Stories

​The Stories of the Great Depression
@http://ruthlace.blogspot.com/2006/12/christmas-in-united-states-south-in.html More here: @http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-54463_18670_18793-53511--,00.html

**Justin R.** The national recovery administration or the (NRA) help revive the industry.The NRA job was simple there job was to establish codes of fair practice that would set the price of the production to a minimum wages,and maximum hours in the industry.The NRA also supported the workers,and sought to stabilize the economy by ending ruinous competition, labor conflicts,over production,and the deflating price.The General that led this operation was name Hugh Johnson,when NRA got to a promising start in the summer of 1933,over 500 industries sighed their code to 22 million workers in new york.But the NRA success was short because john proved to be an overzealous leader and alienated many business,and people.

Harry Hopkins one of Roosevelt's best friends,and most trusted advisors, asked why the federal government could not simply hire the unemployed and put them to work for money and so they can support their family's. There was a program to attack the unemployed,and the public works.By the mid 1933 the conservation corps(ccc) hired more then 300,000 people but they was mostly young man between the ages of 25 to 30.

**J.R. Schultz-Kritz** Back in my middle school days I remember as a child loving sports, especial basketball. I was on the basketball team all three of my middle school years and my 8th grade year I played volleyball. I remember the fun times we had at practices and I remember winning championships for both the teams I played on. I believe sports kept me out of trouble most of the time.

In school I was always kind of the class clown I loved making people laugh even though being the class clown wasn't worth the detention. Sometimes being the class clown would effect my grades but I always made sure I wasn't failling or had missing assignments. School was boring for the most part, but certain teachers made it more fun to be in their classes by cracking jokes or doing stuff we could relate to. 7th and 8th grade were pretty cool years because the teachers would treat us like adults. Middle school was preparing us for high school and most of us were already prepared. Some of us got accepted to more than one high school, some of us knew what high school we were going to and some of us already had are classes picked for their high school. Middle school was three very fun years and though those years went by fast they're three years I will never forget.

** Jose A. **
When i was younger, most days would be the same. I would wake up for school around 6:15 every morning to the sound of the song I Made It by Kevin Rudolf blaring in the background. I was with my little brother and sister for breakfast. Often, I would grab cereal that was on the kitchen counter and would pore my milk in the bowl with the Frosted flakes as I ran out the door to get in the car with my mom,brother, and sister. Then around 7:45 we would go inside school so we can sit in the gym with are grade. I would always go with the 8th graders and i would hang out with my friends until it was 8:00,because that's was when school started. After we would leave the gym we would go to are lockers to get are first hours things,but when i would get my stuff i would talk to my friend until i was done talking to them about random stuff so i had to get to my homeroom class and we all had to go to assembly for 15 min. Then after assembly we would all go to are classes. On A-days at school was Writing class for first hour and in that class i would have my normal homeroom with me,but that was with only one homeroom that would have writing class first.

And 1 hour and 45 min the class was over so then me,some other people,and a couple people from my homeroom class was in my second hour class and that was social study class. Witch was just pretty boring i would mostly fall asleep in that class while the teacher would out on videos. And 1 hour 45 min after that class we have lunch at 11:20,and i would always have cold lunch during the day and then during lunch i would eat hot lunch. Everybody would make fun of me,because i eat a lot,but i don't care. Then during lunch we would always sit down with are homeroom unless one of the teachers would say that we could sit anywhere we wanted and if that happen i would always sit next to Marian and are friends Reggie,Aaron,Ivana,Sabra,Paulus and a lot of other people. During lunch we would have the most interesting conversions and they were always funny,and you would always leave with a smile on your face after lunch. Then lunch would end at 12:00 so we would all have to go back for homeroom for 5 min,then we would go to are next class.

My next class would be math always after lunch my class would be math with most of friends and my girlfriend and that would be forth hour. During math would be fun,because i would always have a friend of mine next to me and we would always work on the math work together. Then 1 hour 45 min later class would be over. Then my next class would be specials and that was any special the teachers gave you for the whole quarter. And my special was technology class and it was fifth hour. Then 45 min later would be sixth hour and that class we had to go to other class that was about classes that we needed help in and everything,in that class i needed help in writing. So 45 min later we would leave at 3:15 from school out of class to get are things out of are lockers and we would go in the gym or sit next to your little brothers or little sisters class until they called your name so you could leave with your parents.

The next day i would wake up at 6:15 again to the sound of I made it by Kevin Rudolf blaring out of my speakers in my room. After i would get ready i would run into the kitchen and eat a bowl of cereal before me and the kids would get in the car with my mom to take us to school. Now today at school is a B-day so my schedule would be different first when i would get to school i would be in the gym like always until 8:00. Then i would walk and talk to my friends while were all at are lockers getting are stuff for first hour,after i was done talking to my friends i made sure that i had my reading class stuff,because that was my first hour class after we'd have assembly. So after assembly i would always have my first hour class with my homeroom witch was reading class,during reading class we would all sit there and just listen and try to participate in the class,but some kids would just sit there. 1 hour and 45 min past and my next was science,so i went to my locker and hurrayed up to class or i would be late,because we only have 5 min to get are stuff and get to class. During science class we would just pay attention and just look at the clock to see when lunch would be,then after 1 hour and 45 min we finally got to eat lunch with my friends and we would have the best conversations. So at 12:00 lunch we over and we would have to leave with are class and go to are homeroom and sit there for 5 min then we had to going to next class witch was math like always,math was after lunch no matter what.

During math we would listen an always take notes,but i would always sit next to my friends or with Marian. Then after math we would have are specials and my special was gym,i love gym. Then 45 min later we had are last class of the day and it was only 45 min to so then the day was over,but during the day my friends and i always have fun while were in the hallways.

Hailey E.
When I was young, i didn't have the best life. My mom, sister and I lived with my grandma in a nice house in Washington until I was about 2, then we moved to Harlowton, Montana, a 1,000 person town. My dads whole family was there to, so i guess that must have been fun. i don't really remember. Then we moved to Washington to live with my gramma, in a really nice apartment complex in oak creek. My dad stayed behind to live with his family for a while, until he finished his work contract. (he worked for a carpet laying business). So then it was just my mom, sister, grandma and I. Finally when i was about 6 my grandma moved out about exactly the time my dad was coming home. I remember I was so excited because i could finally have my own room. Thats when things changed, my parents were always fighting, they even fought alot when we had friends over. My dad was gone alot, we didn't know where he went, but he took the car so we had no transportation. Finally because of all the fighting, my parents had gotten divorced when i was 11, and my dad moved all the way to Montana to live with his girlfriend and start his life over. He still talked to his kids all the time, so its not like he abandoned me and my sister. He just didn't have the life that he wanted and he couldn't find that life in Oak Creek. My sister and i had the choice to move with him but i had just started Middle School, and I didn't want to loose the friends that i had just made. My sister also chose to stay in Oak Creek, because she had just gotten into 11th grade in high school and its hard to start over at a new high school.

So my dad left and it was just me, my mom and my sister. I was with my friend almost everyday of the week, so i missed out on alot of family time, and i kind of regret not being there. But, we did alot of things, we visited my moms family alot who lived in Michigan, and we went to Disney World in Florida with them to. When i was in 7th grade my mom started dating this guy Joe. They were always together and it always seemed that she liked him more then me and my sister. My mom completely changed. So, thats when i got an attitude and my mom decided it would be best to send me to Montana to live with my dad to 'straighten out my attitude.' I didn't like this idea, but im kind of glad she did it because i got to see my dad and i made some great friends in the process of 'straightening out my attitude'. When i got home in June it was my sisters high school graduation and everyone was there to say welcome home. That was a very fun day. Then in August we moved, and i had to move to a new school, that i was not very excited about doing. I went to Burdick, and I made new friends. I guess im pretty happy with my life. Sometimes, i wish i could live it over and see how differently life turned out. When I was in School, we had the same routine for mornings everyday, except on weekends. We woke up everyday at 6. Get up, take a shower, then get dressed, do my hair, and go to school. It took 15 minutes to get to school everyday. When i was in school in Montana

Justin R.
When I was younger I cough my first football ever since that day that got me interested in sports. I'll never forget that day it was a hot summer day I was sitting in the living room watching TV. When my dad asked me did I want to learn how to play football.He took me in the yard where he made me do strange poses with my legs and arms he told me to always stretch before playing.After I got done he told me to go back when out of know where he threw the ball at me it hit me in the face in front of my sisters,and my friend I was so embarrassed you can see it in my face as my cheeks turned red like a rose in the summer sun. My dad saw it in my face as I started to cry he told me to go in the house and wash my face off he followed me in the house and told me to stop that crying because know one likes a cry baby.Later he asked me did I want to play sports when I get older I told him yes with a frown on my face.He told me if I join a team the couch would be hard on me and would take no mercy on me.My dad showed me how to take pain,and how to focus on the football and nothing else he told me that if I didn't learn the skills I'd never be able to play football I looked up at him with a strug look, and said I would try harder. The next day I was up early so I can eat breakfast and do my stretching. When I heard my father getting up from his slumber he asked me how long was I up it told him not that long he asked me was I ready to resume my practice I told him with fire burning in my eye yes he grinned at me and grabbed my shoulder.I knew from that day on my dad would always have my back through good and bad and love me like no father had loved is son before.I was raised with eight sister,and three brothers so I had to act tuff,and strong so I could holded own grounded.So I knew I can do this it wasn't hard at all so when I put my mind to it and practice my skills I was able to couch.

Becca B.
It was the year 2009-2010 and I was finally in 8th grade! I remember all of my friends, and the people I never talked to. I had the same routine every day, except on weekends! I would wake up, get dressed, wake everybody up, eat and go go go! In the morning I would always start the car, a Chevy cobalt I don't know why though. I guess it always made me feel older and smart. Then we would leave for school. I was always ready to go to school, my friends might not have seen it in me, but I was. In the morning I would sit in the gym, quietly. Hoping that someone would talk to me, nobody ever talked to me in the morning except for my cousin Jason (when he was there early). When the teachers gave us the cue that we can go upstairs, I was always second. I would always do the announcements in the morning too! I had such a great time in 8th grade, I didn't ant to go to high school.

I spent the weekends a little different from my friends. I would every once in a while hang with friends but not too often. When I'm not with friends, I'm either with my mom or outside with my neighbors. I remember them because they were my friends that I can trust and I know they will always understand me! Edwin was the sporty friend who loved to show off. Then there is Kristi, the friend that I can trust with my life. Sure we have gotten into our arguments but we always work them off. We have spent five years together and I already call her my sister. She calls me her sister back. I have had so many good memories with the both of them. I call us the three musketeers but I haven't told them still. My parents are separated and have been forever, but I am fine with that because I have the best step parents. Every other weekend I would go to my mom's house and the rest of the time I would be at my dads obviously. At my moms house I have two siblings, Bailey and Molly. My brother Bailey is active and sensitive. He loves to go outside and loves to play video games like any other boy out there. Now, my sister Molly likes to watch Sponge bob, Blues Clues, and Elmo's World or Sesame Street. She loves to be outside, and act like a boy (acting strong and being rough). At my dad's I have a sister Marissa which would always get on my nerves on purpose. I understand now that that's just what little sisters love to do. She is the best sister and I couldn't ask for a better one.

I felt as if I lived three separate lives. One at home, one at school, and one at my mom's house. The life at school for me was quiet, exciting, and tired. I would act different in school than at home. I remember that I would hang out with friends and try making conversation with them, but not every time succeeded. My parents thought that I was always talking to people and having every one wanting to hag out. They were right about the people wanting to hang out, but not every one would always want to talk to me. Everyone was too busy talking with someone else or other people. I was O.K. with that because I knew that they were still my friends and that they would always help me and be there for me, and especially want to talk to me. I was the one people knew as the one who liked to talk. I still like to talk, a lot actually.

