So last night my daughter mentions at lights out that she forgot to do her homework. I tell her to get up early and go on my way. A few minutes later I realized that if she had homework due for this particular class on the schedule it occurs, she knew about it before spring break. Grr.
So she gets up early and it turns out the project (which is for "health" class) is to interview one of her parents about what it was like when we were her age.
What year was it when you were my age? 1981.
What did you do for fun? Ride bikes and catch crayfish in the creek, and make bamboo flutes and draw.
What did you worry about? President Reagan got shot. I worried about Nuclear war, but I have since learned that is abnormal for an 11 year old. (chose not to go into the apocalyptic tracts my neighbors brought home from their church.)
What did you like about yourself? Not like? I was tall, and I didn't like looking chinese (but I'm better now.)
What was your first date, where and with whom? (Oh, that sneaky health class teacher!) 1986, Mike [last name, had to spell it too.] we went to a playground and rode see saws and the swings.
The teacher will probably think I'm lying and sick DCFS on me.
[ March 27, 2008, 03:13 PM: Message edited by: pooka ]
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Why would he care?
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
So how different is her answer to what she does for fun?
In 1981 I was in 4th grade. Fun for me consisted of reading, playing my Atari 2600, building action figure bases out of styrofoam, hiking in the woods with my dogs, building rafts and poling around a huge pond I found in the woods, and refurbishing an abandoned, dilapitated barn to serve as a fort.
[Edit--oh, and setting stuff on fire. And boiling things, which seems sort of odd when I look back at it]
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
I'm slow, why would he think you're lying?
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
Maybe its the part about going to a playground on a date.
I was just trying to remember my first date. I dated very little, I can remember 4 dates (3 different guys) in high school, I can't remember which one was my first date. I remember 2 of the guys names, they were good friends and we are still occasionally in touch. I can remember the third guys face but not his name. He was probably the first date.
I bet no health teacher would believe that story.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
I vividly remember my first date. It was not a good experience, and I only went because I didn't know how to say no and he was my brother's friend. I am still not real happy with my brother for that one - why he wanted me to date his loser friends is beyond me.
Posted by Christine (Member # 8594) on :
My first date was in college...I could see a teacher thinking I was lying about that to try to convince a teenager not to date until college but it's just the way it was. I hated the fact at the time but looking back, it was probably good for me to wait. Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
My daughter is in 6th grade, but that's middle school here.
I'm trying to remember now what the large provisional response area was just above where I was supposed to sign my name. It was really early, and all I remember now is "I don't have to fill that part out."
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
There are a couple of things that could be thought of as my first date, depending on how you framed them. I suppose the first one that could unequivocally be called a date happened at the beginning of 8th grade. Mismatched levels of experience with dating made it a pretty awful time.
[ March 27, 2008, 03:43 PM: Message edited by: Noemon ]
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
My daughter actually got invited to go out to dinner with a boy and his parents for his birthday last year. I thought it was a date, but my husband didn't. We were sharply divided on whether it should be permitted. It's odd because he ususally thinks of me as the lax one.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
I want to answer pooka's daughter's questions! Sounds like fun!
What year was it when you were my age? um.. sixth grade would be 1972-73.
What did you do for fun? Spent lots of time outside in the trees; took care of my sheep and did things for 4-H; rode horses; fished.
What did you worry about? At this late of age, I don't remember worrying about much of anything back then. But I suppose I worried about my mom; and, in a different way, about my dad. And about whether or not people liked me. I'm trying to remember if that was the year my grandmother was first diagnosed with cancer. Man - it's hard to remember back that far!
What did you like about yourself? Not like? I hated that I have an overbite; didn't especially like my red hair at that age; and that I was only average at sports. I liked my lifestyle (where I lived) and my friendships (does that count as things I liked about me?) I liked that I was smart enough that school was easy and I didn't really have to work very hard at it.
What was your first date, where and with whom? My first date wasn't until years later when I was 15-16. Went to see the school musical "Brigadoon" and I held hands with a guy for the first time!
[ March 28, 2008, 02:15 PM: Message edited by: Farmgirl ]
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
This is only sort of about the adolescent, but last night I was relating to my family what I'd learned about the Irish Wolfhound in connection with trying to figure out what kind of dog my husband would be if he was a dog. (He was not flattered or delighted by this metaphor).
