Grace and I have been bitten by the organizing bug, and we are culling our collections. I took four boxes marked “Jane’s Junk” and got them down to one, and Grace has stripped her closet down to the essentials and tackled her desk drawers. Last night she came across a list made five years ago when she was in the second grade. Knowing I like to save the textual artifacts of childhood, Grace handed it to me. You can click on the thumbnail to see the scanned version in full size or read the transcript below.
From the handwriting, it looks like Jimmy and I took turns at dictation. I asked Grace, “What was this list for?”
She replied, “When I was in second grade and thinking about becoming a teacher, I thought it would be neat to be able to tell my second graders some day what I was like when I was their age.”
This is what she was like, as reported on November 15, 2007:
When Grace was in 2nd grade, she
- was an artist
- gave affection to all
- swam on the JCC swim team
- had experience as Ms. Aibel’s student and “teaching assistant”
- could make her own French fries
- watched Zoe 101
- loved to snuggle
- was a Brownie
- had an electric toothbrush that played a song by Jesse McCartney
- wore her hair in two braids every day
- loved the comfort of yoga pants
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Grace, or Eli or Lydia, became a teacher? Then there would be three generations of us: my father, my mother-in-law, I, and one of the kids. Now that would be a family legacy.
leaf stitch word 
Yes it would . The only line on Grace’s list that I wasn’t familiar with, was the singing toothbrush.
Wonderful, Jane and Grace! The only thing I have left from that era (I’m 71) is my 2nd grade report card — not really that wonderful, except that I did read beyond my grade level 🙂 🙂
Bob, all I can remember is the name of my 2nd grade teacher (Lillian Albro) and what she looked like. The rest is a fog.