Top Ten Kid Moments

My kindergarten to sixth grade kid years were boring, uninspiring, slow growing, little developing, and being behind. There was little parental involvement. They were inactive, cheap, and overprotective. They took life for granted ignoring problems hoping they fixed themselves. My childhood was too much fun. The child years were too loose with little guidance. Ironically, I admit some children wished they had my parents because they provided shelter, food, and clothing.

I'm happy to share top kid moments. Some of these moments were experienced with good timing, good fortunes, and dumb luck. Sesame Street is a good example. The classic Sesame Street taught me how to be a good child my parents failed to teach me. I'm lucky I was young at the time Sesame Street influenced my childhood development. I was also lucky to watch the Saturday morning cartoons. Bugs Bunny, Richie Rich, A Pup Named Scooby Doo, and The Real Ghostbusters were my favorites. There are no Saturday morning cartoons today. The Saturday morning cartoons are number six in my top ten.

Here are the top ten kid moments:

10. Won $5 Pumpkin Contest (6th Grade). My junior high school held a guess the pumpkins' total weight contest. I won in the 6th grade division. It was the only time I won cash in any contest throughout my life.

9. Captain Of A Train (Kindergarten). My brother, cousin, and I played on a steam locomotive train at Washington Park in Alameda, CA. We played "captain, there's a fire" for which all the kids told me there was a pretend fire. I investigated. I extinguished the fire. My brother and cousin were my lieutenants. We continued the game throughout the entire day.

8. Solo Play (Various). There were times I was responsible keeping myself occupied. I played Puzzletown Set D Mayor Fox's Town Center. I rode my bike around the neighborhood outdoors and used the sofa indoors pretending I was a school bus driver. I pretended selling new cars at my car dealership named "Snoopy Car Dealer". I was a cashier at a grocery store and a BEST department store using a broken calculator, toy money, and a file cabinet as the till. I was a banker using Legos and preschool toys as the computers. And I was a teacher using obsolete primary grade textbooks my parents got at school closures.

7. I'm Bugs Bunny (1st Grade). I broke saltine crackers in half as carrots when I pretended I was Bugs Bunny.

6. Morning Game Shows And Cartoons (Various). My summer vacation mornings were occupied watching game shows. My Saturday mornings were occupied watching network cartoons. I was sad seeing college football games broadcasted during the fall and winter seasons.

5. First Football Touchdown (5th Grade). There was a fumble. A popular fifth grader told me to pick up the ball. I picked up the ball. I ran to the end zone. It was my first touchdown. I scored many more touchdowns in lunch hour football games.

4. Animal Telephone (Kindergarten-2nd Grade). My brother and I collected stuffed animals. We pretended our beds were apartments housing our own stuffed animals. We took turns an animal from one apartment called an animal from another apartment to hang out. Each of us owned toy jeeps big enough to put our animals inside. We used the jeeps to transport some of our animals inside the house; for example, my parent's bed was the grocery store. It was like old school socializing. Call a friend. Think of an activity. Do it.

3. Lunch Hour Run (2nd Grade And 3rd Grade). My elementary school promoted physical fitness. Students ran around the 1/4th mile grass field every Wednesday. We checked-in every 1/4th mile to 5th grade volunteers with clipboards. I started running in the second half of my 2nd grade year. I ran my entire 3rd grade year. I made the special running wall in my 3rd grade year where top runners were recognized. The teacher coordinator added all of the top runners' miles ran on a global map as if one person ran the entire world.

2. Girls I Liked And Liked Me (Various). I was a quiet child. I had my share of girls I liked. I had my share of girls liking me. My first friend was Carolyn Harper in Kindergarten. We telephoned each other. I liked a red haired girl named Meghan who sat on my left in 1st grade. There was a girl who liked me named Joann in 1st grade. A 1st grade girl named Amy liked me when I was in 3rd grade. I liked a girl named Jackie Russell in 5th grade. I wasn't sure she liked me. Deborah Biron sat next to me in 6th grade. We teased each other--friendly bullying. We never expressed liking each other. And there was a girl from another junior high school I befriended in the school bus going home in 6th grade. Her name was Cristina Dugglby. We dated a couple of times in high school.

1. Triple Play (4th Grade-6th Grade). GI Joe, Transformers, and MASK were the toys my brother and I played throughout our youths. We played on Saturdays and during the summers. We created scenarios or plots. What was the evil planning to destroy? The good responded to the evil. We never played randomly. We took turns playing the good guys and the bad guys. We also watched the cartoons.

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