So then my son, who is a bit younger, says "I know where humans come from." And my sixth grader starts squirming and asking to leave the table, so we let her.
"So where do humans come from?"
"You get an animal, and you cut all the fur off, and you cut off the tail!"
We probably shouldn't have laughed quite so hard. Then we asked him where he thought animals come from.
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
I was fourteen and we saw the movie "Foul Play". He was a bass clarinet player in band and his nickname was Squeaky. He tried to kiss me and I elbowed him in the ribs.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
Oh, I forgot a question.
"When do you remember being the happiest when you were a teenager?"
And I answered when I was winning Latin competitions.
That got me thinking about how I haven't enrolled my children in any activities. Of course, Latin Club was a school activity, and so it will probably have to be science fair and stuff.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
quote:Originally posted by pooka: Oh, I forgot a question. "When do you remember being the happiest when you were a teenager?"
Wow - I didn't think teenagers are EVER happy! Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
quote:Originally posted by pooka: So she gets up early and it turns out the project (which is for "health" class) is to interview one of her parents about what it was like when we were her age.
Don't you just *love* when they wait till the absolute last second like this?
My teenager's teachers are gravitating toward paperless assignments. And she doesn't have internet access on her computer yet (I'm dragging my feet on this, I really don't want her online in her bedroom but there's no room elsewhere for her computer) so she has to boot me off my computer to email those assignments that the teachers won't take via flashdrive transfer. The day before spring break, I was getting in the shower as she was prepping to run out the door for her bus. "Oh, Mom, I need you to email this file to my teacher!!" Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I agree Farmgirl; it does sound like fun.
What year was it when you were my age? 1983? I'm not utterly sure how old you are.
What did you do for fun? Most of the things I listed for 1981. I wasn't playing with action figures anymore by '83, though, and was more focused on developing my fort's defenses than I was in refurbishing it. I was still playing my Atari 2600, but was also messing around with a TRS 80 and a Commodore 64. I was much more socially active, and often spent the night at friends' houses. Oh, and I dabbled a bit in D&D. I enjoyed playing it quite a bit, but the DMs who I knew who had any skill at all were older, and not particularly interested in playing with a 6th grader, so I didn't really get into it.
What did you worry about?
Social acceptence was on my mind a fair amount. That and death.
What did you like about yourself? Not like?
I liked my intelligence, my artistic skill, and my writing abilities. I didn't like my self consicousness.
What was your first date, where and with whom?
My first date (the one I mentioned earlier) was at a big outdoor Fall party--a cider and bonfire type of thing, probably sometime in October of '85 (though maybe it was '84; that's possible) with a girl named Rachel. I spent most of the evening trying (and ultimately failing) to screw up my nerve to hold her hand. She was apparently (I found out after the fact) thinking prior to the date that we'd be having sex that night. Neither of us had a good time.
When do you remember being the happiest when you were a teenager?
That's a pretty broad range of ages to be talking about. There are three answers that seem equally true to me:
1: Sitting in a tree in the center of a meadow a mile or so into the woods behind my parents house, my dogs going (usually fruitlessly) after moles and field mice in the grass below the tree while I ate a packed lunch and watched the sunlight sparkling on the lake in the distance and the waving of the grass in the wind, and wondering about the skeletal white tree that I could see in the woods in the distance, but could never actually find when I went looking for it.
2: Being with my pack of friends, the eight of us sitting around in one of our bedrooms, talking about everything and nothing for hours.
3: Falling in love for the first time when I was 16.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
quote:Originally posted by Noemon: What year was it when you were my age? 1983? I'm not utterly sure how old you are?
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
quote:Social acceptence was on my mind a fair amount. That and death.
That drew a laugh.
Yeah, the "happy" question caused me to think of how unhappy I was on the whole, but I dug a little deeper and remember the Latin club.
Posted by Miro (Member # 1178) on :
quote:Originally posted by pooka: We probably shouldn't have laughed quite so hard. Then we asked him where he thought animals come from.
What did he say?
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
What year was it when you were my age? 1987
What did you do for fun? Read books and went to Merrie Miss activities at church.
What did you worry about? The teacher that hated me, whether or not I had the soul of a poet, and where I would eat lunch so no one would bother me.
