Tuesday, October 31, 2006

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 :)

34 comments:

Mind Curry said...

and mind curry joins silverine for the hula hula hula...

Mind Curry said...

Hospitals, Doctors Clinic, Injections,medicines and Vaccinations...I always got fever after that
in my childhood someone taught me that for everything there are exceptions..now this is going to be under the 8-10 things that i miss now that i read this statement of yours :(

your childhood sounds like a fairytale..now wonder you have grown into such a fine person :)

thanks for the tag..soon...

pophabhi said...

What an Idea, and what a Title to it. Very creative, Silver, you seem to be making this a habit! :D

The way you did the tag is so nostalgic and I think that many 'I miss' things would come common for a lot of us. Your vacations sure ring a bell, running around between those rubber trees and green estates must have been wonderful and 'color dress' during school days really seems to be a luxury for everyone!! (I used to miss it so much since I always had my b'day coming in summer vacation, and it was funny that I used to pray for birthday to come earlier, maybe in feb, during the next year :))

Will surely take up this tag soon.

quills said...

Hey! Thanks for tagging me. :) I am going to enjoy doing this one.

And you know, reading your wonder years, I am amazed at the number of things we have or had in common. :)

Fed by mom while I read a book, or she told me a story, making my granddad tell stories until the poor man could barely keep his eyes open, childhood Christmases, running wild in those lovely dark, rubber thottams during vacation..aww..those were the perfect carefree days. :) Lovely post silverine.

Amey said...

Nice tag... and too big (8-10 things? ) Need time to think about it.
BTW, does 10th std count as "child"? Hope so ;)
Me too miss the fuss everybody made when I was ill. Wish somebody would do that now :(

silverine said...

mind curry: It's nice to do the hula hula hula with such a nice dancer!! lol
Awaiting your post cos you were a brat and the younger one too like me!

pophabhi: Thank you :) I am looking foward to yours. This is one tag I am sure everyone will enjoy reading and writing!
(hope I don't sound like I am boasting :p)

emmanuel: Loved you really honest tag!!! :)

quills: Amazing!!! I am really looking forward to reading yours now!!!

fleiger: This tag is restricted to the age group of 1-12 only! :) It is very easy once you start, then you will find 8 points too less :))

b v n said...

1-12 yrs things were so clear, i think my wonder years are from 18-24.
neways tough tag with all the memoy cells dying fast :)

thanks for tagging,will do it soon.

Thanu said...

I wud love to do this tag.... thx for tagging.

Jiby said...

man...how i wish i could do this right away...looks like it will have to wait a month. even i went through all those miserable fevers, like in a timetable, once every month all through my childhood!

the thing i hated most about childhood was eating...mom once made sis and me sit for 2 1/2 hours at the dining table until we finished our lunch! at school a funny sight was seeing boys run behind a football, lunchbox in one hand and all the food falling on the ground conveniently!

i used to hate my childhood then...was in a hurry to grow up...was a darned sensitive kid!

Anonymous said...

1) My little sis got fed by Mom till she was 16. That was last year:-)

2) I too was always in awe of the older kids and adults and always wondered what was going on their minds and lives. Now, I wish I had enjoyed my time back then.

3) I loved eating...the wrong things. I can have ice cream for breakfast(even now:-)). But I had a horrible time eating meat/fish and certain vegetables(spinach, bittermelon).

My most clear memories of lunches and dinners was me holding plate over the hand that was hidding anything I didn't like and showing my parents a clean plate. Then I would dumb the contents in the garbage and cover it well. Those were the days. Now, I like spinach and bittermelon, and cook them often. Go figure!

-Kajan

Anoop G said...

i am thinking and not able to recollect much of my likes or dislikes in the school and pre-school days..

But i really miss my appooppan, ammachi and ammoomma..

mathew said...

no 5..Oh yeah..a mild cold turns out to be fatal something requiring round the clock nursing..I employed that technique to keep away from school..