My life at my mom's was laid back, calm, and active. I was always outside and running around chasing my sister Molly. I am always eating food and being active! I don't have much to say about what I did at my mom's house. Every once in a while we would rent movies from Block Buster and have our movie night. we would all fall asleep during the second or the third movie. Then all we would do is watch Molly and Bailey outside, when it was warm outside. I would not go outside in the winter time because it was too cold.

Life at my dad's was complicated yet reasonable. I felt as if they were doing things to get rid of me in a way. They were always bossing me around and letting my little sister get away with everything. Everything such as, she would say stuff that if they herd me say, I would be grounded. I didn't get why she got away with that.

**Briana P.**
I remember watching my brother was no piece of cake. I always looked forward to going home, just not the walk. I always took the bus, I remember my bus stop was like 5 blocks away from my house. By the time I was home my mom was getting ready for work in the bathroom, and hopefully my brother was still taking a nap up stairs. Everyone in my family knew that my brother was going to be the trouble maker of the family.

My mom would be on her way to work at about 4:30, my mom always had me and my sister put up our phones when she was going to work, but we never really did, we just made sure that Caden wasn't getting into anything. I would multi tasked, well, triple tasked, watch Caden, text, and watch T.V. I remember one time that me and my sister were watching Caden, and he didn't have a nap. My sister and I were just passing a ball back and forth, for some reason Caden had a bat in his hand, but anyways he was yelling for us to pass the ball to him. My sister and I just kept on playing. My brother was getting more and more annoyed that we weren't listening to him. All of a sudden Caden just swung the bat as hard as he could at our flat screen T.V. The T.V looked like it was a window when a baseball would broke thru it. I never knew that a foam bat could break a t.v. When my mom got home we all got yelled at, from that day on, I never messed with Caden if he didn't have a nap.

Adam K.
Once when I was younger, to be exact, when I was in 5th grade, my old friend Amber had some from move into her house for a while, I think it was because they were behind on bills so they had no other choice but they used to live with her for a while. Anyway, I had this scooter that turned into a skateboard, I have had it since I was 4 or 5 years old, well this thing was pretty old so its grip tape was torn and one of the plastic wheels by the way were really fast, were chipped. One day I decide to go by Amber's house with Cody and Grumpy and we went to get the ramp so we could go down the hill and do jumps off it, so while Cody and Grumpy were doing that I was doing that with my scooter thing for a couple houses away, by the way the day before that I was running and I tripped and I was bleeding and had a big scab. Well, getting back to the day we set up the jump, well I decided to go to the top of my street hill and go off the jump, normally I pull up to get air when I did the little jumps.

Then, I got to the top of my hill and I went down as fast as I could, and still pulled up and from the ground to where the wheels were on the scooter/skateboard was a 15 foot difference. On the plus side I landed it, but I lost control and went flying off it, I got bad road burn but I was ok, but when I got up someone screamed "Eww...look at your are!" and when I looked down I was GUSHING blood, it was like pouring out of my arm, because after I got up after being on the ground for about 5 seconds, my arm was already cover in bright red blood! I didn't know, all I felt was a sting. I found out my scab came right off! Surprisingly I didn't cry, but it really hurt when my mom grabbed my arm and put it under the sink and hosed me with water, but I still never cried. After the 5 minutes I was being hosed down I went back outside, and I asked everyone if they wanted to see if they could find the scab, I don't know why I asked that though, I guess I thought it would be cool to see it.

Well right before we gave up, I actually found my scab, whole!! It was nasty, but to this day I still have a scar.

**Julian W.**
When I was a toddler I always liked to play "Star Wars" related video games or watch the "Star Wars" trilogy and the prequel trilogy. "Star Wars" always had the bestlightsaber duels,but mostly in the prequel trilogy. My favorite characters in the "Star Wars" saga was Darth Vader and Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus. Darth Vader was my favorite character because he was the very first sith lord and he gave the audience a sense of fear of his evil heart. Count Dooku on the other hand was a sith lord that was a charming yet evil person. Before Count Dooku became a sith he was originally name Count Jard Dooku. After Qui Gon Jinn died in episode one he became the Emperor's second apprentice named Darth Tyranus. Even though I love the movies I always appreciated the video games because there are different characters that you can play as which include: LukeSkywalker,ObiWan Kenobi, Han Solo, Chewbacca,and Leia Organa.

The other characters are: Clone troopers,stormtroopers,rebels,bounty hunters,Jedi,Sith,and Dark Jedi. Possibly my most favorite "Star Wars" game is "Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith" because you get to relive the events that happen in the movie except it's just an action/adventure game. Although the game only allowed you to play as two characters in this case it was Obi WanKenobi and Anikan Skywalker /Darth Vader the video game that is the best is "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed". The Force Unleashed tells the story of Darth Vader's secret Apprentice a.k.a the main character/Starkiller. I loved this game because it allowed you to use the full power of the dark side to obliterated the last of the Jedi. My favorite part of the game was that you can fight Darth Vader himself and Darth Maul. (Darth Maul appeared in "Star Wars Episode 1 the Phantom Menace".) "The Force Unleashed" also allowed you to choose between defeating Darth Vader or try to defeat the emperor. Defeating Darth Vader gives you a Dark side alternate ending. Trying to defeat the emperor is the actual Light side ending which has to be my favorite because it is the beginning of "Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope".

**Ariel D.M.**
When I was fourteen years old, I remember having a lot of stuff in my home. We had a lot of newspapers, books, magazines and clothes. My family had so much stuff, that it was hard to walk through the house without knocking something over. It was also very easy to lose something in the piles of books we had. But, the lost object would always be found in one of the piles.

One day, I was looking for an overdue magazine I checked out from the library. At that time, I thought that the magazine was returned. My mom and I looked through the piles we had around the house for two weeks. Then, a librarian left a message on the telephone saying that they found the magazine. It turns out that the magazine was in another book we took back to the library two weeks earlier. My mom and I were relieved that the magazine was returned.

**By Kyle J.**
Looking back at my childhood I consider myself lucky. Once and a while during spring break, or summer vacation, my family would go on a trip somewhere, usually out of state. Most of the time we drove there to save money. But I didn't mind, it was fun seeing all the states on the way, and stopping for food at the gas stations, eating chips and snacks, rather than huge meals. We'd even stop at fast food restaurants and eat in the car, taking turns on who picks the next CD to listen to. My favorite trip of all time, better than Florida, even better than Oregon, would have to be our trip to Colorado. It wasn't really //one// trip, we'd been there three times! It was amazing! Past the thick forests and trees were mountains that stood like a wall against the light blue sky, if you looked back you could see the road begin to disappear behind them. When we'd arrive at my aunts we'd just sit around outside and talk about the drive, or plans for what to do later. We'd even go up to some cabins in the mountains and go fishing, then sit around a bonfire and eat smores. The lighting from the bonfire reminded me of the glow of a Television set in a dark room, I did kind of miss the TV though. Me and my brother Chad played football and baseball too.

In Florida we saw Universal Studios, and went to Disney World. It was great! We took an airplane there too! I remember in Universal Studios we we're on the Jaws ride, were you ride on a boat trying to escape the shark. The mechanical shark amazed me, I never realized that they could make fake sharks and things look so real! Then the ride ended with everyone getting a bit wet from the boat ride and the shark was killed by a guy with a rifle and a barrel of oil. I even talked my mom and dad into getting us to see "Terminator 2: In 3d!" I was disappointed with that because I thought the whole thing was a 3d film, but it was like a mini-play with a screen showing 3d backgrounds. Then we left at at the crack of dawn and I ate mini-cereal for breakfast.

Oregon and South Carolina were both awesome, but they were very similar. Oregon had the ocean, South Carolina had the Ocean, we did the same things. In Oregon we went on a kind of boat-raft that started with a "Z," but I forgot the actual name. It was kind of cool, we were looking for Whales. We saw tons of seals; fat seals, skinny seals, big seals, small seals, but no whales. The raft jumped up and down on the waves as we moved along on the tour. It was fun, but it kind of made me seasick. In South Carolina me and my dad went in a Haunted House. It was fun, and a guy chased us with a huge chainsaw.

At first Door County was boring. The only thing fun was going to buy ice-cream. But then my mom and dad let me go para-sailing! It was awesome. You could see anything, and it seemed like there suddenly wasn't any gravity. Then when they pulled me and the parachute back to the boat, there was a kind of tug and it was over; but it was awesome! Aside from Ice Cream, Para-sailing, there really wasn't all that much to do except see a bunch of weird stores(some stores were actually just houses with merchandise).

Though we went to Florida, South Carolina, Door County, and Oregon, Colorado will always be my favorite vacation. I went on a lot of fun trips when I was younger, and I'm very lucky. That's what I enjoyed in my childhood.

Jason B.
6:50 AM: My alarm goes off. It's time to get up. I get up, get dressed, make my lunch, and I'm ready to walk out the door at 7:15. The rest of the people in my house aren't. I sit around, for another 15 minutes, whether it be with the dog, on the computer, or in the car. 7:27 AM: Finally, everybody is out of the house into the car. I'm off on my journey off to school. 2:50 PM: I'm home. I'd throw my backpack on my bed, and turn on my computer. I'd make a snack, eat it and then relax. It was the end of March, so spring was rolling in. 6:15 PM: When it would get dark outside, that would be my cue to start on my homework. I remember that the dogs would start barking when my step dad got home. I would pay no attention because I was busy. When my homework was done, I'd appear out of nowhere, and ask the same question every day, "Whats for dinner?" If I never got a response, I would just make my own thing. If there was nothing to make at the time, then I'd sit there and bother my mom to go out to a fast food place and get some food. 7:30 PM: I can remember in 8th grade that there were nights where I had so much homework, it was 9:00 and I still had things to do. However, on the nights that I didn't have anything to do, I would just sit and talk on the computer or on the phone. I'll pause for 20 minutes, to take a shower, and then go right back to it. 8:50 PM: If I have school the next day, I know I have to go to bed earlier than I would on the weekend. So at this time, I shut down my computer, get off the phone, and walk out into the living room. I say goodnight, give my mom a hug, and go to bed. My average day doesn't consist of doing much more than school, socializing, and homework. How boring, right? I hope that is soon to change.

**By: Joe O.**
The memories of my early life are quite vivid, and I remember it well. When I was five years old and I was in Hawaii. It was one of my best memories I had in my early life.

It all started when I was in Milwaukee and my mom and dad wanted to go on a trip. My dad saved money for this for about 3 years. We knew that we wanted to go to Hawaii but we didn’t know which island we wanted to go to. There were many islands In Hawaii like Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Honolulu, Lanai, and Maui. But after a long argument between my mom and dad of which island we wanted to go to, we all agreed on going to go to Honolulu Hawaii. We also decided to bring Grandma along.

When we finally got to the airport, my dad was trying to look for the plane that we had to go on. I remembered that it toke us over an hour to find our plane and we only had a few minutes of spare time. When we finally got on the plane, I was nervous because this was my fist time on an airplane. I remembered I was crying, a lot. The polite had a little delay and we were sitting there for 10 minutes. Then, all of a sudden, we were flying. My mom said that I was screaming because I was so scared. It took a very long time to get to Honolulu. It takes over 10 hours to get there. It was also boring on the plane. All you do is sit, eat, drink, sleep, and go to the bathroom. I pretty much slept through half of the plane ride and then I was just sitting there, doing nothing but looking out the window. Finally, after 10 hours of sleep and boredom, we were in Honolulu, Hawaii.

I remember it very clearly. There were pineapple and banana trees everywhere. The sky was so blue, the beaches were magnificent, and the scenery was amazing. It felt like I was in heaven. When we got to our hotel, we unpacked our suitcases and went outside to go swimming. After that we didn’t want to do anything because we were so tired after the airplane ride. The next day was one of the best days of my life. We went to an aquatic center to see a bunch of exotic fish. I was spectacular. There were all different kinds of fish like the puffer fish. My favorite fish is called the Whoma-Whoma-Nuka-Nuka-Apoa fish. That is how you say it Hawaii but the way you say it here is Nuka fish. That was the second day in Hawaii.