What did you like about yourself? Not like? I liked my big blue eyes, my brain, my writing skill, my reading speed, and that I loved my baby brother. I didn't like my nose or complete inability to make friends.
What was your first date, where and with whom? I was 16 and asked out by a creepy friend of my older brother's. We saw Dracula (rated R!) and then went to his house where he slipped his arms around my waist and complimented my taste in soda pop (I asked for root beer.).
When do you remember being the happiest when you were a teenager? Sitting on my roof blowing bubbles, going to girls' camp, and being at church activities.
Posted by cassv746 (Member # 11173) on :
Ok I'm pretty young to be doing this but I thought it would still be fun!
What year was it when you were my age? She's 11 right? So it would've only been 2000. (see young).
What did you do for fun? Haha. Pep squad. It's was a sad excuse for 5th graders to be cheerleaders at the varsity basketball games. Probably watched tv, and even read some too.
What did you worry about? Ummm...being grounded for grades on my report card. My classmate Rachel died that year from cancer so I guess kinda worried about death too.
What did you like about yourself? Not like? I liked who I was overall. I always have. I guess I caught myself wishing I was one of the more "popular girls" back then.
What was your first date, where and with whom? Can't say I've ever really had a first date. No wait scratch that. I was 13 and him and his mom picked me up and we went to Home Depot. Oh wow. We're still together 5 years later though.
When do you remember being the happiest when you were a teenager? Oh this is a hard one for me. I'm still technically a teenager. So since I still I'll say right now. college has been a learning experience, a growing experience, and fun too.
So, sorry if I shouldn't have posted. It was fun and brought back some good memories. Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
What year was it when you were my age? When I was 11 it was 1984.
What did you do for fun? Rode bikes, skateboards, etc. with my friends. Played soccer, baseball, and occasionally ice hockey. Practiced long and hard at the hacky sack.
What did you worry about? I worried a lot about my family being fairly poor. I'm sure I had more worries than that, but they don't seem as relevant now. I'm sure I will start remembering them when my kids turn 11.
What did you like about yourself? Not like? I liked being one of the smarter kids in class and being known for it. I didn't like being skinny.
What was your first date, where and with whom? I didn't go out on a formal date until the summer after I graduated high school. I do not remember her name, but she was pretty and very talkative. She had a funny grandma and mom. Her grandma ran red lights and justified it by calling them "pink lights." I went out on a few dates with her. I don't remember what we did. I don't remember how I asked her out, only how I kind of asked for the car keys that night and my mom being surprised.
When do you remember being the happiest when you were a teenager? As a teenager? Probably turning 18 and finally starting to leave that era behind. Being a teenager was not easy. I was as gawky and awkward as they get (and still am, but it doesn't matter as much now).
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
When I was 11 it was 1994 or '95. Wow. In 1981 I think my parents got married.
Posted by adfectio (Member # 11070) on :
Lets see.....
What year was it when you were my age? uh... 1999, I think?
What did you do for fun? Same thing as now, I suppose. Played video games. I was wicked awesome at Super Mario 3.
What did you worry about? Not a whole lot, I guess, since I don't really remember. Probably grades, or, getting in trouble for them, since I still don't really care about them for my sake.
What did you like about yourself? Not like? I always thought I was fun. Not necessarily funny, but fun. As for not liking? Uh.... I was incredibly underweight. I didn't cross over 100lbs until I was a freshmen.
What was your first date, where and with whom? I always did consider it the above mentioned trip to Home Depot. But I just remembered that we did a New Year's Eve thing before that. So either or, really.
When do you remember being the happiest when you were a teenager? Happiest? I really don't know. I think I blocked everything out. But probably just spending time with friends and family. Those are the points I remember being truly happy.
Posted by SenojRetep (Member # 8614) on :
What year was it when you were my age? 1989.
What did you do for fun? Intramural football. Nintendo. Read.
What did you worry about? Grades. Girls. Being the shortest person (including girls) in my grade. Why all my friends turned into jerks between 5th and 6th grades.
What did you like about yourself? Not like?
I was really smart; I liked that. I didn't like my need for social acceptance.
What was your first date, where and with whom?
