high we wore these one piece navy "bloomers" with white buttons down the front - man, were they awful!!

Remember stocking caps in the winter - we used to wrap the long 'stocking" part around our neck instead of having to wear a scarf.

karen1956 · February 2010

anybody mention leg warmers yet? They must be making a comeback as that is one of the prizes for selling 500+ boxes of girls scout cookies....

NativeMainer · February 2010

I remember Trolls! I had one with bright blue hair and loved it. I never got into leg warmers, but I do remember them being popular when I was in high school. The big thing I remember about stocking caps was when the school banned them after some kids used them to choke other kids on the play ground.

Meece · February 2010

Leg warmers, I had some. Those could stay in the archives for all I care. Wasn't it the movie Flash dance that sort of gave them a boost?

susu1976 · February 2010

Nope, never wore legwarmers. But I did wear what we used to call "ski pants." Those stretchy pants with the strap that went under your foot. I guess they called them stirrup pants when they made a comeback in the 80s.

I had LOTS of trolls! Purple hair, hot pink hair, orange hair. We played with them all the time and made homes for them out of shoeboxes. But do you remember Ratfinks? We drew them all over our notebooks...usually accompanied by the pharase, "_______ reeks." LOL Weren't we funny??

elimar86861 · February 2010

I didn't miss any of that...had the ski pants (never went skiing) and the stirrups. Wore my legwarmers over the stirrup pants in the 80's. Not so bad if you have skinny legs, and live in the North where you actually can use the extra layer on the legs.

Had a trolll with turquoise hair. My dog ate the hair down to a buzz cut. I remember having trolls as pencil toppers too. Ratfinks...yep, they had the initials "R.F." on their stomachs. (I'll go get an image...brb.)

susu1976 · February 2010

YOU FOUND THEM! Cool. I had one on my keychain (right next to the turquoise rabbit's foot).

We also used to call the person who tattled a ratfink (mostly my little brother).

NativeMainer · February 2010

I remember ski pants! We called them snow pants. Waterproof, lined, had the strap that went under the foot and kept the pants tucked into the boots, which let the snow into the boots where it would melt so my feet were ALWAYS wet and freezing cold! Every time I tried to "cheat" and put the pants on over boots my mother would yell at me, because it made the strap wear out too fast. When I didn't do that she'd yell at me for coming in with half a bootful of melted snow in my boots. I just couldn't win.

Meece · February 2010

Isn't it funny though, as we have "grown up" it is now we who hate to clean up the mess caused by bootfulls of melted snow or mend worn out straps! I think I have a book called "Help, I've turned into My Mother." So true. I remember collecting little Smurf figures before they became a national animated cartoon.

susu1976 · February 2010

Yes, I had snow pants, too. But ski pants were for indoors. Mine were red and I had a matching long sleeved turtleneck top with a picture of skiers on it. Trendy, no? Especially with my worn out Keds for shoes.

I remember having to wear bread bags (yeah, like Wonder Bread) over my wool socks before putting my boots on to keep my feet dry. Probably because my mom didn't want me to wear the snowpants over my boots, just like NativeMainer!

Meece · February 2010

We had snow so very rarely, that we didn't have the clothing for it. We had to drive 30 minutes up to the mountains to reach enought to play in. Always in street clothes and always with frozen wet feet.

elimar86861 · March 2010

Growing up, all the kids in my neighborhood had an annual Spring time activity -- flying kites. The paper ones were VERY cheap like maybe only 10 or 25 cents. They were not too durable. I had a skull and crossbones one once and it needed a lot of scotch tape repair til the sticks finally broke. We flew them daily for about two weeks, then moved on to the next thing...yo-yos, tops, sling shots, hula hoops, etc. The kids on my street all seemed to follow the same trends together, which was pretty fun.

Come on, other people, get your memories working again!

Susie123 · March 2010

Farrah Faucet hair, Dorothy Hamil hair, cropped tops, halter tops, platform shoes, hip huggers with wide legs, big sunglasses that covered a third of your face, tye dye, boyfriends with long hair, am radio in the car, 8 track tapes, zepplin, not a care in the world!

Middle Aged Memories

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