The third, forth, and fifth day was all swimming but I want to talk about what happened the sixth day. The sixth day was the second last day in Honolulu Hawaii. We got to go on a submarine trip. It was so amazing of how much life was in the ocean. I got to see coral, eels, octopuses, unique fish, and much more. After that my dad wanted to go to a bar to get a drink. When we got there, there was a pig on top of the bar with a sombrero on. I knew when I looked to that pig; it would be my best friend. That pig and me were chasing each other around the bar and telling secrets and eat burritos together. But then, my dad said that we had to go. I asked my dad to see if we can keep him, but we couldn’t. I will always remember that pig. When we left the bar we went to a party at the beach. It was really fun. We got to play games and do limbo. It was the funniest night ever. It was around 11:00 and I was tired. My mom took me back to the hotel and tucked me in bed and I fell asleep.

The next day was the last day in Hawaii and we got to go swimming. After that we had to catch our plane and head back to Milwaukee. When we got back to Milwaukee I told myself that I would always remember the time when I went to Honolulu, Hawaii.

**Richard C.**
Now that I am older, it seems like life goes by in a flash. When I was younger, it seemed like a year lasted forever. I wish I hadn't grown up so fast.

When I was a teenager, I had a crazy daily routine. First my mom would wake up at about 5:00 AM before she went to work at the hospital. Then my dad would crank up random music to wake my brother and I up.

Then we would go downstairs eat breakfast and watch TV on our 20-inch H-D TV in the kitchen. My dad would drop us off at school at about 7:30 AM. From there he would go to Tax-Air and drive his 18-wheeled Semi-Truck.

My mom would get back from work at about 12:00 PM and would pick us up from school at 2:30. When we got home from school, I would eat a snack and then I would watch Sportscenter on the family Sony Plasma Screen TV or go on the social networking site "Myspace" and talk to friends while my brother did his homework in the kitchen. When he was done, I would do my homework, if I didn’t finish it in school. If it were a nice day outside, my brother and I would play baseball, football, or shoot some hoops with our neighbors. If no one were outside I would ask any of my friends if they wanted to play football at Airport Park.

My dad would get home between 7:30 and 9:00 PM. He would work about 10-12 hours a day. When he got home he would take a shower and get comfortable. Then we would eat dinner and watch a Brewers game or Bucks game, whichever one was on, we would watch it. My mom would go to bed early, like around 8:00 PM. My dad, my brother and I would watch TV until about 10:00. Then we would go to bed, then the next day we would do it all over again.

Christina S.
When I was younger like 7 or 8 my family would all go pick out a Christmas tree then we would decorate it. We would always go on the first of December, and pick one of the best ones. As it started getting closer and closer to Christmas I can see all the snow falling on the ground, and that's when I knew Christmas was almost here. When I was younger I would always love watching the snow falling down because it looked so nice and white. When it was finally the night before Christmas eve I would go to my dads for Christmas and open the presents there. There was a lot of presents to open up, back then when I was 7 I always asked for Bratz or Barbie dolls or something like that. As I got older I started asking for computer games and stuff like that. The next morning on Christmas eve we went to my grandma's house and had Christmas. My grandma always made a ham with mashed potatoes, cheesy potatoes, and beans, and usually some other stuff. After we ate we would exchange gifts and open them. Then we usually sit down and talk until eight when my mom would pick us up. After my mom picked us up we go to my step-dads sister and then open presents there and talk. We usually stay until 10:00 or 11:00 and then go back home. On Christmas Day I woke up and I seen a lot of presents all around the Christmas Tree and I just wanted to go and open all of my presents. Then I went to my Aunts for Christmas day and had a good time.

Antoinette H.
===Back in the day, when I was much younger, I would enjoy everything. The memories of crisp summer nights and bone-chilling winters always slip into my fading memory. My brothers, sister and I would find some way to entertain ourselves. It might have been placing holes in our dirt backyard or playing with the neighborhood kids. === Growing up with a twin brother had its benefits as well as drawbacks. We would always find something to argue about. We were the Double Duo. To put it into simpler terms, I was Batman and he was Robin, my helpful sidekick. We would terrorize anything that stood in our path. Whenever I decided to color on the walls or make evil faces at our baby brother to make him cry, my twin would do the same. My brother and I would share a room and given the opportunity, we would sneak out the window. Our window was close to the ground, so it wasn't a far jump.

During the holidays, we didn't have many traditions. On Christmas, Santa wasn't the only person creeping around. My brother and I would get up at the crack of dawn to look at the presents. The Christmas lights would illuminate the house, spreading green and red colors everywhere. We would eat all of the store bought cookies that "Santa" didn't finish. We would dig into our stockings and our smiles would drop when we saw we that we got toothbrushes instead of candy. Our family would always invite family and friends over for Christmas diner. The Christmas tree would always be hastily decorated. Old projects of a paper Santa hung from the festive tree. I would always ask for Barbie or Cabbage Patch Dolls, but I never got the Cabbage Patch Dolls, though. I'm not sure why, maybe "Santa" ran out of them. Growing up I knew having an education was important. I always took kindly to school. When I was in kindergarten, there was one girl who would always bother me. She would follow me around the playground and constantly annoy me. I got so bothered by her, that I left school during recess sometimes. My house was a block away from the school, so I walked home. I wasn't supposed to walk anywhere by myself because the neighborhood wasn't the best, but as my mom would say, "there's a time and place for everything". I was eventually dragged back to school with tears streaming down my face. When I got back, I had move my clip to the orange part of the rainbow.

In school, I had good grades. I always did my homework and made sure it was done perfectly. I always struggled with math, though. I always dreaded the WKCE testing. My results for math would always be just short of advanced or proficient. My reading scores, however, were excellent. I don't read much anymore because my vision is failing but I enjoyed the times were I could live my life in another person's perspective.

In my teenage years, after school, my daily routine would be very tedious. I would go on Facebook, a social networking site. I had a Myspace page too, but we all know Myspace died. On Facebook, I would chat to my friends and think of silly things to post on their Wall. Technology changed so much when I was growing up that it was hard to keep track of the newest ipod thingies. When I was done chit-chatting with my friends, I would have dinner. Dinner was always at 5'o clock. The meals were never the greatest,unless it was pizza or Pork Chops. After Dinner, I would do my chores, then go back on Facebook or watch T.V.

My favorite T.V. shows were "V" and "Private Pratice". "V" is short for Vistors. The Vistors are lizards with the appearance of humans. The V's try to gain control of the human population. When the V's land their spaceships over parts of the world, it causes a commotion. Some humans have a hard time trusting the V's, while many believe they are here the help the Earth. The Fifth column ( ex- V's) try to destroy all of the V's. I now realize that I was such a nerd. "Private Practice" is a show that is themed around life in a doctor's world. My friends have always found a way to entertain me. Finding silly, random things to do on the weekend would always kill time. The smallest, least important things would always send us into a fit of giggles. Making fun of our bald 8th grade teacher made us laugh so hard our sides nearly bust. In fact, my dear friend's nickname, as a youngster, was Giggles. Her face would turn as red as a tomato and her obnoxious laugh could make mirror's shatter. Toilets were always the butt of our jokes. The things I learned in my childhood followed me throughout my years. It was a shadow of all the things I did and didn't do. Childhood has to be the best years spent. You constantly learn something new and I now know being a child was a great excuse to do idiotic things. There is still times when I release my inner-child and laugh uncontrollably. Whenever I see children getting excited over the fat man with the red hat, I am reminded of the many Christmases spend with my family. Seeing a rainbow reminds of all the time I was "naughty" in kindergarten.

Cassidy C.
Back in the day about twenty years ago, my daily routine was always the same. Once in a while something exciting would come up, which made my rut more shallow. Everyday, I can see the footsteps I took the day before. It was just the same old thing every day of the week. The beginning of my rut would start early in the morning at my mom's house. I had to get ready for school. Like everyone else, I got ready for school and left at around 7:30. I hopped into my mom's car and she drove my brother and I to our school that was right by my house. Walking through the doors of the school I knew it would just be like any other day.

For about 15 minutes, the whole school would sit in the gym waiting for their teachers to pick them up. When I got into the gym I sit in the same spot I sit in everyday, and talk to my friends. I mean, I didn't think of what I did everyday as boring. Soon, each class would be taken up stairs and start learning. When my eighth grade teachers picked up the class and I, we would begin our day.

Upstairs, everyone would be at their lockers getting their required things for the class they were in. I got my social studies and science books along with my ripped folder and my worn out notebooks. In class, everyone turned on their computers, Everyone got their own because we did most of out work on them. Rarely, the teacher would use the texts book and we would do homework on paper. The only time we did that was for text book questions or English practice. Like everyday, we learned new things in science and social studies, got homework, wrote in our web blogs, and probably got a lecture or two. Usually during class kids would be texting on their cellphones or listening to their iPods which distracted them from doing work. Around 10:00, the whole class went down to different classes. On Mondays, the class would take gym, but the rest of the week, we would go to art, shop, music, or music appreciation. I was in art class. Luckily, art class wasn't so much of a rut. Sometimes we would do the same art project, but somehow, it seemed different everyday.

Art ended at twenty to eleven and My friends and I, would meet up and do really weird things. Hanging out with them at school, made me jump out of my rut. We would then go upstairs. Until it was time to go down for recess,the class would do their homework. During this time, it was very boring because nobody could talk. People did it anyway. The moment our teacher told us to log out, everyone got super excited. I don't know what the big deal was though. It was just recess. Then, everyone literally ran out of their seats, to their lockers. It was crazy. They seemed like animals. However, My friends, Antoinette, Megan, Victoria, and I stayed up. We thought it was much better. Some days though, I would go down for recess and lunch, but some days I just stay up.

Lunch is always the same, whether I stay upstairs or not. I guess there's a difference, but whenever I stay upstairs we always have fun, even though I always forget what we do. When I'm in the cafeteria, it's really wild. A lot of people yell, and everyone is all cramped onto a bench. Then, after 10 minutes of eating, we have to be quiet. When lunch ended, my class would go upstairs and start the afternoon class.

The afternoon class always seemed a little different everyday. I mean sometimes we would do math longer or skip out on health. Sometimes we do it in a different order. We also had computers in that class. Sometimes we would use them, but really all we did was go onto online books, do math practices, or do research. The day soon ended and everyone ran to their lockers (like always), but in a more formal way because we had to go in rows. The busers lined up in one line and the people who walked, or got picked up were in another line. Everyone would get dismissed and I waited outside for my brother. When he walked out, we walked home, in the same way we do everyday. Sometimes, I even turn a corner so I don't get bored with walking the same path everyday.

Home was always the same. There was chores we had to do, friends I hung out with, and homeowrk I did. I would eat dinner and spent the rest of the night doing nothing. Somedays, I would do different things. I always go over to my neighbor's house and hang out, but when I stay at home I do the same thing. Ginally, I go to bed and the next day I would start my rut all over again.

Megan K.
Christmas always made me happy when I was a child. When I was between the ages of 3 and 9, I lived in a house where some of Christmas was spent. It would begin first with the snow fall. When ever I watched the snowstorms out my bedroom window, I knew Christmas was getting closer to me, with the millions of snowflakes that piled up on the ground. Soon after, about maybe two weeks of waiting and watching, a heavy white blanket covered everything in sight outside, and the month of December had finally come.

I would always get so excited and happy because of the impostor Santa Clauses I would start to see everywhere. They would be in my neighbor's yards, store windows, and even in the mall. In the mall, I would go get my picture taken with Santa, and he would ask me what I wanted for Christmas that particular year. I remember when I was about 8, and I asked for a cell phone. I never got it though, but my mom told me Santa sadly, had a policy. Children who were 12 could only get a cell phone, so I settled for the eighty thousands stuffed animals I received that year.

