Childhood Memories Blog Party Tag

My lovely blogging friend Hayden is hosting a Childhood Memories Blog Party this week, and she posted a fun tag for everyone to take part in, so since I'm out of town this week I thought I'd schedule this to appear while I'm gone.

First: name 5 childhood memories that bring a smile to your face.

1.  Gravitating to the swingset in our backyard with my sisters whenever we went outside-- no matter what we ended up doing, we always started at the swingset.  Often just sitting on it and not actually swinging.  :D
2.  Playing endless games of paper dolls with Anne-girl in our basement-- some of which involved actual stories taking place, and some of which involved putting paper clothes on the dolls and taking them off again.  Over.  And over.  And over.
3.  Oooh, there was that time a cat ran into our house from the great outdoors, and somehow it managed to squeeze itself under my mom's hope chest, and Anne-girl (who was about three) freaked out when she first saw it but then decided that she wanted to keep it forever and was quite, shall we say, dismayed when the cat was chased out by Mom.
4. Going to the library.  Need we say more?
5. Pretty much any kind of "pretend game"-- Anne-girl was and still is THE BEST at thinking up pretend games.  She came up with the ideas and I followed blindly.  Well, okay, maybe sometimes I had my own opinions.  :D

Now: answer the questions.

1. Was there a particular game that you played with your siblings all the time?

Any kind of pretend game, really-- Anne-girl had a series of imaginary lands that she developed in great detail and we'd go exploring in them almost daily.  The last and greatest of all was Jewelbank, and it was amazing.  We dealt with mean orphanage matrons, birthday celebrations and weddings, insurrectionists trying to overthrow the government... yep, good times.

2. Did you have a special toy/item that you dragged around everywhere you went?

When I was a toddler I had a Madame Alexander baby doll that I called Goosey, who was sadly left behind on a camping trip in 1998 and lost forevermore. Copious tears were wept on that day.

3. What was a movie/ TV show that you were obsessed with as a child?

We didn't have a TV when I was little (still don't) and my movie-watching was pretty minimal, but my sisters and I loved the Little Bear show (we have a huge collection of Little Bear VHS tapes) and Mary Poppins, So Dear to my Heart and Peter Pan were favorites in the movie world.

4. Did you have an imaginary friend?

I did not, unfortunately-- I was an unimaginative child, I'm afraid.

5. What did you want to be when you grew up?

A restaurateur, to begin with, then a nurse.  Now I'm a seamstress and a nanny. Who'd-a thunk it.

6. Who was president when you were born?

William Jefferson Clinton.  Whoop-de-doop.

7. Any song associated with your childhood?

Hmmm... my dad used to sing "I Love You a Bushel and a Peck" to me when I was very small, and I still love that song.  We sang the Davy Crockett theme song in the car all the time when I was in my first years of school, and Disney songs have always been favorites.

8. Something that scared you as a child?

Fires freaked me out.  I still firmly believe that all the fire safety information little kids have to learn is traumatizing.  I had major anxiety issues about house fires.  Also large bugs, dogs with pointy teeth, and--stop, no more, you'll just UPSET me!

9. What’s the food that you like now but back then just wouldn’t eat?

I used to hate rice and broccoli but now I love both.

10. Was there any Christmas or birthday gift that you really, really wanted and went crazy about?

I was nuts about the American Girl dolls (weren't we all?) and my grandmother gave me Samantha for Christmas when I was seven.  I was over the moon-- and even more so because she came with the treasury set of all six books (in one volume with gold-edged pages).  She's still my favorite American Girl-- and I do confess to re-reading the books now and then.  Er, frequently.  Cough.

Thanks for the fun, Hayden!