The Immature Brain of a Child

Many years ago when I was a child (1946 to 1964) I definitely had a child's mentality. Basically that equated to "Act Now...Think Later"!

As I watch the goofy things my little grandchildren do, I recently paused to think back when I was a kid. As memories would surface in my head, my oft repeated statement was, "I can't believe I did that!" I would imagine many of us did dumb things as a child so I've decided to share some of my memories. They may well jog the memories of many readers as well.

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1. The year was approximately 1950, at which time I was four years old. The kitchen stoves back then were white, with two burners on each side along with a cooking griddle in the middle. I can't recall what my mother had cooked for supper that afternoon, but I knew the griddle had been used. With supper over, Mom was cleaning up the kitchen and I set about to make some things with my modeling clay. At some point I decided to make a pancake with my clay. Wanting to make my play as realistic as possible, I asked my mother if the griddle was still warm. She didn't answer me so I promptly put my three middle fingers onto the grill to check it out for myself. Yikes!!!! Yes, indeedy, it was still hot! Three blisters promptly appeared before I could even get them into my mouth in an attempt to suck the pain away. Dumb, dumb, dumb!

2. When I was about eight years old, I often watched television after school on our old black and white. Cartoons came on about that time to entertain the children and keep them out of Mom's hair while she was preparing supper. Even back then cartoons were none too kind and characters would often trip or fall and land on their head. It got me to wondering what it felt like to fall on your head. Always being the inquisitive one, I promptly did a hand stand and abruptly took my hands off the floor so I would drop onto my head! I still remember the instant headache and the first thought that came into my head..."now that was really stupid" as I lay on the floor rubbing my aching head.

3. I always thought I had great reasoning ability but admittedly was proven wrong. I was 16 and had driven to visit my friends who lived in the next town, about 20 miles away. The night was one of those where the roads were clear and dry and the stars were shining brightly. I was in a great mood but knew if I didn't hurry I'd miss my midnight curfew. Back in the 60's we often traveled on little 2-lane highways and that night there was literally no other car in sight on the road. Putting the "pedal to the metal", I was cruising about five miles over the speed limit. About half way home I saw the headlights of another car some distance behind me. As I continued to drive it seemed the car behind me was getting somewhat closer. It was at that point I used my rationale. Not willing to let another driver think I was just some hick slow-poke, I kicked up my speed so he would not need to pass me. I was quite proud my actions kept the car behind me. My pride disintigrated when I got into the outskirts of the city, however, when the flashing lights behind me clearly told me to stop. Busted!

More to follow as the memory kicks in, lol.