After the picture with Santa, my family would move on with decorating the tree. My oldest brother, Jordan, and my dad would go down in the basement, and carry up this enormously, huge, green bag. The bag held the set up for the ugly, fake tree we used every year. Then I would watch my mom and my brother set up the tree. Once that got finished, I would sit at the table, waiting for my dad to bring up a box filled with different sparkly, sequins and another box filled with different sizes of Styrofoam balls. Then my mom would bring out these little tacks that we used for our homemade Christmas ornaments. My dad would help me push the tacks into the Styrofoam balls when I picked out a rainbow of colors to stab into my ordainment. Once everyone finished making ordainments, we would start decorating the tree. We would have shiny red, white, and gold beaded necklaces go around the tree, bright white tinsel, and more assorted ordainments. Then the tree would be entwined with thousands of different colored flashing Christmas lights.When the tree would look festive enough, my mom or Jordan would put an angel on top that held a blue light that lite up.

Then from the tree, I would watch and help my mom, my dad, and my brother Jordan walk around and decorate it. One year, in summer, my brother Jordan had put blue Christmas lights around the roof of my house. Jordan had to climb out my parent's bedroom window to hook the lights on the gutters because we didn't have a ladder that was tall enough to put up on the side of the house. For a minute, Jordan needed help, so he had my youngest brother, Cody, who is younger than me, go out the window and help him. I wanted to help because I thought jumping out the window would be cool and fun, but Jordan just wanted Cody's help. The lights were put up during summer because it was safer without the ice and snow everywhere, especially when you were two stories off the ground. When the lights were lite, and the house was brightly shimmering with Christmas cheer, we would watch the classic Christmas movies like Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer.

About three weeks after the house being decorated, and getting eight pounds of candy from St. Nick, it was Christmas Eve. At eight, I was a hyper and jumpy blonde-haired girl, who didn't want to sleep on Christmas Eve. My parents would make sure I'd stay in my room all night by telling me, "If only one person is up in the morning and goes downstairs to see the presents, then all the gifts will magically disappear." So I'd have to sit tight and wait for someone else to wake up so I could go downstairs. I would wait on top of the steps for somebody to get up, but my brothers and my mom would sleep until three in the afternoon if they had the chance to. So finally, my dad would usually get up when he had to go to the bathroom, and I would then drag him downstairs.

At the first peek of the presents, I would run around the house with a burst of energy, and screaming "Oh My God!" a million times. After I would settle down, my dad and I would sort out the presents in to piles. A pile for Cody, my youngest brother, Blake, my second oldest brother, Jordan, my oldest brother, Patty, my mom, Phil or Philip, my dad, and Megan, me, the youngest out of everyone. I usually had the biggest or tallest pile of gifts. When gifts were organized, my dad and I would watch T.V. and wait for everyone to come down. If I thought everyone was taking too long, then I'd run up stairs and wake everyone up, and haul them all downstairs. Everyone would then, sit near their pile. My dad would give us the signal that meant we could start ripping through the wrapping paper to get to the "good stuff." When shredding the decorative wrapping paper from my first gift, I would be raving. The paper would be off my present in three seconds. I would start screaming "Oh my God! Thank you Santa!" before I really even looked at what I got. When I was 8, I was still hopping to find that cell phone in one of my gifts, but didn't. I was still amazingly happy with everything I got that year though.

My favorite gift I received when I was 8, would have to be the art's and crafts table for kids. The table had long sheets of white paper that I could roll out and rip my own size of paper to use. Also there was a holding place for my markers, crayons and pencils. I also was given art supplies to go with my arts and crafts table too. I was so over-joyed, I didn't care about getting a cell phone anymore.

After the mountains of crumpled wrapping paper were picked up and thrown out, my brothers and I would count how many presents we got. I would always have the most, and I defiantly gloated all the time. Once everyone was done with the cleaning up, I'd eat breakfast that my mom prepared for everyone. Then we would leave to go to my grandma and grandpa's house, who lived in Milwaukee with us.

From my grandma and grandpa, I would usually get candy, some other special gift they picked out for me, and money. We would eat lunch there, but then leave right after to go up north. My grandma and grandpa who lived in some town near Green Bay was about a two hour drive. The drive usually lasted three hours because we always stopped somewhere every 30 minuets.

When we arrived at my grandparents farm, I would see 10 or 15 cars parked on the grass, which was my mom's family. I'd enter a humid house, filled with family members, most of which I didn't know the names of. I would become quiet and not talk to anyone, unless I knew who they were. Usually after three hours of nothing, but silence from me, a big meal would be ready for everyone to get into a line, and grab food.

Once everyone got something to eat, it would be time to pass out presents. Everyone usually got one or two, and you'd be lucky to get a third one. I usually sat near the Christmas tree, so my mom would make me help pass out gifts, where I really never want to. When the gifts were all given out, we'd start pulling the wrapping paper off of our presents. A black garbage bag would be passed around to throw out the wrapping paper so it would be easier to clean up. I usually got one present from my grandparents, and one from my Godfather (A.K.A my Uncle Allen). From my grandma, I'd get clothes, and from my uncle I would most likely receive some sort of popular toy.

When people were finished talking about the gifts they received, people would then just linger around the house until they left. My family would wait until everyone left to help with the clean up. Then my family would either stay at my grandparent's and leave the next day, or we would leave late at night. When we arrive home, I would always get this sad feeling because Christmas was over. Then I'd get over the feeling in a week and start thinking about what I wanted the next Christmas.

Kyle P
I remember I was 7 when my parents were divorced and I did not know if it was my fault or they just didn't like each other but, it was they didn't like all the fighting they did. I now know that it was not my fault I know that they just were not meant to be together. It was so hard to go back and forth I didn't like so now I live with my father. It made life a little easier and I didn't have worry about the house I was going to or seeing my parents fight who's day it was.

When I was A teenager it was not the best time. When I got home I had to do my chores then watch my little sister and make my bed. There was a lot more over the weekends I had to clean the bathroom and I had to do launder. It was the worst because so hard to do it in one day. I remember it was close to my birthday and I was not to excited because the times were so hard and I knew I was not going to get something.

That was my life in my own great depression.

** Charles X. **
Back when I was still teenager I had a hard life. We lived in commercial house were we would like on top of a business. We had five members of our family, my two brothers and my mother and father. It was hard because my dad had to work and my mom had to go to college. I had to go to school for most of the time and came home and played on the computer all day. I wished I could go outside, but I lived a neighborhood that has many dogs and cop cars running all over the place. So my only choice was to stay inside and play videos games all day. Since I played on the computer all day, I could talk to my friends on Facebook and Myspace all day. I talk to them how their life is and compare how my life is to theirs. I see that other kids my get things a lot, but I say to myself that I am thankful for the things I have.

When I was in school it was just an average day like any other. There was one particular day though because is was when Barack Obama inaugurated. He was the first African American president. It was a wonderful day to get inaugurated too because the birds were chirping and the sun was out. It was a wonderful moment in the United States history as the first African American president. I remember the war in Iraq and Afghanistan about the stories. How my friend brother came home and said "I can't believe how people could sleep by roads and not knowing if they are going to wake up the next morning." He also told stories how it was fun it was too. How he would say the seeing his friends mess up in the training camps.

Now for the fun part of my life because this shows how we could have fun back when I was young. I had this one particular group and we were best of friends. My best friend Nathan was the one who I always hung out with. He would be the "Lady's Man" because he always had a girlfriend. I would say that it was kind of true, but I could of got a girlfriend too, but I never wanted one. Nathan and I always played volleyball and did stupid stuff like go sledding on a ice hill. My other two friends always did funny stuff like throw me down stairs and went to the corner store. I remember when we went to Yexus Fest (Jesus Fest) at UW-Milwaukee. I always went to Taco Bell with my friend Vang and Nathan was just there and got free tacos. Vang and I bought Tacos and got free soft shells tacos, but Nathan was there and he was hungry. So we gave Nathan our free Tacos.

Well, this was how it was like when it was 20 years ago. Everything is so different, but still the same in the world. I sure do miss the good times.

Jamie W.
This is how I would do my Christmas in the younger lifetimes. My mom and dad were never together. Thus I would spend Christmas Eve and Christmas mornings at my moms, as well as Christmas day with my dad. due to every year on Christmas Eve we would go to my grandmas house and everybody on my moms side of the family comes and eats a Christmas dinner. After dinner I remember the tradition was that everybody was able to open one present for Christmas Eve. After wards we would all go home and go to sleep until, wink wink Santa comes. Mom never forgets to leave out the cookies and milk out for Santa, but I remember one time we made rice crispy treats instead of cookies for some odd reason. In the morning my youngest brother would always wake everybody up and get us to come look at what Santa left for us. Before we could even touch a present we would have to wait until my grandma comes so she can feel part of the experience. Finally when my grandma gets here we open our presents and just glory all the toys that we all got. Then around noon my dad would come pick me up and celebrate Christmas by his house and open presents. We stay their, hang out; look at all the cool new stuff we got. While in the kitchen dads making dinner. We usually have duck, some special Mac n cheese, which is really good. Then we would eat dinner in the living room together while watching the Christmas cartoons on TV. After dinner we go to my grandpas where all my dad's side of the family comes and open presents and eat dessert. For all those years I would hate it because before Christmas people would always ask what do you want for Christmas. I would always say I don't know, surprise me. Then they would get frustrated so all they would get me is clothes and money, but one time they got me a flashlight. That was my every year routine for Christmas.

** Darrell. C **
When I was a teenager, it was my 8thgrade year at school, my 8th grade class had computers for every student, and it was a great year. That was my last year at Burdick. I had been there for 8 years. I could not remember the time that I had been to another school.

Even though I hadn’t been to many because we just didn’t have the money, I loved going to sporting events, the Bucks, Brewers, and I could not wait to go to my first Packer game. I remember my first Bucks game it was when they wasn’t so good. But it was fun. I wish that I had had when to more. I always tried to catch them on T.V. I had love sports since I was a little kid. I all ways tried to get the new sports games that came out, even though video games back then cost $60 just for one game, but I though that it was worth it, I had a PS3 and a PS3 so I saw my self as kind of lucky back then.

A regular day it school when soothing like this, I would get picked up on the school bus at 6:25, I would be on the bus for an hour or some were about that. That bus had lot of people on it. But I had fun ridding the bus it was better then walking. School we had a lot of homework, too much. It was boring at school just like most kids my favorite time was lunch. We also had recess it was ok I guess. We were all to be going off to high school the flowing year; everyone was looking forward to that. Most people had no clue what high school they was going to, I knew that I was going to go to Ragon, or a suburb. So I was looking forward to that, I just getting out of the same school I have been going to forever. At that time that was the number one thing on my mind.

** Derek E. ** Every Christmas season our family and friends would come over so that every one could eat and talk to everyone we know. My mom would make the main dish for the meal and our friends and family would bring deserts. It was always fun to have everyone over because they would bring things like cookies, brownies, and muffins. My sister and I would always get a gift from our Grandparents, mom, dad, other family members, and friends.

When ever Christmas would come around my sister and I would always help my parents decorate for the season and we would always have fun doing it. My sister and I would have fun because we would set the tree up, put up toys on our walls, put things in the kitchen and we would even put tinsel on the tree. If we never put things up for Santa then we would cry and not have a fun time during the season.

But then after a few years of doing that, know on every Christmas Day we go out to Breakfast with our friends the Wysocki’s. They are really fun to play with and they are really good friends with us. And then at like 10 we would go to I Hop to have some pancakes or something new that they have. And at the end of breakfast we would ether go home or I would got to their house or Alex Wysocki would come over to my house. I like spending time with my friends and families.

Madelyn G.
Life as a child was always full of adventure. Friends of mine would go on and on about how their weekends would turn out to be boring, but I could never relate to that. My family always had things to do and places to go. We weren’t at spas and in hotels, in fact the recession made us skip many vacations but we always managed to find fun. One of the things I always looked forward to when I was a child was, Easter.

