Figure 1.--

When we were very little we used to sometimes use the paddling pool in the local park. That was before my little brother started school and my mum hadn't started back at work. She used to pick us up from school then and when it was hot we sometimes went to the paddling pool along with a lot of the other kids and their mums from all of the local primary schools. I often didn't want to go as I wanted to go straight home for some reason. The pool was just for the under-eights and most kids just went in in their underwear or even nothing – it was no big deal then. The ppol was only about a foot deep with a wall all round it where the mums sat chatting and occaisionally telling their kids to behave or they'd have to go home. I didn't like it as the kids were running around screaming and kicking water at each other. Mum would get us out of our uniforms but I wouldn't go in the pool. My elder brother used to spend his time either joining in with his friends splashing water about or protecting my younger brother who went in too. I used to sit on the wall watching in between my mum and someone else's mum who she'd get talking too. I wanted to go home – but I sort of knew my mum was making friends of her own as she didn't have relatives in the area. When it was time to go home she'd call my brothers – who never wanted to come out and asked for 5 more minutes or something. I remember once my elder brother wouldn't come out and my mum slipped her sandals off and paddled in to get him. I thought that was funny.

Park Paddling Pool

When we were very little we used to sometimes use the paddling pool in the local park. That was before my little brother started school and my mum hadn't started back at work. She used to pick us up from school then and when it was hot we sometimes went to the paddling pool along with a lot of the other kids and their mums from all of the local primary schools.

I Didn't Like It

I often didn't want to go as I wanted to go straight home for some reason. The pool was just for the under-eights and most kids just went in in their underwear or even nothing – it was no big deal then. Funnily enough I didn't like the paddling pool then although I got to love swimming later.

The Pool

The ppol was only about a foot deep with a wall all round it where the mums sat chatting and occaisionally telling their kids to behave or they'd have to go home. I didn't like it as the kids were running around screaming and kicking water at each other.

Attire

Mum would get us out of our uniforms but I wouldn't go in the pool. My elder brother used to spend his time either joining in with his friends splashing water about or protecting my younger brother who went in too.

The Mums

I used to sit on the wall watching in between my mum and someone else's mum who she'd get talking too. I wanted to go home – but I sort of knew my mum was making friends of her own as she didn't have relatives in the area. I used to listen to the conversation too – I didn't understand it all but it was interesting to me. Now and again another mum would ask why I didn't go into the pool – but my mum said I didn't really like the water – ironic really as it was me who took up swimming later. I just didn't like big crowds of kids – I liked hanging around with a few good friends who I knew well even then.

Drying Off

When it was time to go home she'd call my brothers – who never wanted to come out and asked for 5 more minutes or something. I remember once my elder brother wouldn't come out and my mum slipped her sandals off and paddled in to get him. I thought that was funny. We'd never planned to go paddling so didn't have towels and stuff – but another mum would normally lend one. Then my mum would just put my brothers' underpants back on (I'd never taken mine off – not out of shyness or anything but just as I wasn't going in the water) together with our socks and sandals. My brother always objected to having to put his socks back on – but I preferred it as, as I've said before,I found school sandals uncomfortable worn without socks.

Barefeet

Mum wouldn't let us go barefoot as at that time dogs were allowed to run freely in the park with the consequent problems but she liked the idea of us letting the air at our feet around the paddling pool – where dogs definitely weren't allowed - even if we didn't go in like me. Mum always made us wear our sandals - if little else - when walking home through the park even on the grass. Her reason for that was that dogs could go anywhere in the park then and people weren't so socially responsible as they are now (no "poop scoops" and such).For that reason we always took our shoes off at the front door too (or were supposed to!) and mum checked them. It's not a nice subject but I recall these thing of "dogs mess" as my mum called it being quite a bane of our lives as a boy. There was in fact a smaller park (known as "the dog's park") near my friend Michael's where we were not allowed to play - even though Michael's brothers and others from his school did (football). I could write about the beach (real seaside one's not the river one I told you about) seperately but on this topic we always wore our sandals once out of the sea - dogs again but even broken glass too (lemonade bottles) - things are better now but even on holiday I remember mum had to look out for us because of these socially irresponsible people.Another thing was some boys had moulded plastic closed toe sandals which you could go into the sea with and not lose like you could the slip on "flip-flops".We never had them but it shows here,at least, some boys never went barefoot even on the beach and in the sea.

Return Hime

Then mum bundle our shorts, shirts and ties into the little plastic satchels we had then (we didn't get proper leather ones until we were older) and fix our blazers at the tops of them – or sometimes she'd carry them for us. At that ! time we still wore caps at our school and my brother always wanted to wear his – as did his friend. I used to think that he looked funny in school socks and cap and just his underpants and satchel in between as we walked home - although I was little different except for the cap.

Ice Cream

When we got to the point where the path split – one towards the park gate near our home and the other to the one near his friends he would want an ice-cream. At that point there was an ice cream pavilion but it always had a long queue outside. Anyway my mum wouldn't let us eat sweets and things outside of normal mealtimes. When he got older my older brother was probably a lot more help to my mum than I was but at that age he was a lot more boisterous than I was. He'd complain and get in a temper and then mum would usually lose her temper and smack him. I used to feel sorry for him then – but so did my mum as she sent me on a bit ahead with my little brother – who was in his reins – and I could hear her patiently explaining to him once again why it wasn't good to eat sweets between meals. When I stopped at the gates they were normally all friends again and mum would then stop at the corner shop to buy a block of ice-cream for us to have at home after tea. She didn't do this that often – but like so many things with my brother we differed in taste and took turns – I liked plain vanilla – he liked “raspberry ripple” or “chocolate” (which my little brother liked too). If he'd been smacked I always let him choose even if it wasn't his turn so I wasn't all bad.

Created: 4:29 AM 10/9/2004
Last updated: 5:42 AM 10/9/2004