Being a Kid

“…my father always said that no child should be cooped up in the four walls of a school until it was seven years old.” Anne of Avonlea

This picture came from a summer I spent with three wonderfully imaginative children. Most of that summer was spent outside. Although these children were still a few years away from the modern school age, my memories with them and all the other children that have passed through my life makes the idea of preserving childhood all the more poignant. I guess all that can be said is that if a child can't stay home, I'm happy to know that as an educator I can make their childhood spent in the classroom as fun, rich and memorable as possible.

Only pretending

“Anne Shirley, you’re only pretending to be grown-up. I believe when you’re alone you’re as much a little girl as you ever were.” Anne of Avonlea

When I'm alone this is what I do. I play pretend with myself. I go to old places that have seen older times and I take pictures in an attempt to soak in the details of a former life. I try to become that time and that place.I go into the Knight Store at Old Sturbridge Village and pick out the cloth for my new dress and ribbons to match for my bonnet. And for those who have known me since girlhood know that nothing has changed. 

When I was young, to play was to play dress up...and I didn't even need a playmate. Stories of Ancient Greek maidens, Jane Austen heroins and Shakespearean beauties swirled in my head until they became my reality for the moment. My old pillowcase full of old bedsheets and tablecloths became silk gowns and heavy velvet cloaks. Do you want to know a secret? If it were sociably acceptable for me to still play pretend to this extent I would. I would find a field and some old sheets and create a world of historic romance and adventure.

What this all comes down to is....I'm a history nerd with an imagination who never grew up. And to be quite honest, I'm proud of that.