I have actually lived in most of them before the age of 10. And no, my parents weren't in the military.
They were printers when it was actually a skill: not like now where all you need to do is type. Both my mother and father were typographers and worked at newspapers all across the country. In those days most of the papers in large cities were Unionized and as card carrying members they could "pull a traveling card". This meant you could pick up and arrive in Toledo and go to the local paper, The Toledo Blade as I recall, and fill in as a sub if someone wanted to take off for a few days. We lived like gypsies and pulled our home, a 40 foot trailer, behind a 1955 or so Ford station wagon from one end of the country to the other several times a year. I spent more time on Route 66 than Tod Stiles and Buzz Murdock. I was in first grade in Ypsilanti Mi., Walla Walla Wash., and Seal Beach, Ca., and a couple more schools, so I've been told, all in the same year.
Looking back, I now realize that my mother was unusual in that she was a successful woman in a man's world way before there was such a thing a feminist revolution. Maybe that explains why I am a woman in what is usually a man's occupation. My father has written a book about the lifestyle which doesn't exist anymore. Here is a photo of my father with one of the few last working Linotype machines that has been refurbished an is now in a museum.
Wanderlust is just built into our genes. I still love to travel. And my father since retiring has written tons of travel books which require..... traveling. What a drag, getting to do what you love and get paid to do it. We should all have it so hard.
Nearly everywhere except the chilly north.
ReplyDeleteI bet that was fun living in a trailer but changing schools is not much fun. I went to 14 different schools and we lived in hotels most of my childhood but my travelling days are over - except maybe in a trailer with my own pillow. How many schools did you go to?
We finally settled down in one place by the time I was 9 or 10 yrs old. My mother put her foot down. She was probably tired of moving around too. I guess at least 15 schools from kindergarden to 4th grade. I don't think it hurt me, but was rather a mind expanding experience.
ReplyDeleteI travel in hotels now and take my own pillow too. :-)
I've heard that so many schools makes people insecure. I believed that once but I think you're right - it expands the mind.
ReplyDeletePardon me for commenting out of context but I don't see an email address for you. I enjoyed your comments on grade skipping and thought you'd be interested in my own comment.
ReplyDeleteKindest regards,
The Colonel:
I very much regret that I skipped the 8th grade. The social problems created were much more important than skipping whatever it was that I skipped at age 13. I was a year smaller than other boys in my class, which is a lot to a boy. I couldn't drive when my classmates got their licenses. All the girls were a year older than I.
I had difficulty adjusting to college and dropped out. I did some interesting things after I did but the initial mistake at age 13 had ripples that, as I read the posts by Dust Bunny Queen and Barry, now seem more like large waves in retrospect.
I am smarter than a hitching post but I was sufficiently stimulated by what was offered. There were extracurricular activities I could have participated in that would have been challenging.
Perhaps the real issues have to do with long-term foreign residence up until age 13 and the lack of parental involvement. These factors made a good socialization experience more important than skipping a grade.
I think the consequences of skipping kids can be profound. On balance, I think it is madness to do it to a kid unless the school is simply deficient in every way.
What the heck is the rush?