The Wonder Years Tag!

I wrote in a previous tag that I miss childhood. That got me reminiscing and one day I chanced upon this post by Pophabhi where he has described Vishu during his childhood. His description is so vivid and the memories seem so warm like the glow of lamps in the poojamuri. We all have vivid memories of our childhood, both good and bad. And I realize that it would be so therapeutic to revisit childhood and relive those memories. So I decided to write a post on it. And that is how this tag was born.

The Wonder Years Tag

1. Write 8-10 things about childhood ( 1-12 years) that you miss.
2. Write 8-10 things that you disliked about childhood.
3. Tag a few people.


What I miss about childhood

1. I miss being pint sized. Because my dad would carry me around and I could sit on his lap, my favorite place to sit, while he read the newspaper.

2. I miss being fed by my mom while I read an Enid Blyton with great concentration. I used to be hand fed till I was 8 because I was a lazy eater. Then in school, my class teacher found out about this and refused to let me go and play till I showed her an empty tiffin and I learnt to eat on my own.

3. I miss the story telling sessions by my grandparents/dad in the night before we fell asleep. My dad was a horrendous story teller, so he read from books and usually fell asleep before he finished, which prompted me to pick up the book and finish it while he snored. This also developed the reading habit in me.

4. I miss the amazement that books created and the places it took me to, sitting right here in Bangalore.

5. I miss the fuss when I fell sick.

6. I miss childhood Christmases. Christmases in childhood were so special! Decorating the tree, making the crib,helping mom make the cake and lots of things besides that. It was like living in the Winter Wonderland.

7. I miss the childhood vacations in Kerala, when you could run and play in the estates and do anything you wanted. Today I am grown up and expected to behave like a propah lil miss.

8. I miss the carefree days of wearing frocks and going topless during summers.

9. I miss childhood birthday parties and giving sweets in class and wearing ‘colored clothes’ to school on my birthday.

10. I miss getting away with just about anything because I was the youngest.

What I disliked about childhood

1. Drinking milk. I disliked being forced to drink milk and almost every time I vomited it out but my mom wouldn’t relent.

2. Hospitals, Doctors Clinic, Injections,medicines and Vaccinations...I always got fever after that

3. I disliked dinner because I was a hyperactive kid and would be too exhausted and sleepy by dinnertime. But there was no escaping dinner and till today dinner reminds me of hot rice and drowsiness.

4. I disliked spicy curries and biting into a green chilly. Even mildly spicy curries would have me drinking tonnes of water and eating sugar. A bowl of sugar was a permanent feature on the dining table in our house. (I love spicy food now)

5. I disliked hot food because it burnt my hands and I wouldn’t touch it till it was cooled.

6. Being bathed by mom, because she used the hard Pears soap, supposedly the safest for the skin. It would poke me. Till today the smell of Pears, reminds me of childhood baths.

7. Polishing my shoes

8. Fountain pens. It leaked and I was a splotchy mess by the time school got over.

9. I disliked doing the ‘drill’ in the sun, which was compulsory practice for sports day.

10. Getting up in the morning for school :)

And with great delight, ignoring the epithets flowing in my direction I tag.

1. Alexis
2. Mind Curry
3. Jiby (if you have the time)
4. Thanu
5. Praveen
6. Lijo
7. Jeseem
8. BVN
9. Mathew
10. Dhanush
11. Quills
12. Kusum
13. Leon
14. Pophabhi
15. Fleiger

...and anyone else who would like to take this trip down memory lane :)