The day before Easter was always a great one because my “favorite” (don’t tell anyone) cousin would come and sleep over. Sometimes we slept over at my Grandma’s, which was always nice because she made us Polish Pancakes in the morning but we often slept over at each other’s houses as well. We’d braid each other’s hair and do our nails like teenage girls our age were often caught doing. We watched movies and managed to keep ourselves entertained with the help of the growing Internet. The nice thing about the Internet was that it was free, to us nevertheless. When we had finally collapsed in the bed covers it was late, but the few hours of sleep gave us enough energy for the ride out to Lake Geneva.

When it was morning all of us got up including my little sister, Sophia and helped cook a dish to serve at Great Grandma Joe’s. My mother was and still is an amazing cook. She made the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. Sometimes however, she didn’t make chocolate chip cookies. Sometimes she made her famous potato dish, a refreshing salad or kolaczkis, a polish cookie that tasted like heaven. To make them, we mixed cream cheese and butter until the mixture was light and fluffy. My mother refused to use the artificial sprayed butter. She said it gave people cancer. We then rolled the “doey” mixture into somewhat flat disks. When they were done in the oven we’d put pie fillings like Apricot, Grape, Raspberry and Strawberry in the middle. I always remember it to be a fun process, not to mention delicious.

In the car, we’d sometimes pick up my Grandma Linda. With gas prices as high as they were at times it was necessary to carpool. Plus, it was a pleasure to ride with Grandma. For one, it was a period of time in which you could “catch up” and talk about what you’d been doing lately. For another, I always loved having the pride of sitting with Grandma and watching her smile fill with pride as I told her about the events that had taken place in my life recently. Once, we got to Grandma Joe’s house in Lake Geneva we’d hide the eggs filled with candy or change in her humble yard. It was almost too fun watching the little ones quietly look for eggs and the “big boys” savagely plow for bushes for an immediate sugar rush. That’s boys for you! Once, the hunting was over, we’d dump our piles onto the grass and begin to trade like Native American pros. It’s amazing how much candy and spare change is worth when your little. You have little to no concept on reality.

The meal after the hunting was always incredibly tasty. Everyone brought in a dish and my Grandma Josephine who makes the most incredible, Hungarian Gulash would host a wonderful Easter Party. I loved Great Grandma Josephine. We was such a wonderful person and so easy to talk to. She seemed like an angel in my eyes. I loved her so much that I’d come out on Fridays and sleep over if I could with my Grandma Linda, Grace (my cousin) and my sisters. Anyway, we never left hungry. I think it was a pet peeve of hers to never let a guest go hungry. With everyone bringing in a yummy dish or two it was almost impossible to go hungry.

After the wonderful party, like kids often do, we played. We played tag, volley-ball, hide-n-seek, “house”, “school”, and anything else our imaginative little minds could think up. When we were puckered out, we plead to stay and sleep over at someone else’s house. As long, as it wasn’t our own. I still don’t understand the concept, but somehow it became funner when you were staying over at someone else’s house instead of your own. If the “pouty lip” or “puppy eyes” worked on the Moms than we could go. If we were with Grandma Linda, it was tradition to stop at Dairy Queen on the way back and devour a cone! Boy, I remember how much I used to love the “crunch cones.” I was easy to please, but I guess you could call it a good thing, at the time...

Typically, we always paint eggs in our family on Easter. It’s another family tradition. I remember the routine, quite clearly! First, you use the crayons to color your hard boiled egg and than you dip it into a color you like, using the metal egg holders. I used to love using the clear crayon because it was a surprise as to how your artwork turned out until you pried it out of the dye.

As Americans often do, we celebrated with some kind of desert despite the fact that we had, had Dairy Queen earlier. Hey, remember the metabolism you had when you were young? Seems like a long day, but really it goes by pretty fast when your young. Sometimes, I wished that Easter came around more often but then, it wouldn’t be so special. In fact, I know it wouldn’t be as special. What makes a holiday special is the prolonging. Sometimes, the funnest part of an event is the pre-log or the planning and anxiety that occurs before the event actually happens. Easter however, is a day where fun doesn’t leave your embrace for even a split-second. Easter, even in the recession is something to look forward to year after year. Easter, is something I will remember forever.

When I was 8, I dressed up as a doctor for Halloween. I wasn’t just a normal Doctor. I was a creepy serial killer looking Doctor, with fake blood all over me. I dressed like that because I wanted to scare someone. I thought I always dressed up in cute stuff, like as a princess or a fairy. I wanted to change things up and go as something that would freak people out when they saw me.
 * Tiffany S. **

It was a perfect Halloween night. It just rained earlier that day, and when it got dark it was gloomy and foggy. I went trick or treating with my cousin’s and my aunt. My two cousins were dressed completely opposite each other. My younger cousin was wearing a little mermaid costume. My older cousin was dressed as a Ninja.

The first 3 houses I went to, the people seemed to give me weird looks. When I went to the 4th house, a little kid, about 6, screamed and hid behind her mother. The mother started laughing. After we went through the whole block, it was about 10:00. When we went to the final house that was a little separate from the rest of the houses, I started to get scared. The house had weird aliens on the doorstep, that didn’t move and they were life size. I was too scared to go, but my cousins made me go anyways. When we went by it, it started to move. I got so scared I almost fell down the stairs. The “aliens” started to laugh and I noticed they were just people in costumes. I felt embarrassed, but I noticed I was the only one that went up, and that my cousins hid while I went by myself. That was my favorite Halloween because it was the most exciting and fun.

Samantha M.
When I was a teenager, I was annoying, especially around Christmas. Months even a year before Christmas, I would talk about what I wanted for Christmas. I would normally say a electric piano, a guitar, a bike, an i-Pod, a computer, or even a Wii. When I would finally decide what I wanted, I would keep annoying my mom about it. I would tell her what I wanted over and over again, so she would get it.On Christmas Eve, I would go to bed earlier so Christmas would come quicker. Also on Christmas Eve my family and I would make and frost Christmas cookies. My mom would wrap the presents Christmas Eve because she said it was a tradition. Christmas morning I would always wake her up early but that's when I was 7 and didn't know better. Our decerations were so beatiful and expensive. We got the best Christmas lights that last for years. We had to buy a new tree one year because the cats ruined our old one.

After I open all the presents from my family, I would celebrate Christmas at my sister Brandy's house. My favorite Christmas was when I got a Wii and a whole bunch of expensive games. The same Christmas I got a Wii I also got a 12 pack of Pepsi. Surprisingly, that gift made me happy. I think my mom got me this expensive stuff when we don't have much money because I would tell her repetitively what I wanted. When I was 13, my mom said she spent over 300 dollars on me for Christmas. When I told her I wanted a Wii, I would say "It's the only thing I want" but then I'd ask for a million games. That Christmas I tried to make sure that I would open the Wii before the open the games. The first Nintendo DS I got, I opened the games first.

In past Christmases when both my sister and I wanted the same thing, we would share it. Luckily, my sister and I only did that twice, once we had the Game Boy Advance SP, and the other time we got a Desktop computer. I didn't mind sharing with my sister because she was the nicest person and she would let me use the gifts more. I remember the game I would always play on the Game Boy, Fairy Odd Parents: Breaking Da Rules. I couldn't get pass the tenth level. In that level your were on a subway train and there was dinosaur that killed you.

When my sister got her seldom chance to play, she would play Mary Kate and Ashely: Sweet 16, I hated that game because I couldn't even get past the first level. In the first level you had to drive to pick up dinner for mom and along the way pick your friends up. I failed because when I played I ran into other cars, ran out of time, go down the wrong side of the road, or go down the wrong one way street.

When I got the Wii, Heather, Rachael, and maybe Chris and Steve would play "New Super Mario Brothers Wii" constantly. It only took them 4 days to get to Bowser's castle. After that they didn't play for a while but once they started to play again they beat Bowser's castle and found out about the secret, world 9. To be able to play World 9, you had to get all the gold coins in the other worlds. Everyone was pissed and they stopped playing. I mostly played Mario Kart Wii. I beat the whole game even the super hard Mirror Cup.

I was never careful with my belonging. I got a i-Pod Shuffle for Christmas once and in about 2 years it broke in the wash. The same Christmas I got a black Nintendo DS which I kept losing until about a month after the I broke the i-Pod I broke the Nintendo DS. I got another Nintendo DS for Christmas that year which I haven't broken yet. I remember the year my niece Ashley, 16 got a car for Christmas but she called it the worst Christmas ever. Once the car broke I understood why she was upset. I remember when I was 6 and I made a list 5 pages long with small print for "Santa". I was a greedy kid and all I wanted was the coolest looking technology.

When we arrived at Brandy's I would only get a couple gifts, even known I had a lot of relatives. Most of my presents were just clothes from Aeropostale or American Eagle. I watched as Caitlynn, my baby niece, opened all her presents. Most of them toys and really cute outfits. Caitlynn got buried in gifts at home and at the party. Even though she got all these gifts, I didn't envy Caitlynn because all she got was baby toys and no electronics. If I were as spoiled as Caitlynn, I would easily ask for an i-Pod Touch before I'd ask for a princess tea set or an Elmo doll but that's how little kids are. I had Christmases to remember and none to forget. Every Christmas my parents spent plenty of money on me and got what I wanted.

Peter L.
When I was young I grew up in a family of four. My parents separated when I was a baby. I don't even remember them living together. My mom never had a lot to spend, but we made do. On the other hand, my dad always took us to movies and he had left over money to spend. My mom used to take us to places and have money to spend, but she lost her job at St. Luke's Hospital awhile ago and she had gruesome arthritis in her knees. Not a lot of business had jobs were you can sit down and work at the same time. My dad had a pretty high paying job that he has worked for a long time. We even have cleaning ladys clean my dad's apartment once a month.

On Christmas, my sister and I do not get many presents due to the economy. Our Christmas was different from the average because there are not that much presents under the tree. We rather spend time with each other then give each other fancey presents that cost a fortune. We spent our time at our Aunt's house on Christmas and my cousin cooked Christmas dinner. When we were at my Aunt's house the adults gather around and play cards. They even let me me play, and sometimes I took there money because I was good at cards.

Edhela
Life as a child for me was much different from my parents. Children back then got money and gifts from their parents. The only good thing about that time when I was a child was that I never got any chores. You see, I wasn't like any other child that obeyed their parents and listened to them. I had a very hard time with that. My mother always called me lazy and useless because I would sit around and watch TV all day. My mama and papa was so different from me when they were children. They always obeyed their parents' commands because they knew they would have to endure painful corporal punishment. They didn’t whine about getting chores or not having any gifts. Specifically, my mother would say, "We were always happy with what we had back then." She used to tell me stories about her childhood and how she would help her mother cook and operate their store instead of playing with her friends outside. "Life was very hard back," she'd tell me. She would tell me how our generation never had to go through being poor or having to make difficult decisions during our everyday life. She told me of a time when her family was so poor that they didn't have enough money for her to go to school to learn and study the language of English. My mother told me that she would ask her uncle who was the only one in her street that could speak fluent English a definition for a simple word such as "punishment". My father was just the same as my mother. He told me of a time back then when he would go visit his friend and watch TV with him all night. No one else in his street had a TV but his friend.

