Liar

I was never really good at lying. I'd often lie to avoid getting in trouble, but my mother usually saw right through me. She'd force me to stand still in one place until I admitted the truth. The problem was, if I admitted I had lied, I'd be in trouble for that, too. My punishment would be even worse! So, I usually just stood there without saying a thing. I don't remember how long, but there were times I must have stood motionless for an hour or more without saying a word. 🤫😅

Homework

My parents eventually realized I had enough toys, comics, and games in my room that I'd be easily distracted from working on my homework there. To give me some focus, they forced me to work on my schoolwork at the kitchen table, away from any distractions, until it was all done. It felt excruciatingly grueling! 😮‍💨📚

Work is Never Done

There was rarely an evening or weekend that my father wasn't working on a project.

Though I have always admired his work ethic, there were times I wished he had time to shoot some hoops with me! 🏀😎

The Next Day

When we stayed up all night on our sleepover playing video games, it was nearly impossible to wake us up at a reasonable hour the next day! 😴

Sleepover

Sleepovers were meant for playing video games!

🎮😎🤜🤛😎🎮

The Draw

A great way to keep me quiet for an evening...give me a blank sheet of paper and a pencil, and let me get lost in my drawings! 😁✏️

Some things never change. 😉

Chores

Chores...those jobs around the house we'd do to try and earn a little spending money.

With the weather beginning to warm up, one way to earn a little cash would be washing the salt off the family car. 💦car🚗😁

Bus Ride Home

The bus ride home can be a bit lonely when you don't have a friend to sit with. 😮‍💨🚌

Practices Begin

Soccer practices begin!

Those earlier practices, I definitely had a hustle to my pace! It was still winter, after all, so the daytime highs were barely over the freezing mark! I ran myself ragged just to try and keep warm! 🥶⚽️

Valentine

It's a Valentine's WEEKEND! 🥰❤️😍

Season's End

The inevitable has happened, and the football season has come to an end! Time to pack up the football...and dust off the soccer ball! 🏈😉⚽️

Quiet Night

Nothing like a nice quiet evening that you've set aside to relax and unwind...and maybe binge watch your favorite television show! 😉😎🎥

Honk

Our parents couldn't keep an eye on us in the back seat, so they couldn't see when we tried to get other drivers to honk their horns as they passed by.

It was so exciting when a driver decided to tap their horn for us. For a child, it felt like a major accomplishment! 😁🎉

Traffic Jam

A major disadvantage to a long commute for my father...

...when it snowed, his drive home could literally take HOURS! 😮‍💨🚗❄️

Bicycle Blues

When all you want to do is take your bike out for a ride in the neighborhood, but the weather isn't cooperating. 😮‍💨🚲❄️

Cruel

If you have a brother or sister, and you grew up in a region that traditionally gets snow in the winter, it's highly likely at some point they tried to dump a handful of snow down the back of your shirt! 🥶❄️😅

Question

Somehow, the teacher always seemed to know when I didn't know the answer to the question. 🤷‍♂️😅

Game Day

Oh, that's right...it's game day! 😁🏈

You could always tell when the home team was having a good season. On Sunday, the neighborhood would become extremely quiet while everyone was inside watching the game!

Cold Saturday Nights

 I miss those cold Saturday evenings in front of a warm fire. 🔥😊

False Alarm

True Story! One year in gym class, while we were playing a Frisbee game, a classmate threw the disc, and accidentally hit the fire alarm! The impact set the device off, and the whole school had to evacuate!

The incident convinced the school to install plastic shields over all the alarms in the gym. 😅🚨

Diggin' Out

When the snow is really coming down, any attempt to dig out feels like a futile effort! 😮‍💨 ❄️

In the Cold

Ah, fire drills...when the class practiced walking single-file outside in case of a fire. At the sound of the alarm, we had to drop what we were doing and leave, which meant we couldn't grab a coat before going outside in the cold. The situation was even more brutal when you were in gym class when the alarm went off. 🥶

Dodge

Of course, who can forget that timeless classic...DODGE BALL!

When you had a reputation of being "athletically challenged", you had a pretty large target on your back whenever the P.E. class played a game of dodge ball! 😅🏐

Moving on Up

Oh, look! It's my least favorite activity in P.E. class...the rope climb!

I mean, I would rather play DODGE BALL than try to climb a rope, and that's saying something! 😅

Blizzard

It was always eye opening to take a stroll through the neighborhood after a heavy snowfall. It felt like walking through a trench with high snow banks on either side of the walkway as far as the eye can see. 😳❄️