Rift in my personal time-space contiuum.

I cannot explain this any other way; perhaps it is just how one fractures as a parent. Today I have felt both youthful and also as old as dirt.

On one hand, I had a long chat with my niece (she is 16) via Facebook (I do this fairly often now as she is willing to talk to me that way and is frequently logged in), having a good laugh that we liked many of the same albums and artists. This -- along with staying in touch with pop culture in general (watching SNL, reading BoingBoing, etc.) -- makes me feel youthful.

A half-hour later, I was explaining to Kiddo how I used to sing the "Miss Mary Had a Steamboat" rhyme* at school while bouncing a tennis ball in a knee-high stocking on the school wall under and over my legs. Yeah... might as well have been chasing a barrel hoop with a stick, right? Old. As. Dirt.

Sigh.

.. .. .. .. ..

*This rhyme varies depending on where you grew up -- some will remember it as Miss Suzie, others as Miss Mary; some as a steamboat, others as a tug boat and so on. This is how I remember it:

Miss Mary had a steamboat, the steamboat had a bell,
Miss Mary went to heaven, the steamboat went to --

Hello operator, give me number nine,
and if you disconnect me, I'll kick you right ---

Behind the 'fridgerator, there was a piece of glass
Miss Mary sat upon it, and broke her big fat ---

Ask me no more questions, I'll tell you no more lies,
the boys are in the bathroom zipping up their ---

Flies are in the city, and bees are in the park
where boys and girls are having fun, kissing in the DARK DARK DARK!

Here are some other versions along with some much ruder rhymes. Did you sing this one as a kid? Do you remember the ball-in-a-stocking thing?

A girl on a swing

new_swing
Originally uploaded by triviaqueen

This makes me smile for many reasons, not the least of which is the joy Kiddo finds in just swinging. When I was her age, I did the same thing on the swing my Dad attached to our apple tree (this one is on a hazelnut tree in my sister-in-law's yard).

Just watching her for a few minutes last night brought back a flood of memories, including one fairly traumatic one (which in hindsight probably looked pretty funny and might have won some bucks on AFV) -- when I was about her age, I lost my grip on the up-swing and fell backwards. However, my knees still had a good grip on the seat as I leaned back and the height of the swing was such that I dragged my head back and forth a few times before coming to a stop. Ouch.

I think I escaped with a scrape on my forehead and bruised pride, but there was no lasting damage. I was back on the swing after a few days... I just held on a little tighter.

Misty Technicolor Memories....

Oh.... so many memories. Spent the morning at my mother's, sorting out toys... kiddo doesn't play with a lot of them and we thinned out two boxes worth... but we kept all the vintage Fisher Price stuff (my brother would take a red-eye flight and kill me in my sleep if I either took or let Mom sell the FP toys or the LEGO)... all well-worn due to many many hours of play from our childhood.

Pictured is a detail from the Play Family Village set... I was surprised by how much stuff (including many pieces I forgot) had survived. I spent over an hour photographing some of the details... There are more photos over at flickr.
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