Childhood Blog

Long before the World Wide Web, we had blogs, but we called them something different.  We called them diaries.  My first diary, really, my only diary was a Christmas gift on Sunday, December 25th, 1983.  I was 10 years old.  It was a one year diary that I somehow made last for 7 years, with room to spare.

During this recent move, I found my diary again.  It's a pretty sage green, with a picture of some horses in a misty field on the cover. It locks, and I still have the key.  However, I now know that any toothpick can unlock it, but in 1983 I was convinced I could lock away my deepest thoughts and secrets.

 Most of the entries are simply records of the mundane, yet others contain encrypted secrets that only those very close to me could decipher.  I want to share a few of them with you, not because I think they are really wonderful or anything like that, but just because I think it's fun.

Tuesday, 12/27/83-  Today I watched A-Team and Remmington Steele.
~For the record, I had a HUGE crush on Pierce Brosnan (and I'm pretty sure my mom did, too).

Thursday, 12/29/83- Today I was in a bad mood so I played with my Lite Brite then I took a bath.
~I wonder if that would help if I was in a bad mood nowadays. If I still had my Lite Brite, I might give it a try!

Friday, 1/6/1984- Today nothing happened.
~I somehow thought I needed to write in my diary every single day, even if I didn't think there was anything worth writing about.  I would let days go by and then go back and try to fill in the missing dates.  I was only successful at this for about 35 days, then I gave up.  This would explain why my 1-year diary lasted 7 years!

Saturday, 2/11/1984- Today I went to Gina's wedding.  Darin likes me but I hate him.  I think so does Rob and Chris and I don't like them either. Except Rob.
~This is a good reminder of how I felt about boys.  Before reading my diary, I could have sworn I didn't start noticing boys until I was 13 or 14, but clearly, I wasn't quite 11 when I started writing about them in my diary.  I now have an 11 year old daughter, so maybe we should include my diary in our bedtime reading choices. I think she would find my entries funny, but she may also feel that she could talk to me more candidly about things like this, knowing that I had the same feelings she may be having now.

I remember thinking what a dumb gift my diary was.  I hated writing at the time, and thought the diary was just schoolwork in a disguise.  Now, I treasure my childhood thoughts and hope that I can use them to help me become a better mother.