Debatable. I certainly had a date-esque experience in sixth or seventh grade, going to see Edward Scissorhands with Becky E______ <edit b/c my wife told me she thinks it's poor etiquette to use full names on the cyberspace>. I later held her hand during a winter walk. That date has a caveat in that, since I wasn't allowed to date until I was 16, my little brother had to come along.
The first time I went on what I considered a date was to Junior Prom my Junior year. I was set up by some friends I didn't really like with a girl I didn't know who really wanted to go to the dance but didn't have a date. She was named Sabrina (I think); no, that's not right. I don't remember her name. Anyway, the date was extremely uncomfortable, and I was just glad to get home.
When do you remember being the happiest when you were a teenager?
Hmm...if we're just counting high school, I'd say sometime my Senior year. Maybe when I won the 100 fly at tri-high. Or coming back from the Layton football game with Jen Maughan.
If we're counting all the way through my teenage years, it would be when I was 19, five months into my mission, when Michel got baptized.
[ March 27, 2008, 11:52 PM: Message edited by: SenojRetep ]
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
What year was it when you were my age? 1989
What did you do for fun? Practiced cello and played video games with my brother.
What did you worry about? Having no friends, and never having any friends ever again. Sixth grade was not a happy year for me. Also, people teasing me. Everywhere.
What did you like about yourself? Not like? I liked that I was smart, and good at nearly everything I actually put any effort into except for social interaction. I didn't like...pretty much everything else.
What was your first date, where and with whom? I was 18, and it was with a guy I'd just met at my first year of college. We went to see a concert and then came back to my dorm room and talked for a couple hours.
When do you remember being the happiest when you were a teenager? At the Anti-Prom parties my friend Karen gave. Those were fun.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
What year was it when you were my age? 6th grade, right? 1973 (yes, I'm old!)
What did you do for fun? Hung out with my best friend Wendy, rode my Schwinn Varsity 10-speed, listened to albums, read, read, read and drew a lot of pictures.
What did you worry about? That I would never develop breasts or start my period. That someday someone would discover that I had no idea how to kiss. And that Wendy would reveal to our sixth-grade class which boy I had a crush on. She did. We were both mortified and I don't think we spoke to one another again all the way through high school.
What did you like about yourself? Not like? I liked that I was smart, skinny, and could ride my bike really fast. I didn't like it that I was shy and self-conscious and wore braces and glasses.
What was your first date, where and with whom? It was an awkward double-date to Great Adventure. I hardly spoke to my date the whole very long day, but hit it off really well with the other guy, whom I'd known since childhood but who now had a girlfriend and was suddenly very attractive to me.
When do you remember being the happiest when you were a teenager? Senior cut day stands out -- trip to the beach with friends, singing "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer" along with the car radio.
Posted by steven (Member # 8099) on :
What year was it when you were my age?
1986
What did you do for fun?
Read, played my 8-bit Nintendo, played in the woods with the neighbor kids, watched TV, played with GI Joes.
What did you worry about?
Being bullied/losing a fight.
What did you like about yourself? Not like?
I liked that I am resourceful when I want to be. I didn't like that I was not particularly athletic, or tall for my age.
What was your first date, where and with whom?
We went to a friend's birthday party, around February of 1989, in 8th grade. It was with my new girlfriend, Tammy. I think it was the first time I ever french-kissed anyone.
When were you happiest when you were a teenager?
Reading, or playing in the school band, or perhaps on the ride home from a karate tournament. Those moments when I would win or place in an academic competition, for instance a speech contest, were nice. Fleeting, but nice.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
What year was it when you were my age?
1995
What did you do for fun?
A lot of reading and writing, playing with GI Joes and building things out of K'Nex. Watching some tv and playing with my Sega. I loooved Sega.
What did you worry about?
Not much as I remember. There was a kid I was feuding with at the time who annoyed me greatly, Tom, and a lot of my friends had just moved away to Indiana (of all places) so I guess I was feeling a bit lonely. But mostly I was fine.
What did you like about yourself? Not like?
I liked that I was smarter than most of the kids in my class. I didn't like that I lacked a social ease that most other people seemed to have which left me somewhat awkward around some people.
When were you happiest when you were a teenager?
16-19 or so. I was in love, I was excelling in school, I had a lot of friends, everything was going my way.