===Sometimes I think that my parents raised me the way their parents raised them. Growing up in an island was way different than living in the US. I still wasn't allowed to visit my friends or go shopping with them. As simple as that, my friends and I thought it wasn't fair. I would simply tell them, "Hey, what can I say, that's how my parents raised me." I wasn't even allowed to walk home from school at that time because they were so afraid of me being kidnapped. That changed when we moved to Wisconsin. I had a little more freedom, but I still didn’t get paid my allowance. ===

===At one time, the economy crashed and people began to lose their jobs and cut down their budgets. I remember the time my dad got laid off. It was horrible because my mama was the only working at that time. We even had to cancel our plan to attend my auntie’s wedding at the Philippines because we knew it would cause us too much money. Even if my dad got laid off, we still lived a normal life. We ate like normal people and we dressed like normal people. I remember how my mama would cook a special meal on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Whatever was left over we had to eat the next day because branded food was starting to get expensive. "Waste not, want not," I'd tell John. Before he came to the US, he was as thin as a stick. It wasn't only food that was becoming expensive, electronics and entertainment was starting to get pricey. At one time, I remember going to Best Buy to look for a PS3. No matter how much I begged, my dad refused to buy it. I was sitting there, whining like a baby and cussing to myself, when I happened to see a man looking at the PS3. He asked the clerk, "How much is it?" "Only $129," said the clerk to him. There was a look on his face that I really couldn't explain. It looked as if it was so cheap to him. That day, he bought 5 PS3s. ===

===I still remember how Mr. Skonecki would make fun of Ashley for not using so much technology. People would call her "Amish" because of how her house lacked so much technology. Turns out her parents didn't pay her allowance and very pretty presents. Life those days were so hard that we couldn't just by anything we wanted. At least I knew at that time that I wasn't the only one who grew up like that. ===

** Jacob K. **
When I was about 4 years old my parents finally let me sleep over at my Grandparents house by my self. I was so happy, I could barely stay in my seat on the way to their house. My parents kept telling me "only a couple more minutes," but it felt like they were saying "only a couple more hours." When we finally got there I jumped out of the car and bolted over to my Grandpa who was working on something in the shop. As soon as he saw me he dropped what he was doing picked me up and spun me around.

He then put me down and told me to go by Grandma. I ran to her as fast as a cheetah trying to catch his pray. She was in the kitchen talking to my mom. So as usual I just interrupted them and gave my Grandma a big bear hug. Then I looked at my mom and told her that she had to leave. Everyone just started laughing and my mom finally said "OK" and left. I couldn't believe it. I was finally at my Grandparents house all by myself. I felt like I was a big kid and that I could do anything.

I ran back outside to my Grandpa and we decided to go play on the trailer. So I climbed on the trailer and started walking all around the edges. After about five minutes of doing that I feel off it and got a HUGE cut on my chin. So my grandpa ran me into the car,then she got my grandma and some tissues. Everybody was in a panic. About half way there I was really tired, so I feel asleep.

Finally when we were at the hospital my Grandparents called my mom and dad and told them to come. When they got there they tried to wake me up but couldn't. So they didn't put me on sleeping medication and just put the stitches in me while I was asleep. The next morning I woke up at my house. I didn't ask why I was here or how I got here. All I did was walk into the kitchen and say "Whats for breakfast?"

When I was a teenager, I would spend great potions of my time reading my books. Whenever I would get home from school and finish my homework, I would pull up a good book and tantalize myself with the knowledge they provided. Some of my favorite books included, "Physics of the Impossible" by Michio Kaku, "Principles of Physics," by Frank J. Blatt, and "The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe," (or "The Elements," for short) by Theodore Gray. I would spent hours alone in my room either reading or listening to my iPod. My favorite band to listen to when I was in 8th Grade was Rise Against.

After I got bored of listening to my iPod, I would shuffle out of my room to see what my family was doing. If they were watching a show like Bones, The Simpsons, or That 70's Show, I would stick around and spend time with my family. Occasionally, my sister would be playing video games downstairs, in which case, I would join her. This occurrence would almost always end in disaster, for we would always find something to argue about. Usually, when we were playing video games, the argument would be based on a mistake that either of us had made whilst playing (i.e. accidentally killing each other).

After our argument, Abby would usually run upstairs and leave me to play games by myself or go on the Internet. Once I get onto the computer, I would watch some videos on YouTube such as Knox Korner or go on Facebook. I may chat with some friends or explore to see if old friend that I used to have in previous years at Burdick have Facebook accounts. While on the computer, I may have also bought a few song to put on my iPod that I don't feel like buying the album for. Afterwards, I would go upstairs and continue to watch TV with my family until I to go to bed. The next day, (if it was a school day) I'd get up a 6:00 am and tiredly shuffle my way to the bathroom, where I'd take a shower. After I get out of the shower, I'd head back over to my room to put on clothes, apply deodorant, rub a Stridex pad on my face, and comb my hair. I'd then head over to the kitchen to prepare my breakfast (usually, my breakfast would be Total 100% Raisin Bran in 1% low fat milk).

After consuming my breakfast, I'd head over to the kitchen again to clean my bowl and place it in the dish washer. Next, I would head over to the bathroom again to brush my teeth. I'd spend the remaining amount of time listening to my iPod or watching television until I leave for another eventful school day at 7:00.

Joey P.
When I was a child life seemed simple. Everyday had really fun parts and bad parts to it. Everyday was almost the same thing but it was fun and I didn't care if it was the same.

I would wake up from my blasting alarm clock almost scaring me to death it is so loud. Right away I would stretch .Then I would walk down stairs, poor a cup of milk, and gulp it down. I would think to myself " Where do I have my clean clothes, in the basement, or do I have some left in my bedroom." and I would grab some clean clothes. I would grab a clean towel out of the closet (smelling the towel to make sure it smells clean) and throwing it into the bathroom. I would grab my clothes and lay them on the floor and take a shower. I would come out with just my mom watching the news like always and make my breakfast. I would make those toaster waffles or toaster pancakes or anything like that my mom would get me. I would eat a muffin while it cooks in the toaster. I'd eat then put on my backpack and wait outside on the corner for my bus. The bus finally comes and I hop on. Once I find my seat I would sit down and pull out my I-Pod and listen to music. I would talk to anybody who wanted to talk to me also.

When I arrived to school in the bus I would think to myself "oh here we are" and turn off my I-Pod. Never thought of school as fun or something of wanting. My parents always said " School is the best enjoy it while you can" and I would say to them " School sucks it's so boring, I wish I had a job so I could have money and not be in school" and they reply "Trust me Joey school is the best, you don't want a job its the worst thing, it's way more boring than, school just enjoy it" and I would nod and walk away. Time to stop flash backing, back to school. I get off the bus and enter the door into the gym. I walk to where I have to sit and such. We get to class and sit at our desks and log into our computers.

I finally get off of school and get onto my bus for the rugged ride home. I am back to listening to my I-Pod and talking to anybody who wants to. As we pull up to my bus stop I get out of my seat and start walking up the isle to get off. I get home and its very quiet and in a sort of way gloomy. As I walk deeper into the house I see my sister watching TV and her boyfriend on the computer. I look into our sliding freezer for something to eat. I pull out a hot pocket, put it into the microwave and eat. I then go upstairs on my computer to check my space. I call my friends and go outside afterward. So, I go play some basketball and hang out. Since its the summer and warm out our hearts are beading and were just drenched with sweat. After about 2 games we stop and relax. We go hang out and then I walk home. That was some fun filled basketball games the only non-fun part was the heat.

I finally get home almost dieing of thirst, so drink some water. The house smells good with a seemingly delicious meal on the table. I grab a plate and dig in. My stomach is now full where I can’t move so I watch TV for a little while. I then go upstairs and go back on the computer for a while longer. After being bored from talking to some friends on my space I get ready for bed. I hop onto my bed and turn my T.V on and watch T.V until i fall asleep.

Alex N.
Life, it can be so stressful. Sometimes, I yearn to become a kid again. Just for one day. I would have no stress, no worries. I could do almost anything without having to constantly concern myself with the world outside my bubble of reality. I spent the days having fun, instead of working. In school, we spent our time doing games, instead of doing essays. It was like having a carefree day, everyday. Each day, I would get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and head out to my grandparents house. I would get up too late to say goodbye to my dad. As he would wake up early in the morning, so he could drive down to Racine. I usually only saw him departing from our house as I first awoke on the couch. He would leave, and I would have to do everything I had to do quickly. My mom had to drop me off at my grandparent’s house and then drive to work.

At my grandparent’s house, I was always entertained. I would go find something interesting in their backyard, amuse myself with legos, and watch T.V. I even got the opportunity to go pick up my cousin from school with my grandma. It was great, like having a never-ending fun-day. My grandparents were always kind to me, and I never had to do any work. It was one of the times where I had a carefree life. Then around noon, I had to go to school for a half a day. My grandpa would take me to school, and we would wait outside for the teacher to let us in. I don’t remember the exact grade that I was in at the time, but I know it was one of the lower ones. It was great because we didn’t have to do any papers or worksheets. We would just do what kindergarteners do.

When we were done at school, I would walk outside and scan the jumbled mess of kids and parents for my grandpa. He would always pick me up from school. We would commute home, and once I got my homework done, I could go do anything. I usually went and saw if anyone could play. If they couldn’t, I would probably just watch T.V. Then my mom would come home, and grandpa would leave. At that time, I would probably be playing. I would keep playing until my mother called me in for dinner. Most times, the aroma of her food would lure me in like a squeaker ball to an overactive puppy. I would come in; dad was usually home. We would acquire whatever she had made and started to watch the news. When it was done, my dad and me usually watched one of the shows that he recorded. I would watch it until I had to go to bed. Then I would wake up and start it all again.

John M
Childhood is like a dream. For some people it might be a lullabies. You don't want to leave other wise it will disappear. My childhood is nothing like a dream.

I always told my mother I wanted to grow up. She'd always say " be patience ". I mean, I can't seem to do anything. I'm to short for this or your to young to that stuff. I just want to do what my older cousins can do. I want to ride on the front of the car, I want to reach the top shelve to get my favorite book and I want to reach my mom's head without her bending over. Some people might think I have the best childhood, but not really.

I did go to a private school, my mother always says that if you want to be anything in the future you have to work hard and earn it. Private school wasn't all what I expected. It was super boring and quiet. I thought it was going to be fun. My mom also hired this man who she calls "My service driver" to take my sister and I home and to school.

I asks my mom how can she afford all that stuff. She didn't answer. Maybe I thought my dad was giving her money. From all my childhood, my dad was in Wisconsin. I only saw him when I was 2 and I saw him again when I was 10.

Also, I had to walk a couple of blocks to get to my other class. That's when I wish my driver was there to drop me off. My private school starts at 8:00 am and ends at 4:15 pm. We get to go home for snack time and lunch time. That is only if we wanted to. I always go home. I didn't like the lunchroom. It had mental all over it, like the trays, the table, the chairs, and other stuff.My classroom is also something unappealing. The chairs always make funny and annoying sounds. The teacher are so strict. By strict I mean like if you stand if your not told you will get kicked out of the room. Thats not funny. Most of the time the teachers teach the rest their out of the room. We don't know were they go.When they give us a break, I usually sit on the big tree out side and just doodle. I had nothing better to do. All the games the kids play are just unappealing to me, for example shoe throwing, leap frog and others. My mom use to call me boring back then cause I don't do much stuff. I would play games with other people, but I'm not really good communicating with other people. I though the tree was only friend back then. Most of the time I like to draw the branches, it was oddly shaped, it was much different from other branches, and it was as thick as a slide on Wisconsin Dells.

The rules on the school are simply simple. Some how some of them relate to the rules when I went to Burdick. Some of the rules I still remember are,


 * 1) No chewing gum
 * 2) You can only stay in the hall way for 3 minutes
 * 3) No litering
 * 4) No cellphones
 * 5) No Running
 * 6) No fighting
 * 7) No Arguing

And much much more. They had a swimming pool in my private school. Sometimes I watch my friends swim. They always invite me to join, but I never liked swimming. I usually just sit around and do my homework. Sometimes if I ask my service if I could stay for a while we go out on the fields and play. Even if you ask back then, I seem to find swimming useless. Only my sisters took interest on swimming. When I came to America when I was 10. Thats when everything changed. I liked it here more than Philippines.

Cassie
When I was younger I can remember the Christmas mornings and the days before that. About 2 weeks before Christmas we would get our tree from Menards and put it in the truck and go home. Once we got home we would hall in down stairs and put it in the corner of the basement. We would wait until dinner was finished and then we would go downstairs and get the decorations out. My family and I would put Christmas music on and dance around the Christmas tree putting the ornaments on. It was so funny because all of us would sing. We didn’t care how we sounded, we were having fun and we liked it. Then when all the ornaments were on the tree and the lights we would all lie down and watch Christmas movies until bedtime.

