monday favorite: chip rich, the great

so, apparently, neither chip nor i had any issues with self-confidence as children. i find chip's  borderline arrogance charming, my own disgusting. so, i hold back on sharing my own uppity entries rife with hideous self-righteousness (ages 11-13 are the worst so far) and share a bit from young chip's record. unfair? maybe. 

who does this account book-turned-diary belong to? why, "chip rich, the great" of course. not only did he, at the young age of eight, skip up to level nine but he was also invited to two birthday parties. not bad, chip, not bad. 

this spread may be one of my favorite in this journal. can you read it? please do. after being blamed for throwing a balloon filled with orange drink, chip reports that no underwear was hung from the flag pole at his sister's girl's camp and that the classic film, real genius, "was great." didn't we all think the same at age eight? and on the right side you get a little feel for the good sport he was. i am certain that after this outing he went home to watch himself flex in the mirror. because that's the kind of humble champion he was.

i suppose it is better to have too much confidence as a child than to be heartbreakingly short of that self assurance. however, i am hopeful our children think of themselves a little less than we did and reach out to others a little more. although, i admit that if they start referring to themselves as "eve the great" and "ruth, the great" i will be so entertained and insistent that they learn some magic tricks. 

monday favorites: part two

the journal reading continues to be my favorite activity of the new year . . . occasionally horrifying enough to make me want to throw mine in a fire somewhere. . . but overall, still amusing. one of the things i really like about it is the randomness of the things we wrote; mixed in with the reports of our siblings misdeeds and our deepest desires for the latest toys are the inclusion of some truly insignificant details. details like gum.

my entry, age 10 (1989):

"I just got out of bed and accidently swallowed my gum. But luckily I have some more. There's about 2 weeks til school starts. I hope I get a good teacher!"

chip's entry, age 8 (1983):

"I went with my Dad and Emily went with me too. We got a piece of gum. Oh, Miriam went too. They had a lot of video recorders there. Emily and I watched Tron on a video recorder. It was a Saterday so we got to watch some of Thundar the Barbarian."

what i wouldn't give to watch an episode of "Thundar the Barbarian" right now. . . also, to know the details of the gum swallowing. "accidentally"? and what was i doing in bed with gum in my mouth, anyway? . . . questions (and/or concerns) aside, i love the more complete picture these bits give of who we were. . . the little worlds we lived in and the details that filled our lives . . . 

monday favorites: part one

i don't mind mondays. in fact, i like them. i like having a fresh start. i like sending chip and eve off into the world and holing in with the two littles. i do laundry and clean the house, ruthie plays games and draws while charlie goes about his business of scooting, crawling, intensely searching for paper - any paper - to shove into his wet mouth. nap times come and go, lunch is consumed, a treat is made before we three head out to reclaim the fourth from school. more drawing, more playing, more cleaning, cooking, welcoming daddy home, eating, playing, planning, singing, two games (or three. . . or 12 if the girls can get us to agree) and finally, putting to bed.

i like the monday routine. and i'm about to like it even more. starting now. favorite mondays. or monday favorites. random things, any things, that fall into my wide category of "favorite." let's begin.

chip and i rang in the new year reading excerpts from our childhood journals to each other. we laughed and laughed and got embarrassed a bit (or a lot) as we revisited our old selves. . . chip's obsession with he-man toys. my obsession with proving my little brother got everything he wanted. our reflections on life as 12-year-olds. . . the gems in these journals are incredible. 

 

chip's journals include a lot of drawings and occassionally, my favorite, the beginnings of very promising comic books. comic books like TIMBERLOCK: MAN OF THE WOODS. amazing. i can hardly stand the suspense. or the erased pencil lines. few things are more adorable than watching people diligently erase, flip their pencil over and try again. especially-13-year-olds who grow up to be my husband.