Posted by amira tharani (Member # 182) on :
What year was it when you were my age? I turned 11 in September 1992
What did you do for fun? Read LOADS, played with sister, cousins and friends - I remember a lot of water fights the summer before. Played Prince of Persia on the computer with sister and mum. That's also the first time I remember watching the Formula 1 world championships and Wimbledon on TV with my dad. He supported Agassi and I supported Ivanisevic, he was a Senna fan, so I was automatically a Mansell supporter. My dad and I bonded, and still bond, through a mutual love of any sport going.
What did you worry about? The economic recession hit my parents hard and my dad had to go away for work a lot. I worried about being able to stay on at the same school - we were in a private school. I worried about my grandad who had had heart attacks by then and was very frail.
What did you like about yourself? Not like? I liked my intelligence and the fact that I could go up and chat to anyone (this was before I started being bullied in secondary school and retreated into my shell). I didn't like wearing braces and glasses, and not being able to catch a ball or ride a bike.
What was your first date? When and with whom? I didn't date until I was at university. My first boyfriend at university was a boy called Alex and our first date was, I believe, to Pizza Hut.
When were you happiest when you were a teenager? With my family, especially my nan and grandad. At the mosque, helping out. On my own with a favourite book. Playing tennis at school with my roommate and pretending the ball was the head of someone who was bullying either one of us.
Fun questions! Edit - missed one!
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
I think it's great to hear from younger folks on these questions. It gives me a lot more insight into what she might be going through. And 5 years is a long time, even when you're almost 40.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I'm absolutely loving reading everybody's responses. A lot of times these survey type threads turn me off, but the questions in this are interesting, and the answers people are providing are giving me a deeper window into the lives of members that I already knew fairly well and helping me get to know some of the people who I don't have much of a feel for yet. Great thread, pooka.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
I agree; it's lots of fun to read everyone's responses. It was even fun to respond myself. Posted by Artemisia Tridentata (Member # 8746) on :
OK, lets see if I can remember that far back?
What year was it when you were my age? That would be 1956.
What did you do for fun? Exploring the creek beds and rail lines around town with my buddys pretending that we were boy scouts. (SenojRetp, Layton was full of creek beds and rail lines but few subdivisions and no high school.) Hanging around (usually in someones basement)in groups of 3 or four boys to discuss life. Riding my bike. Reading books about WWII heros.
What did you worry about? Just about everything. Having to go to Jr High next year. Getting lost in the fog. My teacher, Mr. D- telling my dad that I wasn't working hard enough. And girls, who probably all hated me, except none of them even noticed.
What did you like about yourself? I was taller than every other 6th grader except Kathy J. I could read better too.
Not like? I didn't see any reason anyone would ever notice me, except that I wore homemade shirts.
What was your first date, where and with whom? This was before the no dates till 16 idea ever came up. We had a formal sixth grade Prom in the spring. The boys had to wear suits and the girls had long dresses. I knew no sixth grade girl would go with me so I invited Sandra A. an older sophisticated seventh grader who lived up the street and would talk to me. The only problem was she was even taller than Kathy J. We walked to the school, danced almost every dance and walked home end of story.
When were you happiest when you were a teenager? Later, in High School, when I discovered that I was a great Bassoonist. I got to play in the County Orchestra (there were three high schools in the county, we shared an orchestra) and the Utah Youth Symphony. Saturday mornings, UYS rehersals, were the happest time.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
*high fives Uprooted for being the same age as me!*
You know, in retrospect - sixth grade is just a horrible age.
Which makes me wonder if the teacher assigned this in an effort to help kids see they would live and make it through this stage of life; or in an effort to make their parents reflect a bit back themselves on how hard that age is, maybe to help them sympathize a bit with their child. Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
What year was it when you were my age?
1973
What did you do for fun?
I read a lot, and hung out with my BFF Kelly. We mostly listened to music, made up dances and talked about two brothers we liked (Dennis and Bruce <sigh>).
What did you worry about?
I don't remember worrying all that much. I did fret a lot over my appearance.
What did you like about yourself? Not like?
I liked that I was a good student and had a pleasant singing voice. I didn't like that I was taller than most of my classmates (despite being a year younger) and more, ahem, developed. I got teased a lot about my height and my ample bosom. I also thought I was hideously ugly and that no one would ever want to be my boyfriend(especially Dennis) .
First date?
