Then...Now...Wow!

I was born in 1936.... Ages ago to my great-grandchildren.... Ages ago to any of my relatives left to read this blog...... I am 79, "Pushin' 80"., as I say to the younger ones...... But today that's not considered so old; Granny Mary is "Pushin' 104"!

And this is the subject of today's blog:  Comparisons of my early life and the way things are now.... WOW!

I was born October 22, 1936...in a Nursing Home....
A "nursing home"? That's where old people, infirm people, people who can no longer care for themselves stay.... Yes, I was born in a nursing home, Mom told me....

In Falls Church, there was no hospital.....back then, a lot of births were home births, many attended by whoever was there.
But Mom was modern, or her doctor was, so she went a few blocks away to the nursing home and had me.  I don't think she had anesthesia, either. Mom never said.

Dad paced back and forth, smoked cigarettes, as was the custom, and saw me when I was presentable.

They brought me home to the brand new six thousand dollar brick home they had built next door to the Victorian home of my grandparents... I lived there for the first 21 years of my life.

My brother was 5, Mom was 30...so was Dad. A family of four, the perfect size, and we remained this "perfect example", Mom, Dad, brother, sister and our English Setter, "Spot".

School was four blocks away at the end of our street, and we, of course, walked....But my  (private) kindergarten was farther away, in a house.....Billy walked me there and then returned to Madison School. More than one time, I remember riding on his back through the snow to get there.

When I was old enough, I walked with him to school... On my first day, I remember vividly being put in a room with Mrs Snodgrass.....a skinny old maid, she yelled a lot..... Betty Hughes used to cry before school, throw up sometimes...I was terrified!

But, just as my chin was trembling in preparation for howling, another teacher came for me and took me to a second grade classroom. I had tested second grade level...saved from Mrs. Snodgrass!
Mrs Fravel was soft spoken...she smiled....and I thrived there.

This was a very interesting thing, in retrospect.  I wasn't allowed to enter the public school because the cut-off date for first grade was September. My birthday was in October. So, I was put in private kindergarten.

But I could read! And that made the difference....I tested second grade level. No pre-school at age 3 or 4, just a good kindergarten teacher who used (Gasp!) PHONICS!!!!

Today's babies are expected to leave their homes at age 4 and attend pre-school so they'll be "ready" for school....They come home with a list of requirements, homework to complete, school papers marked with happy faces or sad faces... It is now February. At the end of the year, like all children in our public schools, they will be tested.

Some may be able to read....some will have perfect handwriting....some will be mature enough, some will not...They will be 6, but some will still be 5....
I, the youngest in my class, tested (definitely not on a computer) well.....
But God forbid they teach PHONICS!!!!

And the parents, who with few exceptions, work all day, come home with dinner to prepare, having spent very little time with their children, must supervise homework with cranky children who have spent all day "learning" and riding the school bus, must convince their offspring that an hour of homework (for a six-year-old) is appropriate!

Tossing a football with Dad is "appropriate" .....playing with siblings is appropriate....Legos are appropriate....fighting with siblings is appropriate!
Listening to a story is appropriate, so is snuggling with Mom.... etc., etc., etc.!

Antidepressants, anyone?