"I want you to take a trip down memory lane, and keep right on going, right back to your childhood. And I want to hear "THAT STORY". You remember the one? Yes, you do! The one your parents, siblings, extended family or friends, would never let you forget, live down or get over!"
I have told this story before in my Summer Fun Monday. It is the only story that comes to mind when asked for "that story". I asked my Mom what age she thought I was when this happened and she wasn't sure but guessed 6 or 7. I think she is right. I have retold it, I didn't want to just copy and paste.
On my maternal Grandparents farm we all got together in June to help celebrate my Grandmas Birthday and for those old enough, to help out with Harvest(wheat). My cousins and I would usually play badminton. Sometimes June in Kansas can be really HOT. My male cousins had already shed their t-shirts and I did too. I didn't see what was wrong with this. I did it often when I got hot. I thought it was natural, normal, and perfectly OK. None of my cousins thought it was OK. They all yelled at me to put my shirt back on. I refused. I kept saying that, "If the boys have their shirts off then so can I." They kept on yelling at me saying something like inappropriate. Parents and Grandparents had to be called in to get me to put my shirt back on. I had as flat a chest as my boy cousins did. I just couldn't understand why I was not allowed to take my shirt off like the boys.
That is a picture of me fishing with my shirt off because I was HOT. I was 7 in this photo and I bet it was taken about a month before the famous shirtless badminton game. That is my Grandma sitting with me, she is holding my shirt. That is my paternal Grandma, the one married to that handsome Marine. If you click the picture I bet you can see the pole, it is laying down so I could keep it still.
This is one of those story's that shaped who I am today. A life changing moment for sure!
A story that I will never live down, one that I am actually proud of.
21 comments:
I used to run around with my shirt off. I think my parents encouraged it.
I still like to play badminton without my shirt on, I usually win when I play that way!
beckie~ I think my Mom and paternal Grandma thought nothing of it.
nikki~ I'll be on your team!!
OMG that is hysterical! My ex once stripped down at his friend's house. His friend came running in the house saying "[ex] took his clothes off!". Their moms, thinking he just meant his shirt said "that's okay, boys can take their shirts off". The little boy said "NO! He took all his clothes off!!"
I used to play with my shirt off when I was little. All the kids in my family did. Then I married into a family where a certain FIL freaks OUT if his grandaughter has her shirt off. Or is running around in a t-shirt and underwear.
Argh, in-laws. ;)
This is such a picture of the innocence of youth! It was definitely from a simpler time :).
If you were young enough to think that way, it was probably fine; the older kids just "knew" more...
I'm afraid if I did this now, they STILL might mistake me for one of the boys ;).
(glad you re-posted, I missed it last time)
I was the young one with lots of male cousins, too. I KNOW I would've done the same thing. Good for you.
I'll never look at badminton the same way again.
What a bunch of nerds, or maybe they were just baptists.
I loved that story and I too was a shirtless wonder. I'd still go shirtless if my belly didn't shake a bit. oops.
It sucks that we have to "leave that stage behind" - doesn't it? Underwires are NO fun, either.
I remember those days! How funny that now we would never think of letting a little girl run around like that...
You know - that always bothered me. I thought life was so unfair for women. (I still do!)
on the count of three let's get this double standard over and ALL TAKE OFF OUR SHIRTS.
(you first okay?)_
Wow, I wasn't expecting topless beach photos, LOL! I think that's perfectly normal for girls that young to go shirtless in that type of situation. Silly boys.
My kids shudder to think about the time we were out hiking with friends who had kids their age and the kids got soaked in a creek and we just had them all strip down to their underwear. Hey, the oldest was like 9. No biggie. They weren't embarassed then, but for some reason it embarasses them to think of it now that everyone is older.
I was too shy to play with my shirt off; but then again, I was not HOT. I am sorry...I couldn't resist.
great story and photo! (i'm glad you retold it for those of us who missed it the first time.)
SS~ LOL
melissa~ I am so glad I don't have girls or a FIL that might act like that if I did. I feel for you!!
robin~ yes it was from a simpler time, I was the second youngest out of 7 cousins...
AFF~ ...out of the 7 only 3 were girls.
robocop~ shaking my head at you ;)
WT~ not baptists mostly Mennonite...one of my male cousins is now a Mormon!
R~ it is pretty sad when my belly shakes almost as much as the girls do!! If it weren't for that I'd still want to go topless...I mean think about what one of my former jobs was!!! HELLO!! ;)
tiggerlane~ I hate underwires!
sandy~ If I had had a girl I'd probably let her run around the yard topless. probably because of my experience, otherwise I bet your right ;)
karmyn r~ I do too!!
pamela~ okay!
jenni~ yup that's no biggie....funny how they act about it now.
mjd~ your comment really made me laugh out loud!! ;)
alison~ thank you very much! I think I told it better this time than I did the first.
A good story, Pamela always seems to come up with good solutions!!!!
I don't remember if I ran around with my shirt off or not. Most of my memories I had a shirt on. Who knows though. LOL
Girls should be allowed to run around without shirts before they start developing. I think it's awesome.
It's so pants that we have to learn this stuff at some point. I think it's fab that you were comfortable with your little body. Obviously the older kids weren't, but that's theur problem. They shouldn't have made such a fuss.
Post a Comment