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The Serious Business of Play
Posted by Raven on October 26th, 2006
This time of year always reminds me of those first days of school…the autumn colors and leaves and pumpkins- and school buses and book bags and lunch boxes.
I was a tomboy when I was very young. Much to my mothers horror, she would buy me expensive frilly dresses and tights and bows for my hair, and ugly black shiny shoes- and I would throw these clothes into the pond…I would run around in my PJ’s before wearing those awful dreaded outfits. My mother finally figured me out and started buying me clothes I would wear: jeans and t shirts and sneakers and sweaters. My friends and I used to play out in the woods and in the water and mud- we climbed trees and built forts out of sand and rocks and tree trunks. We dug into the dark dirts of the forests around our houses, we caught frogs and toads and salamanders and snakes and turtles. No matter what the weather was, we were always outdoors- rain, snow, sleet, blizzard.
By the time first grade rolled around, I was a full fledged blue jean baby queen. No pink dresses and ribbons for this kid.
I was one of a kind. But I didn’t know it at the time. I figured every kid was just like me, in the innocent way we all thought about life when we were six or so. My friends, Kim and Patty were just like me but they would wear dresses and nice shoes. I wouldn’t have any part of that. The first day I ever went to school, I remember holding my mothers hand as she dragged me into a classroom, full of boys and girls I didn’t know. Kim was in another class and Patty wasn’t coming to school for another week. I was on my own.
The girls all wore dresses- with these checkered patterns and nubby materials. They had tights and shoes on too…and fancy things in their hair. It didn’t bother me, as I paid little attention to all that. I went right over to the toys and books and wanted to know when I would be able to go outside and play. My poor Mom- I remember she was crying up a storm and I didn’t know why?
Me, being the baby of her family, was going to school for the first time and these things make Moms emotional. I don’t remember her leaving…but I do remember hearing the teacher, Mrs. Kullgren, call my name and she showed me where my little desk was. It was a wooden desk with a top that lifted up. Other than that I don’t really remember too much about that day.
As the weeks moved along I began to really like recess. Going outside. Getting out of that stuffy classroom that smelled like old books and some other scents I can’t describe. Recess was THE best part of the days. We had three: One in the am, one after we ate lunch and one mid afternoon. I think they were 15 or 20 minutes long but I could be wrong here. A bell would ring out loud to alert us that recess had either started or ended. When it began, I would run out the doors and sprint down the corridor, slide down the barrister on the stairwell and break through the doors to get outside. Mrs. Kullgren would yell for me to WALK!! or SLOW DOWN!! but I always ignored her. I wasn’t the only one either- bunches of us would do this.
Once outside, the serious business of play would start. Tag. Touch Football. Hide and seek. Four square. All worthy things and usually reserved for the warmer sunny days. When it was raining out, we would do recess outside too- the fresh air did wonders for kids with foggy brains, our principal would always tell us. And we loved it: Rain always meant MUD. And puddles to jump in.
And worms to dissect. We never used umbrellas but I remember those rain coats and how sweaty we got under them.
After a few weeks of this it occurred to me that other than Kim and Patty and myself, the other girls never played with us. They would be doing the jump rope thing or marbles and jacks…while we chased each other and the boys or organized ourselves into teams for the contact games. One never saw the girls on the playground equipment- the swings, the jungle gyms and slides. We were always climbing on the gyms – hanging upside down, or swinging so high we went around the frame. The girls wouldn’t do these things cause they had on their dresses…
In the winter we brought our sleds to school, and recess meant some extreme sliding down a huge hill that was part of the property of the school. The boys would always have their toboggans- we girls would bring those red saucer things or the blue rolled up pieces of plastic. Sometimes we would just build forts in the snowbanks and other times we would build snowmen.
When you’re a kid you don’t think about stupid things like how cold it is- so if you forgot your hat or mittens it wasn’t a big deal.
You could lay in the snow for hours and it didn’t bother you. It seemed Mrs. Kullgren always had an extra set of hats and gloves and even a coat here and there for those of us who got so wet from the snow we needed a change. She always brought in cookies too, which were always hot when we returned to the classroom.
Of everything I should remember about first grade, recess is the ONLY thing I remember. Those were the days huh??
October 27th, 2006 at 11:08 pm
The first days of school. I was so excited. My parents bought me a new pencil box and a fresh box of crayons. Not the big box, but plenty enough. And pencils and a big tablet with wide lines. And a lunch box with a thermos closed with a cork.
The school house was a one room affair a mile from home. A belfry on top and a pump in front for water. In the winter, a wood stove kept the room warm. But the modeling clay was kept in an unheated closet so we had to warm it with our hands.
One day a week there was a program from Wisconsin Public Radio that we listened to. I think it was called Let’s Draw. Can you imagine? But, little kids could.
Some of the desks had a lift top. I think the older kids had those. Mine was a simple affair with an opening at lap level that you could shove your books into. There was a hole for an ink well, but we were beyond using that.
The seat was separate from the desk and screwed to the floor. One day, the girl next to me was laughing so hard– rocking back and forth–that the screws let loose and she fell over.
My desk was next to the ‘library.’ Basically a bookshelf along the wall. One day, my eye fell on a book entitled “What is She like.” I thought it was fascinating reading. But the teacher snatched it away from me when she realized what I had. Bummer.
All in all, 1951 was a good year.
October 28th, 2006 at 8:28 pm
No comments yet?
I poured my heart out last night.
October 30th, 2006 at 11:03 pm
I want to post a comment, but it’s too late and I’m too tired. I’ll try to stop back by.
October 31st, 2006 at 8:06 am
First grade- me- 1971. LOL. Yes we had wooden desks and wood chairs too but they weren’t screwed into the floor!
I remember how dark the class was too- a lot of wood on the walls with book cases and cubbies and similar things.
I know it had big windows but it seems to me those days were always dark for some reason…I think I was more into playing with the toys than learning. I remember some of the toys too- wooden blocks some plain and others were colored.