For those who remember:
I had summer then started right back to school. No "orientation," no school fees, no athletic fees, yearbooks were 10 to 15 dollars, no "which section are you in...what teacher did you get," no Nikes, no Skeeters, and girls did not even start getting breast until the summer before 9th grade! No iPods, no laptops, no Blackberries, and no choice in cafeteria food...one menu and you ate or went without. No metal detectors, no worry of another teen gone crazy and shooting everyone. And so on and so on.........
School was about friends, boyfriends, the mean teacher vs the nice teacher, who was our class sponsor, sometimes it was even about the really cool projects. It was about "Scratch" (you don't want to go there), harmless pranks, the "Cool kids" and the nice kids....no real nerds in those days. It was about the magic of electrical typewriters. If you needed to phone home you had to go to the office and ask permission. Text messaging was handwriting a note and seeing if you could pass it to your friend without the teacher catching you. It was about Friday night basketball games and watching the "cute" guys and wishing he'd just look in your direction. It was about wearing dresses or pant suits (no jeans until my senior year). Your favorite teacher (by the way was Mr. West...a dream and very nice). It was about corporal punishment, it was not about a student even using foul language or fighting with a teacher. Teachers were respected, even though we would make fun of them from time to time. God was allowed in school and the teacher's led us in prayer. The memories and so much more.
Jacob begins 9th grade this year...or as he says to everyone "I'm a Freshman." Between Jacob and myself we have at least 5 meetings before school starts. I feel bad for the sport teams, band, and cheerleaders as they have already been there for several weeks. 45 dollars in academic fees, 50 dollars for the yearbook, school pictures, cafeteria costs, cost of an ROTC uniform, Booster Club is 20 dollars....gas, Gas, GAS! And fundraisers start within days of school beginning. How do our kids survive? How do we survive? This is just the tip of the iceberg. My child has a cell phone that he readily knows how to use without being caught. He can't wait to get his driver's license....look out everyone! Well, I couldn't wait to get mine, but I didn't expect a car to go with it. I could go on.
Jacob (in the middle) working in VBS this summer. My rising Freshman.
How are things different for your child than from your school days? Let me know.
My Gratitude List:
1. for having the opportunity to go to school, whether private, home school, or public school, we are a privileged nation.
2. for the opportunity of a new ministry with other scrappers from my church
3. my doctors who keep me on the straight and narrow and who have saved my life...twice now.
4. for my son and his wonderful family and his in-laws....I love them so very much.
5. always for God who is our Comforter, Healer, and the provider of so much love in our lives.
Here's hoping that I complete my two Easter albums by Friday!
I had summer then started right back to school. No "orientation," no school fees, no athletic fees, yearbooks were 10 to 15 dollars, no "which section are you in...what teacher did you get," no Nikes, no Skeeters, and girls did not even start getting breast until the summer before 9th grade! No iPods, no laptops, no Blackberries, and no choice in cafeteria food...one menu and you ate or went without. No metal detectors, no worry of another teen gone crazy and shooting everyone. And so on and so on.........
School was about friends, boyfriends, the mean teacher vs the nice teacher, who was our class sponsor, sometimes it was even about the really cool projects. It was about "Scratch" (you don't want to go there), harmless pranks, the "Cool kids" and the nice kids....no real nerds in those days. It was about the magic of electrical typewriters. If you needed to phone home you had to go to the office and ask permission. Text messaging was handwriting a note and seeing if you could pass it to your friend without the teacher catching you. It was about Friday night basketball games and watching the "cute" guys and wishing he'd just look in your direction. It was about wearing dresses or pant suits (no jeans until my senior year). Your favorite teacher (by the way was Mr. West...a dream and very nice). It was about corporal punishment, it was not about a student even using foul language or fighting with a teacher. Teachers were respected, even though we would make fun of them from time to time. God was allowed in school and the teacher's led us in prayer. The memories and so much more.
Jacob begins 9th grade this year...or as he says to everyone "I'm a Freshman." Between Jacob and myself we have at least 5 meetings before school starts. I feel bad for the sport teams, band, and cheerleaders as they have already been there for several weeks. 45 dollars in academic fees, 50 dollars for the yearbook, school pictures, cafeteria costs, cost of an ROTC uniform, Booster Club is 20 dollars....gas, Gas, GAS! And fundraisers start within days of school beginning. How do our kids survive? How do we survive? This is just the tip of the iceberg. My child has a cell phone that he readily knows how to use without being caught. He can't wait to get his driver's license....look out everyone! Well, I couldn't wait to get mine, but I didn't expect a car to go with it. I could go on.
Jacob (in the middle) working in VBS this summer. My rising Freshman. How are things different for your child than from your school days? Let me know.
My Gratitude List:
1. for having the opportunity to go to school, whether private, home school, or public school, we are a privileged nation.
2. for the opportunity of a new ministry with other scrappers from my church
3. my doctors who keep me on the straight and narrow and who have saved my life...twice now.
4. for my son and his wonderful family and his in-laws....I love them so very much.
5. always for God who is our Comforter, Healer, and the provider of so much love in our lives.
Here's hoping that I complete my two Easter albums by Friday!
Too fun! I remember learning to type on the OLD manual typewriters with the manual carriage return! :) Gosh I miss those days! :)
ReplyDeleteI remember the old manual typewriters, too, and mimeographs! I had to write everything by hand until maybe in high school. My kids are in elementary school and sometimes get to use the computer...AND I didn't have spell check! Fun post, Deb, brings back memories!
ReplyDelete(And I HATE fundraisers! I had one a year, they have at least 3!)