“It is never too late to have a happy childhood.” (-Tom Robbins)

I sometimes think about how different my childhood would seem to children today. Computers and electronic toys such as Wii, Xbox or Playstation didn’t exist when my siblings and I were small. How did we ever manage?(Claudia below with an enormous Patty Play-Pal doll.)

I remember we had lots of dolls…and a baby pram. My mom was pregnant with our little brother, so I suppose we were very conscious of "babies." She was home with us until my brother was in school, and then she worked as long as I can remember outside of the home, as a teacher. My younger sister Claudia had a “Patty Play-Pal” doll that was just her size and sometimes even wore her clothes. My father often used to mistake her for one of us. I remember I was sort of scared of her! (Sue with doll below)

Our Uncle Con gave us gifts we’d get excited about: I remember having a Cinderella watch I was thrilled with… (Sue and Mary Kate displaying our new watches from Uncle Con, before we even knew how to tell time)

And we had a toy piano and a work bench and pegboard that got lots of use. We loved our tricycles from him... (Sue and bike below)
and pedal cars… (Sue and pedal car below)

But more often than not, we invented things to do: we’d play dress-up, and devise our own imaginary games and activities. My mother told me once that she used to laugh that she’d hear us, all day long, saying to one another in excitement: “Let’s make-a-believe…” (Claudia as a fortune-telling gypsy, below) We loved to color and draw and paint. Our sidewalks always had hopscotch grids on them.

We were always stealing my dad and grandfather’s hats and gloves to wear… (Mary Kate and Sue in daddy and grandpa's hats with Claudia in crib below) I remember we organized a neighborhood "fair" and had all sorts of games and costumes involved. Our next-door neighbor had cap guns, which as a child, also scared me, and we loved to play with those and felt very daring doing that. I was a total wuss.

If it was raining outside, we’d sometimes play in the basement: I remember us draping bedspreads on an overturned card table, and we’d crawl inside the "tents" we created. (Claudia as Little Red Riding Hood below) We would pretend we were teachers, and my grandmother would pretend she was a student who wasn't too bright so we had to educate her about all sorts of things.

My son and his friends in the neighborhood sold lemonade and had great fun with an elaborate “stand” for customers to approach. We loved selling lemonade and cookies as little kids, too. We were happy just collecting chestnuts in a paper bag and shining them up. And we went to the park, where we played tether ball, rode swings, and made things like lanyards and baskets there.

We had lots of friends, but I was fortunate that I had my own built-in playmates in my three siblings, and I never felt bored. We weren't allowed to watch TV that often, unless we asked permission, and we were encouraged, as children, to read and ride bikes and find ways to entertain ourselves. We made macaroni-glued objects and strung buttons on strings for necklaces.

I suppose we didn't really have exciting toys, but we didn't know that--we had fun. I hope children today wind up with similar fond memories of their childhoods when they grow up.

"If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older." ( ~Tom Stoppard)