The Happy Homemaker

September 1982. I was excited about Kindergarten. As soon as I got into my classroom, I ran straight for toy kitchen set that was in the back. The teacher called for me and had me sit at my table. My teacher was Mrs. Lloyd. She was a black lady with dyed blond flybacks and a gold tooth.

My kindergarten class was hot as we did not have air conditioning back then. I had a holly hobby lunchbox. The kool aid in the thermos always tasted nasty. I remember if oyu acted bad you got a whipping with a paddle. Sometimes they used a rope with a knot in it on your hand. If you were really bad you went to the principal’s office. One boy was sent there and he got whipped over the intercom.

We watched films on projectors and film strips. Recess was a wild time. It was like a scene from Lord of the Flies. You could hit kids back then. Only if there was blood did you get put into timeout. That happened to me once. Two kids were teasing me. I took their heads and crashed them together Three Stooges style. One boy’s nose was bleeding. I was taken out of recess the remainder of the day. I also couldn’t play in recess one day because I did not take a nap. I just wasn’t tired.

I know my kindergarten was way different from the kindergarten my daughter will experience.