Sunday, October 01, 2006

Grade 4 Little Miss Sunshine

This is in response to Beth's request for elementary school photos on October 1, relayed to me by Old Lady from Savannah. I took a picture of a picture since I didn't have a way to scan this in. It's not great but you get the idea. (I made the sailor dress.) The short hair was a pixie cut painfully growing out.

So what were the highlights of 1959 for me?
-- I started taking piano lessons.
-- I came down with mononucleosis while on a trip to Minneapolis and was in the hospital for a week while they tested me for leukemia and other scary things.
-- I was chosen to star in the student council play, not knowing that the selection was because of my long blond hair, which I had cut into a pixie just 2 weeks later. I still kept the part.
-- A boy from my class and I built a doll house that took up half my bedroom, was 2 stories tall, and had a swimming pool. We made all the furniture, including a drop-leaf table, and even made a car. It was a fun summer project. I learned how to saw, hammer, and put things together.
-- I finally learned (not first-hand) how babies were made (I was always the last to know things like this.)

It was all in all a good year!

23 Comments:

Blogger Cup said...

You were so pretty. And I'm soooooooooo jealous about the dollhouse.

2:17 AM  
Blogger Dale said...

Great photo Barbara and I love the sailor dress. I had a sailor suit when I was little and wore it everywhere. Nice post too, great idea with the memories.

8:01 AM  
Blogger Coaster Punchman said...

I second Dale's compliment on the sailor outfit!

CP

8:27 AM  
Blogger Pauline said...

Great memories - and you looked a whole lot better in a pixie cut than some girls. I had a sailor dress, too, though I didn't make mine. Do you still have that dollhouse?

8:45 AM  
Blogger Marni said...

You were so pretty! I too, love the sailor dress... I always wanted one, but never got to have one.

8:55 AM  
Blogger Barbara said...

Beth, Dale, and CP -- Nice to finally "meet" you after seeing your comments on Old Lady's Blog. Great idea, Beth! Sort of like an online mixer!

Pauline -- Unfortunately the dollhouse had to be dismantled after I no longer played with it so that we could get new furniture into my bedroom. The dollhouse was built with cement blocks and huge sheets of plywood, so it did literally occupy half my room. It was one of the most fun projects I have ever done because the sky was the limit for design and we had all the "raw materials" we could find in our two houses!

Marni -- I loved that red-and-white sailor dress too. Wonder where it ever went?

8:57 AM  
Blogger a said...

Very nice. I'm impressed with the fact that you not only made the dress, but built your own dollhouse WITH furniture!

Wow, you remind me of my grandparents (in a good way). Grandma made clothes for everyone in the family while Grandpa made the furniture - seriously! She made me some awesome Snoopy pj's with matching nightcoat. Grandpa made me a Snoopy coat hanger (I was big into the Peanuts back then).

So, you're like two people in one but at a younger age! Holy moley! Man, you must be superwoman or something.

9:28 AM  
Blogger Mother of Invention said...

I can totally tell it was the same girl as was in your wedding picture! You were quite an accomplished little girl! I was definitely a late bloomer! Because I did poetry Fri. yesterday,(the word pink) I'll post my Gr. 1 Pixie cut special a day late!! It is the funniest pixie with all my cowlicks!

9:30 AM  
Blogger Barbara said...

Dan -- I'm probably about the age of your grandparents when you were so in awe of them. Actually I'm nothing special -- just an ordinary person trying to make sense of this extraordinary world!

MOI -- I can't wait to see your pixie cut. Why don't you post it later today and just send Beth a message. I'm sure she would include it!

10:58 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great picture, and great memories, I should do that too!

In 1959, my parents weren't married and I was 11 years away, so my memories of that year are a bit hazy.

1:44 PM  
Blogger lulu said...

I love the sailor dress. I'd wear that now.

3:34 PM  
Blogger Jake's Mom said...

Love the curls and sailor outfit. And the smile is pretty

5:18 PM  
Blogger Joe said...

I LOVE the pixie hair and sailor suit!

5:33 PM  
Blogger Dystopia said...

That sailor suit is SO cute! I think Ima go make one now....

5:57 PM  
Blogger mellowlee said...

I love that suit! It's hard to tell from the colour of the photo but it looks like you have the most amazing golden blonde hair. So pretty :)

10:30 PM  
Blogger Barbara said...

WOW! I just feel like I made the most remarkable group of new friends. It's funny -- I don't remember anyone noticing my sailor dress nearly as much then as they have today!

11:19 PM  
Blogger Richard said...

I learned how babies were made when I was 7 (either late grade 1 or early grade 2). My mother gave me a book titled: "A Doctor explains preganacy to an eight year old"

I remember feeling so grown up, here I was seven, reading a book for eight year olds.

9:40 AM  
Blogger Mother of Invention said...

Yikes! Was I behind! I never learned about babies etc. until I was in Gr. 8, at 13 !! I have had a sheltered life to be sure!

10:19 AM  
Blogger justacoolcat said...

Great suit and picture. Whate ver became of the doll house?

11:33 AM  
Blogger Knitty Yas said...

oh my god you were a beautiful little girl! :) how is it that you looked like that?

8:46 PM  
Blogger Barbara said...

Richard -- Do you still have the book? I would love to see how a doctor would explain sex to an 8-year-old!

MOI -- The truth is that it didn't really hurt us in the least to be so naive, don't you agree?

CoolCat -- See my comment above to Pauline about the end of the dollhouse.

Yasamin -- I never had the sense of being a beautiful child, but thank you!

10:12 PM  
Blogger Richard said...

Yes, I still have the book somewhere. I reread it a few years back. I believe the description of copulation was somewhat technical as in: "The man lies next to the woman and his penis becomes hard. He then inserts the penis into the woman and ejaculates." - or something to that effect. It is likely in a box somewhere - my books are in no way organized of categorized in any way shape or form for me to quickly locate it.

11:56 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

love the sailor dress. Sorry it took me so long to stop by

2:47 PM  

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