The days before Christmas were hard on me because we would get gifts from relatives and we were not suppose to open them until Christmas day. My brother and I had to put the gifts under the tree and wait. It was awful, just going past that tree thinking I wonder what they got me this year and not being able to open them. The best part was Christmas Eve when we knew we could open those presents the next morning and open all the presents “Santa” gave us. My brother and I would go to bed early only because then we could wake up quicker. When we woke up on Christmas morning we would down stairs and look at all the presents under the tree. We didn’t wait for our parents to wake up; we just started seeing whose was whose and wondering what we got. Finally after having the screaming “YES! I got a this and I got that” my parents woke up and found us in the basement with half the presents unwrapped. My parents would watch us open the rest of ours presents and then we would go eat breakfast and spend our Christmas morning together.

I wish I could say all my Christmas mornings were like that when I grew up. Eventually things changed and we started wanting things we couldn’t afford. My brother would start wrapping my presents and I would wrap his presents. The tree got smaller and less gifts each year but we had each other. Those Christmas’s when I was younger were the best!

**Nate B.**
Going camping with my family was what I remembered most about my childhood. I remembered when my parents took us to get our first camper. My brothers and me had no clue where we were going until we pulled up to our uncle’s house. Sitting in his drive way was a huge camper that said "The Bergs." That instant we knew it was our camper and that we were taking it home.

That summer we went camping for the first time. There was so much to do, I could go swimming, hangout by the fire, or play with my brothers and cousins. Every day I would go swimming for hours in the lake with my dad and brothers. Then I would go back to the campsite and we would go on a hike or play board game. Then as the day draws to an end I would roast hot dogs, brats, and marsh mellows over the fire.

The one thing I loved most about camping was going out early in the morning with my dad to go fishing. I loved casting the hook 30 feet out into the water, then waiting for the tip of the rod to dip, and then reeling in the catch of the day. I remember catching a 25-pound carp off a dock; witch was the catch of the day and the trip.

My family would go camping three to four times a year, and because of that I have seen so many beautiful sights like the Grand Canyon, Arches National Park, and Zion National Park.

I love camping and that is what I remembered most about my childhood, and I will never forget all the amazing things I saw.

When I was younger, about twenty years back, as a tradition, my mom, sister and I would put up our Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. The tree was stored in our attic until Christmas eve arrived. Each year, my mom would make a delicious dinner before decorating the tree. The aroma of red beans and rice filled our house. Just the smell of the dinner filling each room, made my mouth water. My mom would never eat with us, because she was busy bringing the decorations down from the attic, to the living room. My sister and I scarfed down the delicious food, then bolted up the stairs like our pants were on fire, to help my mom carry the decorations. We did not want to miss a second of any of the Christmas action.

While decorating, we listened to Christmas music. Hearing the Christmas music lingering on in the background was great! Just the thought of it now, makes me think of decorating our tree. Every year after we were done decorating, my mom, sister and I would stand in front of the tree amazed, while we glared at the glowing tree. My mom would say that we had done a nice job, although she did most of the work. My sister and I would thank her, but remind her that we couldn’t have done it with her. My sister and I would make sure that before we went to bed, we left out cookies and milk, along with carrots (because we never forgot about the lovely reindeer of them all RUDOLPH!!), and of course our letters that we wrote to Santa every year asking him what we wanted. After leaving the delightful treats for Santa, my sister and I would kiss my mom and dad goodnight, and scurry off to bed. We wanted to be in bed extra early that way Santa would come early. Usually, my sister would fall asleep instantly. I would lay in bed waiting for Santa to arrive humming “Santa’s coming to town”. Then I would remember, that he would not show up unless I’m fully asleep. Although it was tough for me to fall asleep with Santa jitters in my stomach, I would eventually fall asleep.

Waking up on Christmas day was great, knowing that there were always a couple presents under the tree! At the time, my sister and I shared a room. I would have to be extra quiet, as I got out of bed and snuck out of our room, quiet like a mouse. Successfully after sneaking out of my room, I would sit in front of the tree. I would rattle the presents I received and tried guessing what it was. I waited in excitement for my sister to wake up. As soon as she did, I would rush by her side, pulling her by her sleeve towards the tree. I would point out all of the presents we got, she would smile, and ran to the kitchen. At first, I was confused why she was doing that, then I remembered about the cookies and milk we left for Santa. We both were very excited to see a note from Santa to us. I remember the words exactly of the note it said, “Hello girls, it’s nice to see you left out treats for me along with Rudolph. Be sure you guys are good next year so I can come back Love- Santa.” Next to the note lied a half eaten carrot we left out the night before. After, we’d run back into the living room and tear the wrapping paper of each gift, and show each other what we got.

Ever since I can remember, my parents taught both my sister and I that Christmas wasn’t all about getting gifts, but it was a time to spend with family and friends. I tell my friends that now, and they are amazed that we were taught such a great thing. I will always remember that! Some years, we wouldn’t even get presents, because my family was tight in money. My sister and I didn’t care though, because we remembered that Christmas wasn’t about gifts. Although, we asked Santa every year for things, we were always happy when we were given something different. Christmas was always great, even when we didn’t get anything.

Cody F.
Imagine having no money to buy food, clothing, or anything else. Now amplify that to the whole world. That’s what life was like during the Great Depression. Before the depression started, I thought my life was perfect. My dad worked on the local mill and my mom worked at the local grocery store. I went to school everyday to try to earn my education. Every night when my parents would come home we would eat dinner as a family at the table. Then we would gather around the radio before we went to bed. Then one day my daily routine was changed.

On October 29, 1929 when the stock market crashed. It wasn’t long there after when my mom lost her job. My dad received a pay deduction a few days after my mom got laid off. I was young, but I remember that my parents cried for what seemed forever. I still went to school and I was surprised when I got there. My family wasn’t the only ones who were affected. All of my friend’s parents had either lost their jobs or they received a major pay deduction. It comforted me a little to know that I was not alone.

A few months passed and my dad lost his job. We had to go to the soup lines that were 5 city blocks long. Then suddenly people told us that they ran out of food. I was devastated. I didn’t understand why this was happening. Then I heard that there was a drought in the farmland of America. The drought ravaged the crops and hurt the economy even more.

Years passed and I thought the world was in a never-ending rut, but then things started to turn around. It was 1936 when the president tried to fix the federal budget and finally in 1938 the recession seemed like it was over. Employment increased, my parents got their jobs back, and some of the unneeded taxes were removed. I was ecstatic when I finally was able to go back to the normal routine again. I had to go through the worst of times, but I hope that today’s children never will.

Kayla F
When I was a child Christmas was one of my favorite times of the year, as it still is today. Preparing for Christmas was way better than the actual thing. I always thought that because the preparation lasted longer then Christmas Eve and Day put together.

After Thanksgiving was over was when the Christmas decorations started coming out. My older sister Lisa and I would help get boxes out of the attic with my mom. We would always fuss about helping, but we would end up enjoying helping. When we got the boxes down from the attic, we would act like an assembly line. My mom would pass boxes down the latter to either my sister, my dad, or me. Then one of us would pass it off to someone else to take it downstairs to the spare bedroom. The spare bedroom was where all the boxes stayed until the decorations were all hung. After all the boxes were down we would go downstairs to the spare bedroom together. There we would start opening boxes and putting decorations out. The longest and biggest box held the family Christmas tree. The tree was always the messiest thing to put up and decorate. Once mom and dad finished putting up the tree my sister and I would cover it in tinsel, beads, lights, and ornaments. As we hung the ornaments we would talk about the memories each ornament held. When we finished the Christmas tree it would then glow and sparkle in the living room window for the neighbors and outsiders to see. Although when it came to the Christmas lights glowing and sparkling outside, that was mom and dad's job.

As days past and all the decorations were hung inside and outside of the house as Christmas crept closer. We as a family would soon begin Christmas shopping for other family and friends as well as each other. Going to the mall at Christmas was the best part of Christmas shopping. The mall would be covered in lights and decorations. Christmas music would also blare through the mall speakers, but the best part of it all was seeing Santa. In my eyes at the time Santa was the greatest thing ever. Although the rule growing up was to be nice or I wouldn't get to see Santa or receive gifts from him. After all the presents were bought we would take them home to warp them. Looking at all the warping paper and bows as I kid, I would find it amusing. Although when the presents were all done being warped I was no longer amused, but anxious. All because I wondered which presents would be mine. The presents for everyone would be gently tucked under the tree until Christmas arrivied.

Right as I woke up on Christmas Eve morning the excitement began to build up. The family and I would just sit around until it was time to start getting ready for church and grandmas house. Once everyone was dressed up all nice and fancy we would pack up the car and leave the house to go to 4:00 mass at church. After church would let out we would make our way to my grandmas house. My family and I would always be the first to arrive at grandmas house. Later as the night went on more and more family came. After all of the family arrivied we would feast on all the food and then open presents. Garrett my cousin and I would always pass out all the presents to everyone. We would kind of act like we were elves helping out Santa. As the night went on and it became later and later, everyone would gradually start their way home. Moments after we would pull in the drive way I would run out of the car to prepare goods for Santa and his reindeer. Immediately after I was finished preparing the cookies and everything I would change into my pj's and rush to bed, hoping and dreaming Santa would come soon. The next morning would be Christmas Day. I would wake up and rush into the living room to find my presents. Before I opened anything I would run upstairs to wake my parents and sister. Shortly after everyone was awake we would begin to open presents. After the presents were all opened my parents would begin to cook a big Christmas brunch for all of us to feast on. Later in the day we would go to my aunt and uncle's house in Waukesha to celebrate the rest of Christmas Day with other family.

That is how I remember Christmas in my house as I grew up.

** Matt D. **
When I was about 4 years old my parents finally let me sleep over at my Grandparents house by my self. I was so happy, I could barely stay in my seat on the way to their house. My parents kept telling me "only a couple more minutes," but it felt like they were saying "only a couple more hours." When we finally got there I jumped out of the car and bolted over to my Grandpa who was working on something in the shop. As soon as he saw me he dropped what he was doing picked me up and spun me around.

He then put me down and told me to go by Grandma. I ran to her as fast as a cheetah trying to catch his pray. She was in the kitchen talking to my mom. So as usual I just interrupted them and gave my Grandma a big bear hug. Then I looked at my mom and told her that she had to leave. Everyone just started laughing and my mom finally said "OK" and left. I couldn't believe it. I was finally at my Grandparents house all by myself. I felt like I was a big kid and that I could do anything.

I ran back outside to my Grandpa and we decided to go play on the trailer. So I climbed on the trailer and started walking all around the edges. After about five minutes of doing that I feel off it and got a HUGE cut on my chin. So my grandpa ran me into the car,then she got my grandma and some tissues. Everybody was in a panic. About half way there I was really tired, so I feel asleep.

Finally when we were at the hospital my Grandparents called my mom and dad and told them to come. When they got there they tried to wake me up but couldn't. So they didn't put me on sleeping medication and just put the stitches in me while I was asleep. The next morning I woke up at my house. I didn't ask why I was here or how I got here. All I did was walk into the kitchen and say "Whats for breakfast?"

Alex
Christmasis probaly one of the things i remember the most about my childhood. The thought of a man in a Big Red Suite coming to my house and dropping off presents is burned into my mind.

Sometimes, I would wake up in the middle of Christmas night to sneak downstairs and rip the corners of the presents to see what I got. Sometimes I'd even go as far as just opening them. Since my Dad slept on the couch he would keep a flashlight with him to spook me back upstairs. I'd go back up stairs and ponder what I think I got. Would it be that Gamecube(an old video game system) I wanted for the last year, or some something else? Then I would fall asleep and wait for daylight to arrive.

