5 Childhood Pics (and who they made me today)
Childhood pics. Oh the hairstyles, the fashion sense, and the things we just didn’t know yet. Today I pulled 5 pictures from my childhood and will tell the story behind them. Each of them have at least a shred of the person I am today in them, especially the crafty side of me. And maybe, it will inspire you to reminisce through your own pictures and see those threads of who you are now compared to who you were then.
Attention to Details
Playing with Indians. This is one of many childhood pics. I was about 4 years old. I would play for hours with this PlaySkool Indian set. There were Indian people with feather headwear, a tepee, among other tiny pieces. As you can tell from my level of concentration I was pretty in to it. I might even have the same look today when I concentrate on a new pattern, or some small detail. 🙂
“Children see magic because they look for it.” — Christopher Moore
Crochet Education
This was my crochet teacher, Gwen. It was during the 80’s and she had a yarn shoppe. I also remember she was a chain smoker. Kind of ironic with running a yarn shop. EVERYTHING in there smelled like cigarette smoke. But those were different times.
Gwen taught me to how crochet a sleeveless top. It was my first entry into the County Fair and t took grand champion. Childhood pics like this one were just the beginning of my crochet adventures. Also notice my Catholic school uniform.
Lector at graduation
Around 8th grade I was selected to train on how to be a lector at church. I would go up and do the readings or other types of prayers. What you don’t see in this picture is the wood stool I had to pull out from the base of the lecturn so that I could see over top of it. Height has never been my strong suit so anytime I was a lector I had to use the stool.
Imagine being in 8th grade, and having to stand on a stool like I was trying to get to the top shelf. Also what you don’t see is I have heels on. Not anything high, but not exactly gym shoes either. Let’s step up on a stool, in heels, read to the congregation and step down without twisting an ankle.
This was my 8th grade graduation ceremony. And the beginning of learning how to speak in front of people and articulate my voice. Many years later it would prove to be useful as I joined the management ranks in my career.
Sewing
As part of of 4-H I learned how to sew. My mom taught me. And I have to admit, at that time, my mom and I did not see eye to eye on how to follow a pattern. Because, you know, I knew more than she did —- or thought I did. As usual, I was wrong. But it didn’t stop me from constantly disagreeing with how to read the pattern instructions.
Over the years, I learned that this wasn’t my mom’s first rodeo when it came to sewing projects. Dumb kid. Smart mom. It just took time for me to come around. But I chuckle when I look at this photo, because I thought I knew what I was doing. Little did I know that mom was the ONLY reason I was able to finish ANY of the sewing projects. So thank you MOM!
In this one I was learning how to work with knit fabric. I was making a v-neck knit cardigan with buttons. And yes, I actually wore it when I finished it. Also noteworthy is who’s taking all of these childhood pics —- of course, Mom!
And that’s my mom’s Singer sewing machine. Vintage now. But pretty technologically advanced for the times. This was also the beginning of my fight with tension control on the machine. To this day, I still struggle with getting the stitch tension right. Maybe I should have listened to Mom more. ?!?!?
Scrapbooking
The last childhood pic. I was pretty arts and crafty growing up. In high school I took a French language class. As part of the class, we were encouraged to bring in anything French -related that we saw. It could be a product. It could be a magazine or newspaper article that used French words or were French-related. For each one we brought in, we received extra credit. Talk about easy extra credit.
I was all over it. And by the end of the year, had produced quite a number of articles and pictures with a French-theme. I believe my French teacher also gave me some articles that other classmates had brought in.
I decided I wanted to make a scrapbook with all of the documentation. This was prior to my knowledge of the scrapbook craze. I decided I would buy poster board in the colors of the French flag — red, white, and blue – – and I would cut EACH page into the shape of….wait for it….France. Who comes up with these things?!
For perspective this was a 118-page scrapbook with each page cut in the shape of France. And then each page I glued the various articles to it. But this goes to show my commitment and dedication once I get something in my head. I can’t even begin to guess how many hours it took, but I finished it and the cover was a detailed map of France.
My French teacher entered it into the KY Foreign Language festival and I took home first place. Weirdly, or not weirdly, the Language Festival was covered in the newspaper. My French teacher was so excited and gave me so much attention for all of it.
“A happy childhood is perhaps the most fortunate gift in life. — Dorothy Richardson
Final Thoughts on My Childhood Pics
Have you ever gone through photos and thought about the stories behind them? I’m sure some picture automatically conjure up certain memories. What’s a story you would tell about a pic you have? Leave a note in the comments.
