My Happy Childhood

In response to a previous post about a happy childhood, Mom had to ask if I'd had one. So using the "Twelve elements of a connected childhood," I'm going to list a few events and memories. Mom, this is for you.

Unconditional Love, Family Togetherness We often had Family Home Evening, and sometimes Family Fun Saturdays. We read scriptures together as a family and ATE MEALS TOGETHER. Sometimes, in the Summer, Mom would plan outings for the children. I remember going to Flowing Lake together. Then we ate off the new cafeteria style trays we had. We had enough unstructured, at home time that I think we knew where we most belonged. I remember when I was about ten or eleven, Mom would shut herself in her room to talk on the phone with someone. I would lie on the floor outside the door, listening to her talk (sorry if I was eavesdropping, it didn't occur to me that I might be), just to enjoy being closer to her.
Nature I played in Grandpa West's orchard. I remember Great Grandma Clawson's cottage garden. I wish I had a picture of it. We went on hikes with Granpa Hanna. I loved our Granite Falls property. It had a beautiful view of pasture, forest and trees. The leaves of some of those trees twinkled like glitter. We even had a little orchard. We visited parks, lakes and beaches.
A Pet Grandma had bird feeders and a hummingbird feeder. David briefly had a rat, and I more briefly had a mealworm from Science Alliance. What I remember most, though, are the horses. Two long sides of our Granite Falls property bordered pasture. My bedroom window faced it. I chose a favorite horse and named it Strawberry. We would stand along the electric fence, offering fistfuls of grass to the horses.
Ideas, Information, and Knowledge We assisted our local libraries in maintaining healthy circulation. Mom always introduced me to my favorite books. Once, on a long road trip, I started to read Pride and Prejudice. It just happened to be in the van. I think I was thirteen. Actually, there are a lot of classics I would never have known without Mom. School did not introduce me to Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, A Little Princess, The Secret Garden (unless you count the movies), and others.

Then there was Summer Home School. Some summers, for two or three weeks, Mom would put together short school days for us. As much as I had longed for summer, I often found myself bored stiff--but not the week we had Summer Home School. Lessons were short, about an hour or two, which was just long enough to feel some structure to the day, and some mental stimulus and satisfaction at having accomplished something, but not so long they were burdensome.
Beauty, the Arts I took ballet lessons one Summer. In fourth grade I was a Sugar Plum Fairy in Emerson Elementary's production of the Nutcracker. It was an honor I treasured. In the Spring of fifth grade my parents paid ($40, I believe) for an after school art class. We had a piano, and beginner piano books. Sometimes, right after putting us to bed, Mom would play the piano, and I would lay there, listening to it. At my desire, they bought me a flute, which I played for four years (a long time commitment, when you acknowledge a standard University education. It had been more than a quarter of my life when I stopped). I also sang in several choirs. Then there was interior decorating. Around my teens, Mom often checked-out library books and experimented. It rubbed off. The best thing Granite Falls School District did was their career pathways. At the end of eighth grade we took an aptitude test, which sorted us into about six areas of interest. Once a month, in High School, we met with our peers who shared our area of interest, and an assigned teacher counselor. Once we chose a possible artistic major, then spent an hour learning what was involved in which school to get there. I wish I'd had that every year of high school.
Friends, Neighborhood, Community I had best friends in Provo, and knew several other people on our block. When we moved, I soon had a best friend in Marion Gallagher. We moved a couple more times, and while we often didn't know our next-door neighbors well, I learned the neighborhood pretty well, and sometimes walked to friends houses. Robin Lynn lived next door, in Granite Falls, and we were friends.
Organizations, Institutions I enjoyed Jump Rope Club, Science Alliance, Merry Miss (Mom as leader), Highly Capable Program, band, Young Women, and Church.
Individual's Own Self Having my own room (thanks to Mom's ingenuity, and brotherly sacrifice) helped a lot. I enjoyed thinking things over and reaching my own opinions, conclusions, and tastes. I don't think I could ever have survived daycare. I wouldn't have had an away place to recharge. I also went through a good share of journals.
God, Spirituality I started reading personal scriptures when I was eleven, and have kept it up ever since then. I remember getting pieces of a testimony --feeling the spirit--as young as about five or six. I don't think I've ever not known the Gospel is true.
chores, work,responsibility to contribute
Hobbies and/or Sports I've already mentioned drawing and ballet. I would have done tennis in high school if I could ever have figured out when and where things started. I did some hand embroidery and part of a silk ribbon embroidery project. When I was young enough, I played with Barbies and My Little Ponies. I cut things out of paper and made collages, almost compulsively, for a while. After a long time wanting to, I finally began studying French at my first opportunity: my sophomore year of High School.
A Sense of the Past We began studying history in second grade. Mom and Dad gave me my first American Girl book, Meet Kirsten, that Christmas. Over the next few years I read all the books and some of their suppplementary materials. Grandma and Grandpa West had a large, circular family tree on their wall that I would study when I was there.