My freshman year, a senior named Steve R. invited me to ask him to the Sadie Hawkins dance. It didn't turn out well. And he later dated my BFF Kelly. Which was pretty devastating.
When were you happiest when you were a teenager?
I enjoyed school music activities. We competed at different festivals throughout northern California ... often at Sacramento State. Those were always fun We went to the Carmel music festival every year, then spent the rest of the weekend in Santa Cruz. My senior year we went to San Luis Obisbo for a state honor orchestra. I played the cello, but preferred singing in the choir.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
Something I almost forgot about 1981 was on the day Reagan was shot, we were playing with my Dad's reel to reel tape recorder. We made a little news report about it -- or more like a journal entry. That old reel to reel was great.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Woah - Maui Babe, you're only 14 years older than me??
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
Oh, I didn't post mine...
What year was it when you were my age? 1984.
What did you do for fun? Hung around in the neighborhood with my friend Scott, listened to a lot of music, tried my hand at creative writing.
What did you worry about? I don't know if worry is quite the right word, but I wondered why the kids in my classes still didn't like me. My only real friend was my age but in a lower grade (because I was bounced ahead) and the kids in my grade pretty much actively shunned me as much as possible.
What did you like about yourself? Not like? I don't think I especially liked anything about myself. I didn't like being the outcast, being smart enough that I could outperform kids older than me. Other than that, I was who I was and didn't spend much time thinking about it outside of when I tried to infiltrate the cliques and make a friend.
What was your first date, where and with whom? Real date as opposed to just hanging out together and calling each other BF/GF? Heeheee. Scott. Yes, same Scott. Freshman year (1987), King of Hearts dance. The guy I was supposed to go with bailed out on me, so I called Scott, who'd moved to another school district but convinced his parents to drive him back for me. We "dated" for 3 more years after that, mostly phone with quite a few get-togethers in which our parents unwisely trusted us to behave appropriately without supervision LOL.
When were you happiest when you were a teenager? When I was with Scott, when I was on the football field (I was equipment manager for the varsity squad for 2 years), my physics class, heck, most of Senior year.
Posted by Jake (Member # 206) on :
Pooka, I never had a reel to reel tape recorder, but my best friend and I used to do much the same thing with a cassette tape recorder. We almost always did news shows, for some reason, although I think that we often spent more time crafting the commercials than we did conducting interviews with each other and the like.
One thing that I'd forgotten about that A. Tridentata's post spurred me to remember was the anxiety that I felt about having to take gym when I went to junior high the next year. My brother delighted in telling me stories about the hell that was junior high gym, and its hard to say what element of it I dreaded the most--the fabled sadism of Mr. Garvin, the indignity of having to wear a gym suit, the crawling horror of having to wear a jock strap from the bin of extras if I forgot to bring my gym suit with me, the further indignity of having to shower in front of my classmates...I worried about all of it. The reality of it wasn't nearly as horrible as the anticipation of it was.
This is Noemon, by the way. I accidentally logged out, can't recall my password, and since I'm at work don't have access to the email that Noemon username is associated with.
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
quote:Originally posted by katharina: Woah - Maui Babe, you're only 14 years older than me??
What, you thought I was OLD?????
I've never really mentioned my exact age before (and I have narrowed it down, but not stated it yet), but I've been pretty open that I have adult children and one beautiful grandson. But I was a VERY young mother, so it's skewed. And of course, I look MUCH younger than I really am. Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
You have married children! Multiple! How old were you when you had your first?
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
No, only one married child, but two are college graduates and one is a returned missionary. I was married at 18 and 19 when my first was born. She'll be 27 next month.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by maui babe: I was married at 18 and 19 when my first was born.
Hey, me too.
Posted by TheBlueShadow (Member # 9718) on :
Another younger member here to join in on the fun.
What year was it when you were my age? 1999
What did you do for fun? Video games and books were popular activities of mine. I also loved watching old television shows and movies. I'd listen to music in the middle of the night with headphones on immersed into all the different sounds and melodies. I secretly started listening to pretty much every type of music despite having to commit to pop when around my friends. I was, however, still wrapped up in the boy band phase that was quite popular at the time.
What did you worry about? I remember being quite stressed about school. I was excited to be going to middle school but once I got there things weren't great. I had a pretty horrible english teacher that my friends and I despised the entire year. She had been hired after our teacher left 6 weeks into the year. She wasn't there the following year.
