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Texas Agriculture Archive

September 6, 2002

Our little grandson, Jeffrey, started pre-school this year, and to the surprise of his apprehensive parents and grandparents, that little guy took to the classroom like a fish to water.

"I didn't doubt it for a minute. Always said 'at boy's gonna be a scholar," said Mel, his proud "Paw Paw." "'Course, it don't hurt none that they got all that high-dollar playground equipment—eben a water park! Boy, thang's has changed a lot since I wuz a kid, when we wuz lucky to have a skip rope or a see-saw that wudn't a mass o' splinters."

"They didn't even have pre-school when you were a kid, back in the days of the one-room schoolhouse," I joked.

"Well, it wuz purdy primitive alright by today's standards—no air conditionin', boiler-type heaters that rumbled in the winter, an' drankin' fountains instead of fancy bottled water. An' there wudn't no laptops fer Power Point presentations back then...the pore teacher had to write on the blackboard with a piece o' chalk. Kids had to create thur own letters with pens an' paper instead of keyboards an' tally numbers in thur heads an' on paper 'stead o' usin' calculators. An' we had to hold books in our hands an' use our fangers to turn pages in the olden days before audio books an' CD-ROMS."

"It's amazing that you can still remember that far back in time," I commented.

"I remember my first day o' school like it wuz yesterdey. I wudn't too happy when I left the house. First off, I had to wear a shirt an' shoes, an' that was a big inconvenience. Mama had to run me down to put the shoes on me. I thought fer shore she wuz tryin' to hobble me.

"I also remember my first grade teacher. Miz Wooten wuz her name. The first day, 'round leben o'clock, she instructed us kids to go into the lunchroom to eat. I remember thankin' that was plumb silly. Why would I want to go in there whur it wuz hot, an' maybe have to share some o' my food when I could sit down on a cool marble slab under a big shade tree an' enjoy my lunch outdoors. So that's what I done. Next day, same thang. 'Bout the third day, Miz Wooten caught a glimpse o' me picnickin' under that Bur oak tree. She come outside an' spoiled it all...marched me into the cafeteria with the other kids."

"I can't say I'm surprised. You've always been an independent sort, and we all know cooperation isn't your strong suit," I said.

My husband flinched. "I wudn't hurtin' a soul out there under that tree. I wuz mindin' my own bidness."

"Maybe so, but you still weren't obeying the teacher."

"I tried to make it up to her. Next day on the way to school, I wandered along the creek an' picked her a big bouquet o' flowers. I found an ol' syrup bucket close by, which made a dandy container, an' put water in it."

"That was sweet. I'll bet it won her over," I said.

"She wuz tickled to git 'em that first day, an' warmed up alright, but she wuzn't too appreciative after that, but we wuz both too busy to notice."

"How come?"

"'We wuz too buzy scratchin'. You see, nobody'd ever bothered to tell me what poison ivy looked like!"