Worst thing I ever did as a child...or adolescent...
OK OK I lost my bet. I was gonna lose anyway even if the Pats won 'cause I gave away 7 points and they were only gonna win by 3 if they could get their heads outta their butts. So, the bet was a meme.
I think of meme as a questionnaire, that gets passed around to other people, so that's the format.
What is the worst thing you ever did as a child?
Not appreciate the things my parents did for us when we were little. I didn't NOT appreciate them. I always liked everything they did or got for us or allowed us to do, but never saw the sacrifice that went into them. Now as an adult, and even without kids, I REALLY appreciate them now that I'm older. Things like our annual family vacations, being able to see most of our country, being together, my mom making clothes for me and cool stuff like a full ski suit or a dress from curtains for Easter, my parents signing us up for baseball and skiing lessons, bringing us to games at Fenway Park and once at Yankee Stadium. Making Christmas from a store my mom owned and ran for a few years. But most of all, letting us know we could do and could be whatever we want, and even if agreement wasn't always there, loving us anyway.
What is the worst thing you ever did to a sibling?
I did two. When I was little and my brother and I shared a room in our not-yet-expanded house, I did two....oh wait THREE bad things.
1) Pushed his crib against the wall and smashed a glass photo frame over his head. Fortunately he wasn't hurt, and he was laughing when they came in. I was really little then.
2) Dropped him out the front window, about 1.5 stories from the ground. The neighbor called... imagine my mother's surprise when the neighbor across the street called asking her if I had just dropped a large doll out the window.
3) Lead the charge in an escape from our shared room. Again, imagine the surprise when the next-door neighbor knocked on the door with one of us under each arm at about 7am.
What is the worst thing you ever did to a classmate?
I made fun of a girl for having bad skin. I did it once, and it was very out of character for me, because I've always liked to think I'm sensitive to other people. I don't know what I was thinking. I was promptly rewarded with acne for 10 years.
What is the worst thing you did as an adolescent?
I lied to my best friend's mom, who used to take us camping a few towns away every weekend. I promised I would stay away from this other weekend camper guy a few years older than us, but I didn't. To trick them I wrote a note saying "Teddy said he'd meet us at 11!" and accidentally left it on the table. We met him, nothing ever happened, but boy was she MAD the next morning and showed me the note. She punished me, but never told my parents, and I learned my lesson. I loved her, and always remembered she was my second mom in my teens, and especially now that she's no longer with us, I miss her.
What are the other bad things you did when you were under 18?
-Doing make-overs in English class. Like the teacher couldn't see me putting eyeshadow and blush on my friend at the back of the class. But we always has A's in that class, so maybe he didn't mind. My friend actually wrote "Mr. ****** is an asshole" in the middle of her paper once, and she got a B. I think he graded on what he thought our brains could do, not on our actual output.
I was pretty clean-cut, but the other things I did with my best friend:
-At 15, snuck outta the house frequently to pick our neighbors flowers. We got caught by a drunk chick coming home from the bars once. Not pretty, for us, her, or the flowers.
-Snuck out of the camp that we went to on the weekends late at night, to meet up with our friends and try to kiss boys. From age 14-17. Sometimes we even got smooches but most of the time we just walked around and had a great time hanging out with each other and thinking we got away with stuff, even though the parents always really did know.
-Sneaking into clubs at 17 'cause we knew the DJ and got on the guest list. Mind you, it was the mid-80's and these clubs were very New Wave. Thereby starting the list of very weird things that can happen in a club, at a very young age in life.
-Was of age in VT at 18 (but not MA) so we went to the clubs up there, or would drive up, buy a 2-liter bottle of wine coolers and sip them out of McDonalds cups by the lake when we said we were at the movies
-Traded out boyfriends frequently-some of whom really liked me- just because I could (karma gets me though: my 20's and most of my 30's did not treat me well for dating and I have never been married. Though my penance has paid off now, my beau is the best!)
-Didn't wear my seat belt while driving when I got pissed off at the world. My version of tempting fate to fuck with me.
So, that's it. I hope I've paid off my loss on the bet, and redeemed the loss for the much cockier Pats fans in the Greater Boston Area.
Um. Keeping with the theme of a meme (oh wow, that rhymes!) I am gonna tag my cousin and most excellent writer Kim. And my friend Chris from UMass, 'cause I didn't know him then.
I think of meme as a questionnaire, that gets passed around to other people, so that's the format.
What is the worst thing you ever did as a child?