What did you like about yourself? Physically, I loved my green eyes and my eye brows, being able to move them separately, as well as being able to wiggle my ears. Otherwise, I was happy to be musically talented and to be part of gateway (my school's gifted program).
Not like? I just remember feeling awkward in general. I was still considered very quiet at this point and hadn't gotten over the self-consciousness caused by my former speech problem. So, despite no longer needing speech therapy, I was afraid I'd sound stupid to others. (In formal situations, this is still a worry of mine but it no longer plagues me during normal everyday conversation.)
What was your first date, where and with whom? My middle school held a couple dances each year, and Nick, a clarinet player who sat next to me during band, asked me to the first one during sixth grade. I remember thinking we were going to meet inside and him being upset with himself for not being able to pay for my ticket. It didn't even occur to me that he would feel that he should.
I've still never had a real boyfriend. It's not been too much of a concern for me.
Posted by Starsnuffer (Member # 8116) on :
What year was it when you were my age? 2001 when I began 6th grade. I was 11 then.
What did you do for fun? Read books, played video games, played board games, jumped on the trampoline, and just did whatever else
What did you worry about? Probably what I worried about most were my self esteem issues and shyness, emotional control things
What did you like about yourself? I loved that I was smart, and that I had many random skills and I was never the worst at things that mattered to me
Not like? I was disturbed at the problem (that was becoming more of an issue, though was becoming more under control)I saw in my behavior(I had a tendency to cry at school/'too much' in general) and by my shyness. I was very self-critical, as I was used to perfection being the norm I often forgot to realize that a lapse from perfection is still pretty good, and not worth getting upset over.
What was your first date, where and with whom? First date was in 9th grade, I was 14, with one Laura ___. Went out to see a movie, after much of my own apprehension she held my hand. We went back to my house where we watched the sequel to the movie we'd just seen (which was conveniently on TV) and where I followed her lead (for I was(read: am) shy, remember) to my first kiss, which was a very surreal experience(for it was so shocking that this cosmic event was happening to ME, the shy kid. She was a sophomore, also, which, when combined with the highschool caste system by year, made it all the more surreal.)
When do you remember being the happiest when you were a teenager? Still being a teenager as I am, I can't accurately answer this, but I must say that I actively love what's going on all the time. Some notable times are summer camps, my trip to Europe this past summer, and many happy times with family and friends. some happy accomplishments are slowly becoming/having become less shy, most likely completing my highschool(and middle school) career with a 4.0 GPA, coming to realize what value I place on different things, LEARNING new fun things. I'm very much of the learn to love what's happening philosophy, to the chagrin of many of my peers,(not that most of them would know it was to their "chagrin" [I'm sometimes embarrassed thoughts like this pop into my head, but they are honest]) and so I love my teen years.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I missed the first date question, but I guess that depends on what counts as a first date.
I guess it would have been some time in Junior High, and probably with a girl name Mandy.
But I can remember as far back as 1st grade having "girlfriends." I "dated" Terri W, I think in first and second grade, then we "broke up" in third grade when I "went out" with Mandy (the same one I dated for real in Junior high), then 4th grade was Jenny O, and 5th and 6th I think were back to Mandy, though I harbored a mad crush in 5th and 6th grade for Marianne T.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
What year was it when you were my age? 1969
What did you do for fun? Rode bikes, played kickball, played with Hot Wheels, played hide & seek through the whole neighborhood, swam in the pool. Started a rock band.
What did you worry about? Bullies, being the new kid in the school, nuns.
What did you like about yourself? Not like? Liked: I could run fast. REALLY fast. Smart. Funny.
Didn't like: Not popular. Wore glasses. Funny looking.
What was your first date, where and with whom? Took a friend's little sister to a movie at Christmas. It was horrible.
When do you remember being the happiest when you were a teenager? Playing drums in our garage band. We were terrible, but it was a lot of fun.
Posted by sylvrdragon (Member # 3332) on :
What year was it when you were my age? 1994
What did you do for fun? Hung out at the mall (very close to my house), played a lot of video games, and POGS!!!
