Mommy's Piggy Tales - First Grade

Another week has gone by, and it's time to pull out my old autobiography (can you call it that when it only covers 18 years?) and share what happened when I was six. Once Dad was done with law school, it was time to return to California, so that summer we drove across the country. About the only thing I remember was that on July 4th we were in Abilene, Kansas. It was a small, dusty little town. We ate there (see picture above for the restaurant), and since it was my birthday, I got a candle in my dessert and everyone sang to me. We also went through Salt Lake City, and I think we stopped at Temple Square.

When we arrived in San Jose, our house wasn’t ready yet, so we stayed in a cute little hotel room that had a kitchenette. We stayed there for almost a month and it was close enough to IBM so that Dad could travel to work easily. Finally, we were able to move into our home at 2934 Rossmore Lane, in the Evergreen area of San Jose. It was a pretty green house with white trim. There were four bedrooms and two bathrooms with a living room, family room, dining room and kitchen. It was a neat little house. It was on a corner in a cul-de-sac so we had a huge triangular-shaped backyard. And since the whole subdivision used to be an orchard, we had two walnut trees in our backyard. The front yard was empty as well, and it looks like Dad recruited all of us to help plant flowers and bushes, or at least keep them watered.Louise and I shared a bedroom and it was fixed up really nice. It had white bedspreads with pink room accessories. There were plenty of places to play in the house, and one winter a corner of the garage was set aside for a playhouse. We fixed it up really neat with boxes, old rugs, and unused furniture.
September of 1968 I started first grade at Holly Oak Elementary in San Jose. It was only two blocks from home, (we could see the baseball field from our front yard), so I walked. This enabled me to come home for lunch sometimes which I really enjoyed. My first grade teacher was Miss Shimizu and she was special. She helped me to learn at my own pace, not slowing me down to the rest of the class, and that was important to me. I loved school, especially art and reading. During recesses we played on a neat little playground. There was a monkey gym, slide, swings, and bars. I always wore a dress so I had to be careful about what I did. I think that’s an important part of the development of my feminine qualities. Sometimes we did play tag with the boys chasing the girls, but we could always find refuge in the restroom. However, the thing I remember doing most often was walking on the 2x6’s set upright to keep the tanbark in the play area. We’d have contests to see who could stay on the longest without touching the ground. Halloween 1968 - I'm guessing I was a princess of some sort, and I definitely used my mom's lipstick! Here's a picture of me in a new nightgown my mom made for me. My little brother Scott is in the background. Although the incident probably didn't happen this day, this picture reminds me of the one spanking I received. I was about six or seven and I was mad at my mom for something. I picked up a toy drum (I was standing on that step) and hurled it into the room, narrowly missing hitting Scott, even though I wasn't trying to aim it at him. Mom spanked me and sent me to my room. I thoroughly deserved it. What has really stuck with me through all the years, though, is that my mom came into my room just a few minutes later and apologized for punishing me. What an example of true humility! And I guess I learned my lesson, because I don't recall it ever happening again.

I'm linking up at Mommy's Piggy Tales. Feel free to stop by and browse, or add your own story!