Last year, I would get so irritated as I'd walk around and see what some of the students were doing. One would get bored and write, "I'm bored," about 50 times. A few would make up secret codes or write backwards. Some would write the alphabet. Others would talk about how boring school was.
I went home a few weeks ago. My mom has been cleaning out the house, so little "treasures" have been appearing in my room back home. One of these was my--you guessed it!--journal from elementary school. The front says: "Melissa Waite #28 (proof they had large classes even back then). Year 93-94 (third grade). School and Summer.
Excited, I opened it to see what it would possibly contain. I don't remember too much about third grade, but I know I'd been a pretty good student. "This is great," I thought. "I can show my students MY journal when I was a kid and how priceless it is now."
Much to my horror, do you know what I found? Strange drawings. Several entries on how BORED I was. A secret code. Doodles. Backwards writing ("Cool, huh?"). And lots and lots starting with, "I don't know what to write."
I couldn't help myself. I laughed. I realized that kids are kids and some things will always be part of being kids. And that's okay. I teach nine year olds, not 45 years olds (and I would dare to bet, there are still 45 year olds out there doodling on their notes who would love to start writing in secret code.)
Life if too short to take all of it seriously.
Here are some of my favorite entries:
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| Not my journal. Mine was hot pink. |
Today I am starting Fellinghams (a singing group I was in when I was little). I'm not that excited at all. Since Brett has to pay some money for sports. So he told my mom It's not fair. I pay and she doesn't. So now I pay a dollar a month. I have 32 dollars and I will have about 19 dollars at the end. My brother does all the jobs for money. He said, "You aren't saving up for something. I am!" Well I just want money.
Somehow that it even funnier if you knew me or my brother as kids. I was the kid who, with her firm sense of justice, started getting fined a dollar by my dad every time I said, "It's not fair!" I was also the kid who was...um...to put it kindly, kind of a miser with my money.
September 15, 1993
Today was have a subsatoot. (Love that creative spelling!) Today Brian brought his rabbit. His name is Marshmellow. He has red eyes. He is white. He is cute. I wish I had him. Kind of. Not really.
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| Too bad I couldn't have a pet rabbit! Well, on second thought.... |
In the newspaper we saw a school with 17 kids from 1st to 8th grade. Only 17! Well a girl was getting her coat and she came face to face with a raddler. They had to close the school because of snakes.
(Kind of makes you wonder where I was getting my material, right? Current events day at school? If only I had known that the next year we'd be moving to a town not much bigger. Wow...)
November 11, 1993
Today is Veterans Day. We are suposto write about it. Both my Grandpas were in a war! Even though one Grandpa is dead. I'm thirsty. I want a drink. I got a drink. Much better.
Wow. Way to really delve into the descriptive details there. Nice, Melissa. Nice.
November 29, 1993
We HAVE to write about what we're thankful for and why. I'm thankful for food because so we can live. I'm thankful for my house because it keeps me warm. I'm thankful for my family because they care for me and help me do my things. Boy this is boring.
I really have no comment for that. Nothing like a grateful heart....
We went to Burley, Idaho for Thanksgiving. Yesterday we had a fire in our classroom!
What?! How do I not remember this occasion? Where were the details here? Nope. Not who started it. Not why. Just casually throwing out that we had a fire...You'd think a pyro like me would have provided a little more info.
Today is in a new year. Well, who cares? You just get mixed up on the calendar.
That's the New Year spirit! :)
January 13, 1994
"You are to write all the time." I don't know what to write about. OK! For breakfast I ate scrambled eggs, Tang, toast, hashbrowns. I have a bad cold sore. Yes! Time's up!
Only funny because a boy last year wrote the lunch menu every single day for his journal. "Today for lunch is....."
January 19, 1994
I'm being Chip (We were doing Beauty and the Beast in school). I don't want to be Chip. But I have no choice. I'd rather be a girl that loves Gaston with Kylee. Even though Kris is Gaston.
Trust me. Life is tough when you're a girl playing a boy tea cup. Once again, life was JUST SO UNFAIR!
January 26, 1994
I have to go to rehersal today. I don't want to. It's stupid. It stinks. I wish we weren't having a play! It's too stupid.
Reminds me of a boy this week's journal: "I love golf. I hate school. School is stupid. School is for losers." (Yes, son, losers like your dad who are putting you up in that half-a-million-dollar house and paying for your golf lessons. Losers like him.)
March 9, 1994
Tomorrow is our field trip to UVSC. It might be fun. But on the other hand maybe boring.
Glass half full, glass half empty. Nice.
Nothing makes your day like a little blast from the past. :)
Somehow in that whole year, I didn't seem to mention any of these treasures from 1993, but you might remember them anyway:
1993
-Bill Clinton was elected president of the United States.
-Beanie Babies first came out.
-Popular movies included Jurassic Park, The Fugitive, and Sleepless in Seattle
-Whitney Houston came out with I Will Always Love You
-Mariah Carey hit it big with Dream Lover
So, I wasn't writing about politics, movies or music. I just cared about pet rabbits, the injustices of life, and figuring out why a GIRL would end up as a teacup in Beauty and the Beast.
What were YOU doing in 1993?
HAHAHAHA! I love Little Melissa :) My favorite is "Well I just want money!" soooo cute
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! I laughed so hard when I was reading this! So great!
ReplyDelete