Those (Sometimes) Simpler Times

I don’t know if it’s the three snow days in one week, the recent conversations I’ve had with my brothers about our growing-up years, or the fact that my mortgage, gas, and water bills were all due this week, but lately I’ve been longing for my childhood. Maybe it’s a combination of all three. At the risk of sounding like Modern Family’s Manny (love that kid), I was never much of a child. Sure, I learned to ride a bike, I went to sleepovers, and I mixed different flavors of pop together to see what they tasted like (actually that was more of my brothers’ thing, but I did sample their concoctions on occasion). But with my mom raising three unruly kids on her own, she needed all the help she could get. So I became a sort of mother to my younger brothers, much to their dismay, I’m sure. Plus, my grandparents own a grocery store in Tipton, America, so at the age of fourteen, I became a cashier (a pretty darn good one, if I do say so myself), working every day after school, besides Fridays during football season. (I had to play my trumpet in the high school band, you know.) I worked my way through high school bagging groceries and stocking shelves with canned goods, laundry detergent, and junk food. Thus I was able to buy my own clothes and first car. Now, I'm not seeking pity. I didn’t have a bad childhood by any means. Of course, my brothers and I hated each other and regularly re-enacted WWF wrestling, and my mom and I were often at each other’s throats about something—my clothes, boys, my attitude. But I wouldn’t change a thing, except maybe my hairdo from second through seventh grade: a jerry curl, à la pitching great Pedro Martinez.

 

And that’s why I’ve been recently reminiscing about and desiring to go back to those simpler times when Mom picked out my clothes, made my dinner every night (complete with a meat, vegetable, and fruit), and tucked me in bed. How I wish my biggest worry now was forgetting to do my math homework.

But we all must eventually grow up, some sooner than others. This fact of life, however, does not prevent me from watching Mulan on a regular basis and considering implementing a daily naptime.