First off, the answers from Friday’s game:
3. I have 4 nieces and nephews, via half siblings. One of the nephews is older than my brother – his uncle.
True. My dad has three kids from his first marriage, and two of them have two kids each. So that’s four nieces and nephews, who range in age from 13 to 22. My brother is 21.
1. My Mamie (grandmother) entered me in one of those baby beauty pageants (not that link, but like it) when she was watching me for a long weekend. My parents were not pleased and I obviously did not continue with the competition. Not that I had any say (or cared) one way or the other.
False. Although, after I wrote it, I did have to verify with my mother that Mamie never pulled any shenanigans like that. Because it’s very much like something she would have done.
2. I once got lost in a department store and had a 10+ minute conversation with a mannequin, before security found me. (In my defense, I was 4, and my favorite TV show was Today’s Special.)
Too true. Let me ‘splain…
Most people hoped that this one was true; one also commented that ten minutes is a long time to have a conversation with an inanimate object. I’m pretty sure that my four-year-old self wasn’t too concerned with getting a response – it was enough to have found a familiar face. (Remember: favorite TV show.)
Cast of Today's Special - not that the mannequin looked like any of these...
The mannequin in question belonged to Bon-Ton, one of the department stores in Watertown, NY (or, as I called it, middle of nowhere), where my grandparents lived. While we were all out shopping one afternoon, my mom told me to go see my Grandma Millie. She thought I knew that Grandma was just across the aisle, looking at another display.
I knew no such thing.
Note: department stores are HUGE to four-year-olds. Especially when you’re so small that you can still fit under the racks of clothes. The way Mama tells it, when she realized that I’d never made it over to Grandma (which took them both a little while), they went looking for me – naturally. Eventually, they were stopped by a security guard.
“Excuse me, are you looking for a little girl?“
“Yes! Have you seen her?“
“Um, yes. She’s over there talking to a mannequin.“
I think that one of my favorite parts of the story is that my mom didn’t question that it was her little girl talking to the mannequin. She knew.
I imagine that, given my childhood track record of getting lost, if I were a child today, Mama would invest in one of those kid-leashes. I always thought they looked absurd, but if I have kids like me, they might be a necessity.
That, or a GPS chip. Whatever works.
Today’s Special? Canadian.
Sorry, just had to point that out. I can’t help it, it’s part of my heritage. The lack of self-esteem and all.
Never mind.
So is Degrassi.
OK, I’ll stop now.
Canadian? I never knew…hmm. Ya learn something new every day.
When I was 5 I got lost on a ski slope soon after watching a very informative program on Mr Rodgers telling me to hug a tree if I ever got lost in the woods. (I think the idea is that if you hug a tree you stay put and have a better chance of being found). So, that’s what I did. I took off my skies, hugged a tree and would not move until my parents showed up. Ski patrol tried for over an hour to get me to let go of that tree and it just was not happening.
I think I learned the same thing in Girl Scouts! Good for you for sticking to your guns!
Yes! I win.
Also, “wasn’t too concerned with getting a response” scarily describes how a lot of people I’ve seen/met talk to actual people. You talking to a mannequin that way is much funnier.
Oh yeah, I know those people. They don’t need anyone else to speak in order to have a “conversation.”
Maybe it really came alive, like Kim Cattrall! We’ll never know…
[...] pic here. [...]