What did you worry about? That I was getting made fun of at school, and didn't understand why. Now of course, I understand that the instigators were likely just stupid. Upon self-realization that I was smart (it didn't really hit me till around 18), I speculate that I may outwitted them on something or criticized them on something and they felt threatened. They had me beat on numbers though, so they used that against me. The normal people went along with it because "Better you than me", and thus, I became the pariah of my middle school class.
What did you like about yourself? I don't really have anything for this section. All of the things I was proud of were short-lived and subjective. Indeed, not even worth remembering! There were a few arcade games I was good at around that time, that was probably my biggest thing until much later. In retrospect, I was typically good at everything I actually tried at, but once again, I didn't really realize this trend till later.
Not like? I didn't have many friends. My best friend from grade school moved back and forth between his mom's and his dad's sporadically throughout those years (opposite sides of the country), so I didn't see him all that much. When he finally DID come back during middle school, his mother had moved to a different part of town that had him going to a different school. Other friends were hard to keep mainly due to my status at school. The ones I DID make, I clung to to the point of annoyance and thus, lost them all too quickly. I spent most afternoons during those couple years sitting at home watching reruns praying for the phone to ring.
What was your first date, where and with whom? I've never been on anything that I would consider a date.
When do you remember being the happiest when you were a teenager? Probably the times when I was reading, which replaced friends in my life from probably 8th grade till my junior year of high school. Even then, my friends weren't really deeply ingrained except for the one that I still have from those days whom I met through recommending Ender's Game to him on the bus on the way home from school (he went out and bought it the next day).
Posted by theCrowsWife (Member # 8302) on :
What year was it when you were my age? I turned 11 at the end of 1991, and I was in sixth grade that year.
What did you do for fun? There was this hill a few blocks from my house that was completely uninhabited, although the town's water towers were up there. At one point, someone had built a very large, fancy house that had burned down, so I spent a lot of time playing in the ruins. I called it Dalben's Castle (after the character in the Prydain books). I also liked to ride my bike on the trails in and around town.
What did you worry about? Honestly, I don't remember worrying about anything for the first half of sixth grade, but then we moved to Arizona in March. I was upset because I would lose all of my friends and there was a boy I really liked who was starting to show signs of liking me. That move pretty much ended my childhood, because instead of open hills to play on, Arizona had suburbs and sidewalks and asphalt, and it wasn't safe to wander all around town. And it was way too hot.
What did you like about yourself? I liked that I was a tomboy who was a better football player than most of the boys in my class. I was the one who convinced them to let girls play football with them during P.E. (we usually had free time, as long as we were doing something athletic. Girls usually played jumprope, which I thought was boring.) I also organized a game I called "professional rail wrestling" at lunch time, where the teams fought for control of the inside rail on the ramp to our classroom. After that game got banned, I started a grade-wide game of tag during lunch, which was great because I was fast and agile.
Not like? I hated that I started puberty earlier than most of my classmates, even though I was a year younger to begin with. I lost my speed and agility from those changes, and never got them back.
What was your first date, where and with whom? Well, technically I wasn't allowed to date until I was 16, although my mother made an exception for Prom. So the first official date was Prom when I was 14, although the boy and I had been "dating" for a good six months before that. Mostly we just hung out at school and during band trips, and sometimes he came over for dinner at my house.
When do you remember being the happiest when you were a teenager?
If by teenager, you mean when I still lived at home, it was probably my freshman and sophomore years of high school. I had a boyfriend, and a lot of great friends that were two years ahead of me, and it was a lot of fun. When they all graduated, I was kind of lost. The rest of high school was really more anticipation of college than anything else.
If you're counting all the years from 13-19, I was definitely happiest my freshman year of college. I remember the glorious freedom that first night in the dorm, when my mother left and I realized that I could do anything I wanted to. I went out to a dance on the mall with a friend (actually, the first boyfriend mentioned above, although we were no longer together), and it was great. I had had a similar amount of freedom back when I was 11 and roaming the hills, and had missed its loss ever since. Adult responsibility caught up soon enough, but boy that first year of college was great.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Wall Bash]](graemlins/wallbash.gif)
![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
My classmate Rachel died that year from cancer so I guess kinda worried about death too. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
.![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
named Steve R. invited me to ask him to the Sadie Hawkins dance. It didn't turn out well. And he later dated my BFF Kelly. ![[Cry]](graemlins/cry.gif)
Which was pretty devastating.