No 6 is something I miss a lot now..making the christmas crib was the only thing I knew those days..and the satisfaction that comes with it!!..bliss

And among dislikes..drinking milk is something which i still abhor!!

fun tag!!!!!!!!!

silverine said...

bvn: Thanks for taking it up :)

Jiby: Will look forward to yours. Mealtimes are among my worst memories too :p

kajan: Thanks for doing this here :) I hated bitter gourd which we had to compulsorily eat, so we swallowed it with water like tablets :) Today I love it and other veggies too !!

poonaji: Grandparents are the warmest childhood memories for lots of people :)

mathew: LOL I too had lots of fake fevers etc. to bunk school :)) And Xmas is really special isn't it, especially the preparation! :) Looking forward to your tag!

Dhanush | ധനുഷ് said...

sweet tag :). Will do

Anonymous said...

Brought back many memories, your post did.

Sorry for the Yoda-speak hehe

silverine said...

Dhanush: I still remember your comment about childhood "Enthu resayirunuu alle.. padikkandu aadipaadi nadakkan" :)) Looking forward to your tag!

Riggs: Thank you, why don't you attempt the tag. Besides I have done the post that I mentioned about guys in love in my other blog. So you have to keep your end of the bargain :)

Unknown said...

Wonderful tag...such a swell time it was... :-)
Gonna do this now...

Alexis said...

A very sweet post. Reading the post took me for a stroll down memory lane.

Thanks for tagging me. Will definitely take the tag. Give me a few days.

And sorry for being late :-)

Unknown said...

Once again thank you for such a tag...i really enjoyed doing mine... :-)

silverine said...

Rockus: Your tag was awesome!!

Alexis: Thank you :) Hope you are doing fine...I thought you might have been a bit under the weather when I didn't see you :) I am really looking forward to reading your tag. I know it will be awesome. Just read Emmanuels and Rockus's. So interesting!!!

Praveen said...

I guess there are a few things in common in everybody's childhood, i could identify a few here myself like missing those vacations in kerala and the dislike for clinics and hospitals when you fell sick :)

Jeseem said...

wonderful.
miss pamperred , ex-pint sized silverline.
great post as always

Thanu said...

50 % done... 50% to follow soon

Alex said...

Polishing! Never did that. I used to rub my shoes onto my socks during the assembly, even till my 12th. LoL

Amey said...

12 years? Hmm... will have to think then. You could have got good "material" around 15 years you know. Still, will do it next time round.

silverine said...

Praveen: Looking forward to your tag :)

Jeseem: Thank you :)

Thanu: A brilliant 50%, now looking forward to the other 50%!!

Alex: I could never get it to shine :(

fleiger: I wanted this to be a revisit to our childhood :)

Alexis said...

Done. But can't add the link as I don't have a blogger blog.

Mind Curry said...

lol..i enjoyed dancing with you too..though my toes hurt..

did the tag..thanks soooooo much..it was lovely recollecting the days..

brat!??

ok..

brats..

Ganja Turtle said...

Check out alex's site...as evocative as it gets...

Ganja Turtle said...

"You are tagged...again :) This is a tag that I created and hope you will enjoy doing!" - dis da one,womans?

Anonymous said...

loved this one kavs, so you :-)

Abhilasha

Amey said...

Will do ma'm, will revisit my childhood again ;)
But please forgive me for writing another post first, had this in my mind and on my PC for a long time without posting it.

geeth said...

Wow! This tag of yours is just beautiful. Your childhood sounds like lots of fun.

Some sounds familiar to me, while sounds exciting for you :)

silverine said...

Alexis: Read your amazing epic of a tag!!!

mind curry: You are welcome doc, your tag was cho chweet!!! :)

GT: Yes this the tag I was talking about!

Abhi: Thanks gurl :)

fleiger: Will wait for your tag :)

Geetha: Thank you, why don't you do the tag? :)