Childhood Memories

Last night's blog about the opticians, and how I felt as a child, got me thinking about my childhood. There's a lot of things you forget as you get older, but most people have some very early memories. Some are significant, some are just random. I'm going to share a few of mine. I have no idea if these will be in a proper timeline, or if the details will be entirely correct, but they are things that I remember. 

The Fall

If what I remember matches the story my mother tells, then this could possibly be my earliest memory. I remember crying, and sitting on something high, possibly the work surface or the washing machine. My mother was touching my face and feeling my nose. I remember nothing else of this incident, but the story is that I was two and a half years old, and I took a tumble down the stairs. I frightened the life out of my parents, and they thought that I had broken my nose. After checking me out and being unsure, I was taken to hospital, where I had an X-Ray that showed no damage. Once home, I reenacted the hospital visit with my Sindy dolls. 

The Chocolate Blancmange

I probably remember this because it was horrible at the time, and I thought I had a wicked mother. Now, I realise that she was trying to teach me a lesson. Again, parts are a bit hazy, and I don't remember if the packet of blancmange mix was already in the cupboard or if it was something I had pestered my parents to buy, but I asked lots and lots of times if I could eat it. After being told many times that I wouldn't like it, I still wouldn't let it go, so it was made for me with the warning 'If I make it, you WILL eat it'. Now, I'm pretty sure my parents wouldn't have allowed me to starve, but at the time it seemed as if they would. This blancmange was given to me for lunch, tea, and then breakfast again the next day, and it was one of the most disgusting things I've ever tasted. It's also something I have no desire to ever eat again!

The Chocolate Advent Calendar

This was possibly one of the naughtiest things I did as a child, which in hindsight is a very minor thing. My sister is nine years older than me, but for some reason we still shared some things, including, one Christmas, an Advent Calendar. This was the first time we'd had one with the chocolates in, so it was quite exciting. The sad thing was that we had to share it. We'd take it in turns to open a window, meaning only one chocolate every other day. Now, I'm still not sure why I did this, but one night I went downstairs to the toilet and on the way took the Advent Calendar off the wall. I carefully opened up one end and slid the tray out. I guess the numbers must have been in order as I was a clever child, but not quite that clever. I worked out which chocolates belonged to my sister, and I took a small bite out of some of them and then put them back. No-one knew until she came to have her turn the next day. As I said, I have no idea what made me think this was a good idea, and as a result, she was given all of the chocolates for the rest of the month, and I was given a very sore backside.

I have many more memories I could share, including those of deep snow, nettle filled ditches, and baking at school. Unfortunately I'm out of time, so will share those for another day. 

Thanks for reading

Helping my eye sight or updating my image?

For as long as I remember, I have had to wear glasses. I believe I was about 3 years old when I got my  first pair. Some of my earliest memories are of trips to the hospital to see the eye specialist. I will need to clarify this with my mother, but in those early days I think I used to make that trip every 6 months. I have many memories of coming home wearing rather unattractive patches over my left eyes in an attempt to make my lazy right eye work harder. I also remember times where I had to have drops in my eyes. I remember having to follow the woodpecker on the stick and look at the pictures on the flip chart on the wall. Many times I wanted to have a change and read the letters instead, after all I could read at an early age and was more than capable of doing this. Now at 31, it would make a nice change to have pictures again! 

After the hospital visit came the dreaded visit to the opticians to pick out new glasses. Children who need glasses today don't realise how lucky they are to have the wonderful choice of NHS frames. Unfortunately, my parents couldn't afford to pay for my glasses and the NHS choice consisted of thick plastic frames in beige, blue & pink. These were the frames that caused some very miserable days at school. I know other kids with glasses got teased too, but it still didn't make it easier. Deep down I know that nicer frames, probably wouldn't have stopped being called speccy 4 eyes, although it might have stopped me from spending years taking my glasses off on the way to school so that I'd get a break. Maybe if I'd just worn them I'd have better eye sight now.

These days I only have to go to the options every two years as my eyes haven't improved since I was about 10. Regrettably I haven't been for 4 years, due to lack of funds for glasses. It may be vanity, but I can't bring myself to get cheap frames as it's a painful reminder of my childhood, and unfortunately I worry about what other people think too much. For the last couple of years I've been desperate to change my glasses as I feel they are out of date and other people will see that too. So tomorrow, I'm really excited about visiting the opticians, getting my eyes tested, and then picking out some new fancy glasses, that will probably cost an arm and a leg, but will improve my image, in the same way a new hairstyle does. 

Now I'm older and wiser, I'm no longer ashamed of how I looked as a child, even if my glasses do make my husband giggle. So here it is, the first time I've shared it so publicly.........

Another week has passed.....

...and again I haven't blogged. I seem to be spending more and more days struggling to come up with something interesting to write about. Maybe it's because I have an uninteresting life, maybe it's because my brain is now being kept a bit busier at work and it's too tired to think when I get home at night. Either way, it's getting annoying, as I really wanted to keep it regular this time. 

Since last week, my life hasn't been completely uneventful. I have been on a mini camping trip with my lovely husband, step-daughter, and her friend. We spent two soggy nights in the Norfolk Broads. It was the second time we have taken my step-daughter camping, and although the weather wasn't quite as bad as last time, she's not getting a very good impression of camping holidays. Luckily it stayed dry enough on the Friday afternoon to take two bored 14 yr olds to the Pleasure Beach in Great Yarmouth, where they made us adults feel ill watching them go on some scary looking rides. Unfortunately due to the amount of rain, we didn't get to take many photos of the weekend. I made the decision to hide from the camera for most of the time it was out. This was due to me doing my 'mummy' thing whilst packing, and spending so much time making sure everyone else had everything they needed, that I forgot to pack my make up & hairbrush!