The Randomness of Being 7

When I sit down to write my entry I sometimes have to think....what do I remember? I don't have many photos to jog my memory (I am #4 out of 5 kids after all - feel even worse for my baby sister!). And sadly my Mom is now gone so I can't even pick up the phone to ask her what I was like at seven years of age.

My youngest son is now almost that age. That's so very hard to believe at times. So here is a bit of randomness about being 7 in second grade.

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Second grade had me at the town elementary school. I can still remember that school like it was yesterday. It was a small building with only one straight hallway down the center of it. There was a small hallway off to one side near the front of the school where the library was located. Oh, how I loved the library. My love of books started far earlier than second grade though but I'm saving that story for next week. 

The elementary school was just for our town. Not a large town but the largest in our district. Once you entered the front doors there was a supply area on the right followed by the therapist (speech and whatnot I think) office. Then the break where the little hallway jutted out and the library was tucked in. This was also where they set up the hot lunch serving area. Then it was the first grade classroom and on the same side of the hallway just after that was the third grade classroom. Opposite the hallway was the second grade classroom and the fourth grade classroom. Only one classroom for each grade. Each town in our district had its own elementary school at this point so there was no need for a larger school with multiple classrooms for each grade. No gym. No lunchroom. We ate our lunch in our classrooms at our desks. It was small town but fit the need at the time perfectly.

Second grade meant I had Mrs. Miller as my teacher or, as many a child called her, "Miller the Killer." I chuckle about this now and I will admit it right up front. I loved Mrs. Miller and she loved me. I was totally a "teacher's pet." I was compliant. I loved to learn. I was shy thus I was quiet. However, I will admit to being apprehensive about her at first. My next oldest sibling is a boy who is four years older than me. He did not like Mrs. Miller and she did not like him. I'm pretty sure it took a bit for her to realize I was nothing like my brother. I'm sure she breathed a sigh of a relief over that discovery.

Mrs. Miller was also the principal of our little elementary school. I remember that the school had no office and no secretary so when the phone would ring (which was located in the hallway outside of our classroom), Mrs. Miller would have to go answer it and deal with whatever was going on at the time.

I remember singing in second grade. We started each day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a song book. If I close my eyes I can still see that song book, but I can't remember the songs. I'm sure we sang America the Beautiful because it feels very familiar to me even all these years later.

Another memory I have of second grade is lice checks. ::shudder:: We all lined up and sharpened our pencil. Then sat at our desk until Mrs. Miller (or the school nurse? Did we have a school nurse?) came around and used the pencil to look through our hair. Thankfully no lice were ever found. Phew!

I also remember joy about school. I loved going to school at this point in time. I did not love the bus ride but I loved school.