My Unconventional Hobbies As a Kid
Hello! Here we are, back to talking about me again! I was thinking the other day about what my kids like to do. Of course in this day and age, it’s all about video games and YouTube. But when I was growing up in the late eighties and nineties, we didn’t have cell phones, iPads or that many channels on tv for that matter. So what was a kid to do?
I grew up in a safer area than where I live today. Kids could go out on the street with their bikes at 2am, no helmets and roam around until 7am and be perfectly fine - no cell phone to check in with the parents either. Call it part of being Generation x, but our parents generally let us fend for ourselves and it seemed fine. They weren’t overly concerned or worried, but in today’s times (especially living in a big city with lots of homeless people and drugs rampant everywhere), that behaviour would be considered neglect.
When I wasn't roaming my neighborhood by bike and trying not to get egged, I would usually be holed up in my room reading a book or doing some other crafty thing. I mean, there was an age where I was in love with barbies. I always wanted a barbie dream house growing up. It wasn't something that got realized, so I decided that my daughter would get one for Christmas this year. She loves it!
There was one thing I was obsessed with for many years. In grade four, I was able to purchase something from the Scholastic Book Fair from my school. It was a folder with some stickers and it was called the “Secret Folder”. It had “investigation'“ stickers and “for my eyes only” stickers - you get the idea. My best friend and I came up with this idea for a “Best Friends Club” and then we went wild and we added all of these smaller clubs inside of the “Best Friends Club”. It was something fun and interesting for a pre-teen to do, and we used our imaginations to come up with some crazy ideas. I think that’s how we spent one of our summers.
Another thing that I did, also starting around grade four was crochet. I was still in the beginning stages of learning how to knit, (I mean, what Grade four kid knows how to crochet or knit?) but when it came to crochet, I blew it out of the water. I started simply practicing the basic stitch and then would add doubles and triples to make intricate patterns. I was into making doilies, barbie dresses (I wish I had kept those!), and I even made a crocheted bag that I submitted to a contest through school and won! I was literally obsessed.
Soon after that, after many trips to Michaels and craft stores, I discovered counted cross-stitch. I was never interested in the type of cross-stitch where you sew a design onto pillowcases. I liked the kits where a pattern and a pre-cut piece of Aida cloth was already provided. I think I cross-stitched until my early twenties, but that’s where I spent a lot of time. I remember visiting my dad when I was in Grade five. There was a store he had to go into, and my sister and I waited in the truck. I remember it being really warm out, but I sat there for at least an hour, contentedly cross-stitching away.
Like I said earlier, I was a big reader. That unto itself is not a strange past time for a kid, but by Grade four, I was really into Stephen King and Terry Brooks. I always loved horror (movies, books, etc…), and I also loved anything fantasy. I discovered Piers Anthony close to that age as well and read all the Xanth novels in record time. As a matter of fact, I’ve reread almost all of his books throughout the years, multiple times and I started reading the Xanth series to my oldest son, so he too could see what they were all about. I started getting into historical romance at a young age and would go to as many garage sales as I could to find Zebra Lovegram historical romances, because they seemed to be the best ones!
While I was into reading, I loved any books that detailed medicine or packing bags or packing food for a journey. I know that seems totally random, but I also started reading books like Clan of the Cavebear (1999), and the Outlander series (in more recent years). When I visited my dad on the farm, (my parents had gotten a divorce when I was eight), I would save my cats food packets, wash them thoroughly and then go around collecting plants. I had this book, Plants of Alberta, and I would research which plants you could eat and use for medicinal purposes. I would grind them up and pretend that I was a medicine woman. I would pretend I was going on excursions around the farm - I would pack up my “medicines”, take my bike and go to the far-off horse pasture where I would hang out with the horses, my dog, Buckey and sometimes my sister.
I’m sure there are other weird and crazy things I did growing up, but those are the ones I spent the most time on. Have you done anything unconventional or crazy as a kid? Let me know!
Thanks for reading and we’ll see ya’ll next time!
Sandra 💜