Not appreciate the things my parents did for us when we were little. I didn't NOT appreciate them. I always liked everything they did or got for us or allowed us to do, but never saw the sacrifice that went into them. Now as an adult, and even without kids, I REALLY appreciate them now that I'm older. Things like our annual family vacations, being able to see most of our country, being together, my mom making clothes for me and cool stuff like a full ski suit or a dress from curtains for Easter, my parents signing us up for baseball and skiing lessons, bringing us to games at Fenway Park and once at Yankee Stadium. Making Christmas from a store my mom owned and ran for a few years. But most of all, letting us know we could do and could be whatever we want, and even if agreement wasn't always there, loving us anyway.
What is the worst thing you ever did to a sibling?
I did two. When I was little and my brother and I shared a room in our not-yet-expanded house, I did two....oh wait THREE bad things.
1) Pushed his crib against the wall and smashed a glass photo frame over his head. Fortunately he wasn't hurt, and he was laughing when they came in. I was really little then.
2) Dropped him out the front window, about 1.5 stories from the ground. The neighbor called... imagine my mother's surprise when the neighbor across the street called asking her if I had just dropped a large doll out the window.
3) Lead the charge in an escape from our shared room. Again, imagine the surprise when the next-door neighbor knocked on the door with one of us under each arm at about 7am.
What is the worst thing you ever did to a classmate?
I made fun of a girl for having bad skin. I did it once, and it was very out of character for me, because I've always liked to think I'm sensitive to other people. I don't know what I was thinking. I was promptly rewarded with acne for 10 years.
What is the worst thing you did as an adolescent?
I lied to my best friend's mom, who used to take us camping a few towns away every weekend. I promised I would stay away from this other weekend camper guy a few years older than us, but I didn't. To trick them I wrote a note saying "Teddy said he'd meet us at 11!" and accidentally left it on the table. We met him, nothing ever happened, but boy was she MAD the next morning and showed me the note. She punished me, but never told my parents, and I learned my lesson. I loved her, and always remembered she was my second mom in my teens, and especially now that she's no longer with us, I miss her.
What are the other bad things you did when you were under 18?
-Doing make-overs in English class. Like the teacher couldn't see me putting eyeshadow and blush on my friend at the back of the class. But we always has A's in that class, so maybe he didn't mind. My friend actually wrote "Mr. ****** is an asshole" in the middle of her paper once, and she got a B. I think he graded on what he thought our brains could do, not on our actual output.
I was pretty clean-cut, but the other things I did with my best friend:
-At 15, snuck outta the house frequently to pick our neighbors flowers. We got caught by a drunk chick coming home from the bars once. Not pretty, for us, her, or the flowers.
-Snuck out of the camp that we went to on the weekends late at night, to meet up with our friends and try to kiss boys. From age 14-17. Sometimes we even got smooches but most of the time we just walked around and had a great time hanging out with each other and thinking we got away with stuff, even though the parents always really did know.
-Sneaking into clubs at 17 'cause we knew the DJ and got on the guest list. Mind you, it was the mid-80's and these clubs were very New Wave. Thereby starting the list of very weird things that can happen in a club, at a very young age in life.
-Was of age in VT at 18 (but not MA) so we went to the clubs up there, or would drive up, buy a 2-liter bottle of wine coolers and sip them out of McDonalds cups by the lake when we said we were at the movies
-Traded out boyfriends frequently-some of whom really liked me- just because I could (karma gets me though: my 20's and most of my 30's did not treat me well for dating and I have never been married. Though my penance has paid off now, my beau is the best!)
-Didn't wear my seat belt while driving when I got pissed off at the world. My version of tempting fate to fuck with me.
So, that's it. I hope I've paid off my loss on the bet, and redeemed the loss for the much cockier Pats fans in the Greater Boston Area.
Um. Keeping with the theme of a meme (oh wow, that rhymes!) I am gonna tag my cousin and most excellent writer Kim. And my friend Chris from UMass, 'cause I didn't know him then.
Comments
You have gone above and beyond your obligation. I STILL can't believe that you dropped your brother out of the window. Are you close now?
Yes, my brother and I are close, believe it or not. He must have gotten over it when he was 3! :-)
I'm an only child but I have 5 kids and my oldest sounds a lot like you. One time, he spray-painted his bedroom - his little brother's crib, the dresser - everything but his baby brother.
Yeah, I was probably ungrateful, too, in particular to my mother. Now that she's gone, I feel very badly about it.
But, realistically, what can this Mom expect from a daughter who came home one Sunday (at age 17) and casually announced that she and her best friend had taken a quick trip to NYC?
Of course, with kids I can't detail all I did.
Here you go
Please do NOT tag me if you want to come clean about the activities as an 18 to 21 year old!
Please please please wear your seatbelt now? Pretty please???
alan
OK, I'm on it.