In the morning i would head into my Mom's room and jump on the bed and yell at her to get up. She would always tell me to go get everybody else so we can open presents. When I look back on it i don't remember who was harder to get up, My Dad or my Sister.(Both heavy sleepers.) I'd run down the steps and shake my Dad and say "Dad, Wake up it Christmas!!!!!!" Which after would follow an old tired grown. I'd run back up the stairs to my sisters room and jump on her bed and tell her to get up because it Christmas! She would do the same thing as my Dad. After we had all gotten down stairs the presents would be sorted and I would always be first to go and every time i would open a present the my eyes would light up with excitement. There it was, the Gamecube! I had an idea that i must have gotten it but I wasnt totally sure. After all was over with I had my dad set it up and he handed me the controller. I put the disc in and the fun began.

I played for a while then my mom would tell me to go get dressed because we are going to my Aunt and Uncles. So after getting ready we would leave at about 1 and since they live on the other side of town it was a 15 minute ride. Once we would get their my Mom would help my aunt prepare the dinner and socialize while my dad and my uncle would watch what ever sport was on the TV. Me never being a big sports fan would just sit there and wait to open present. I'd constantly as my older cousin when we are going open presents??? She would tell me never and i would just walk away. Then the time came, more presents! We would hand them out and just to make me squirm they would do Oldest to Youngest.(Me being the youngest) I remember from when year I got a ladies shoe box and i'm thinking "What could possibly be in this?" I opened it and it was my own personal CD player. I will always remember it, Black and Yellow with Black and Yellow headphones.

Then at dinner we would all sit at the the dinner table and share stories from long ago and tell them about what is new with each other. WE would clean up all the plates and head home.

I remember when I was younger, everyday I couldn’t wait until 2:17 to get home, finish my homework & watch my favorite show, Tyra Banks. After Tyra was over & my homework was finished I would have free time. For free time I would go outside, go on the computer, or relax the rest of the day. I would wake up everyday at 6:05 & finish getting ready for school hour later. For dinner my mother would always cook a big meal. If we didn’t go shopping & we had nothing to eat we would then order Chinese or go to McDonalds. For family time we would go to Chuckee cheese or out to eat. We weren’t the kind of family to spend a lot of time together then what we had to.
 * //Ma//riah R.**

For Christmas my mother & my sister would always try to get as many presents as possible even if it meant spending the last of her money or taking out a loan.

I would say the thing I enjoyed most when I was younger was when I got to see my family. I didn’t get to see a lot of my family members besides my sisters & brothers.

Olivia C.
When I look back to my childhood about twenty years back, I always remember Christmas. I mean, what kid didn't look forward to it!? I'm pretty sure there wasn't a kid in the world who didn't. Don't you remember always counting down the days until Santa came, and staying up in the middle of the night to wait if you will see him? I remember that clear as day. When was younger, my brother and I always use to be so excited for Christmas morning, it was almost unbearable. My sister was really little then, so she wasn't quite aware of what was happening. A few weeks before Christmas would come, we would put up our Christmas tree, and all of our decorations. My brother and I would all beg my parents if we could put everything up early. Eventually, they would give in to us and we would all be a part of getting everything together! It was a great feeling. My parents would go in our basement, gathering all of the boxes full of beautiful Christmas decorations. As soon as we'd hear them coming up the stairs we would scurry by them to go help them. Then, we would put together our Christmas tree, and hang on ornaments and lights. I have to say, my favorite part was putting up the signs outside of our house though. It always reminded me that our house resembled a giant gingerbread house. Basically, I loved anything to do with the Christmas season!

After all of our decorations were complete, we just waited and waited for Christmas! Christmas Eve was the most exciting though, because we knew the next morning we would have gifts underneath our beautifully decorated Christmas tree. I remember every Christmas Eve, we would go to the grocery store with my mother to get cookies, milk, and carrots. All for Santa Claus, and his reigndeers of course. As soon as we got home, we'd put the cookies in the oven. When they were done, we would place them on a plate next to a table by our Christmas tree. Along with that, we would put a plate of carrots, and a cup of milk aside it. After those tasks were complete, we would all leave Santa a little note. We would place them by our door, hoping Santa would delightfully read them. We all knew what was next though. We head off to bed! That was actually quite exciting though. We thought the earlier we go to bed, the sooner Santa would come. No matter what, I always seemed to be the last one up. I would listen to every little pin drop in the house, thinking it's Santa. I remember one night I even tried sneaking out of my room, peaking out of my door to determine if I'd see a guy in a big read suit, with a long, white beard. Then, one night my parents caught me and I got in trouble. Of course I'd be the one to get caught! I remember zooming back into my bed, pretending to sleep, afraid that Santa would pass up our house. I never did that again, after that night. I learned my lesson! Eventually, I would fall asleep.

Christmas morning was amazing! My brother and I were always the first ones up. Like I previously said, my sister was younger so she would stay sleeping. As soon as she was up, we would all rush into the living room, racing under our Christmas tree. It was crazy! We would all grab gifts to see whose were whose, and start unraveling! After opening, and playing with all of our new gifts for a while, my parents would start cooking stuff for Christmas dinner. We would always go by my grandpa and grandma's house. It was such a blast. We had a huge meal, and all of my family members were there. The one thing I remember is, all of the adults eating in the kitchen, and all of the children eating in the dining room. My cousins, and I would do more chit-chatting, and playing with our new gifts than anything else. My mom would always walk in and tell us to start eating. We would listen to her, but we would eventually tell her we were too "full". After everyone was complete with their meal, we would all of my family members would come in the living room, to exchange gifts, and catch up. Christmas was always amazing, and fun for everyone in my family. It wasn't just about getting new presents, it was also about spending quality time with each other. There was also the religious matter, which was the main part. I was little back then, so I always remember praying to God, "Happy Birthday Jesus!". My parents found that funny, but cute. Still to this day, I still love spending time with my family on all occasions, but there's just something special about Christmas.

Naomi S.
When I was younger things were a lot different. When I was a teenager I greatly remember having Christmas with my family. Christmas was great, it was a day were you got presents and got to see all your family members. When Christmas did come around I always wanted expensive items. In my mind they were not but in my parents they were. The day of Christmas consisted of waking up & thinking about what you got from your parents. Well, I assume that is what other children did. When I woke up I already knew what I was getting. I remember when I was 14 and wanted a laptop. I always reminded my parents that a laptop was all I wanted. When the laptops went on sale my parents and I went to the store and waited there all night until the store opened. There was only 7 laptops so I knew we had to be there. Of course I ended up getting one. I knew that by getting this laptop that I most likely would not get anything else, but I did. I also got the new D.V.D player that I wanted, clothes, & $75 worth of iTunes cards. That Christmas was great!

You know how every Christmas you are supposed to be happy? Well, my brothers always disliked the fact that I got everything I wanted. The funny part is that they always got what they wanted also. That always confused me. I guess in a way though, I got a lot of expensive gifts. You also have to remember though that at the time, to me nothing was ever to expensive. I now know that everything is expensive since I am buying Christmas presents. Ha, I was wrong! Christmas back then was not just about presents, at least not to me. My Christmas day always went as followed… Wake up & open presents, after we would have breakfast (that my Grandma made), then get ready to go by my Great Grandma’s house to open more presents & eat Christmas dinner. I love Christmas! Back then, it was a great Holiday that consisted of getting presents and spending time with my family! There are a lot of other things that I remember about my Childhood. Things like school & everyday life.

School was fun! Technology played a huge part in 8th grade. Every time I would come in and have a computer right at my desk. Not every school was that lucky! When I graduated middle school I was class of 2010, when I graduated from high school I was class of 2014. That was a while ago. Everyday life was different. Monday-Friday I would wake up at 5:30 a.m & get ready for school. I would return home from school any time because of my brothers sports. I also played sports like volleyball and softball. Then I would usually go to sleep around 10:00 p.m. That has changed, because of my work schedule. I am usually tired by 9:00 now, wow, I feel old. Ha!

As you can see in my story a lot of things have changed. When you are an adult your priority’s change and you become a lot more responsible. That was my childhood! If you are a teenager and reading this make sure to remember yours!

Hunter B.
I once was a young boy around the ages of 2 or 3. I used to help my mom decorate the house with lights and Little village's along the wall. I usually only decorated the inside by putting the lights on the Christmas tree, I was't big enough to help hang lights on the rain gutters or carry big snow man to the front yard. I believed in Santa until I was about 9 but I used to wake my parents up at 5 o'clock to open presents.Once my parents told me Santa was't real we started opening presents on Christmas eve I don't know why but probably so they would'nt have to wake up so early on Christmas day.

On Christmas day in the morning my mom, dad, my brothers and their girl friends, and I would eat a big breakfast cooked by my mom. We would eat breakfast burrito's, pancakes, french toast, waffles, and lots of other great food. After that we all sit at home watch TV relax and look at what we all opened up .Usually every year I got something electronic like and I pod or a game system but it always turns out to be a waste ill play it for one day and never touch it again.Back when I was a little kid me and my family were really close when I got older we still were close just not as close.Each year gets more exciting to spend with my family.

** Ben R. **
When I was a child, Christmas was a very special holiday. It was a time when all of our family would come together to eat, exchange gifts with each other, and have a great time. Instead of opening gifts on Christmas morning, our whole family would get together and have a huge meal together late at night with the gift exchange following it. The memory I most remember was when I use to wake up one morning on Christmas eve and would have to wait all day till 12:00 am to open my gifts with the rest of my family. As the time comes around to open gifts, I use to get this feeling of happiness inside me knowing that I will receive several gifts from my family.

While waiting for the time to come to open gifts, all of the family would eat, listen to music, and talk about current events. Everyone that came would bring a dish of food, so that there would be enough food for everyone. I use to love it when I could see all my family members getting along and enjoying them selves and having a good time. I as well use to have a good time playing with my smaller cousins (ages 2-4) and making them laugh and smile and even playing games with my all my cousins from ages 5 to 13. Every Christmas, everyone would have a great time and would enjoy coming together to spend time with the whole family. As we would all open presents joy filled the room and a lot of the family members would have a pleasant smile and would be talking photos to save the memories. As I got older I realized that it was not all about the presents. It’s about spending time with all of the people you care about.

When I was little, I would wake up and have to race my brother into the bathroom. If I didn't, then I would have to wait a good five minutes. Most people that I knew had at least 2 bathrooms. Then again, they probably had more than four people in one house. My daily routine was to get up, have mini race, eat breakfast, go to school with my brother, come home, do some little kid homework, eat dinner, and then got to bed. It would repeat every day until Saturday came. Otherwise that is how my week went when I was four, but one day, it changed. Jacob, my brother, had started high school. I had started third grade. I woke up and started the race, but I didn't see him come out of his room. I looked in his room and he was still asleep.
 * Sara B. **

"Jake? Get up," I said since I thought he would be late. "15 more minutes," he said sleeply. "Okay," I said and started for the kitchen.

I told my mother about how Jake wasn't getting up. She told me not to worry about it. I didn't mind it much, I thought it was a ''spur of the moment" kind of thing. Then it happened every day. I started to miss the races, but I was also happy that they ended. I was happy because I didn't have to run in the morning. I never really liked the races, but it was the only way I could get into the bathroom first.

When I was younger, I had a very pleasant life. From when I was 2 until i was about 5 or 6, our family lived in a trailer. My mom, dad, older brother Tim, and I were crammed into a tiny space with no room to move. We did not have any money. I remember my mom telling me when I was older that we were living paycheck to paycheck. My mom didn't have a job because she had to watch me. My dad was the one who worked. I spent a lot of time either watching TV, or playing with Tim. My family was very musical. My brother is what you could say a musical prodigy. He was so good at the drums. He could play what most grown people couldn't do, at the age of seven. He would always play at our school concerts. We both went to A.E. Burdick school from K-4 until 8th grade.
 * Corey W. **

When I was five years old, my little sister Chloe was born. We were still living in the trailer, but we moved. We needed more space for five people. For the first time, we had our own house. It was perfect for us. My mom and dad had a room, my sister and I had a room, and my brother had his own room. We had a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, a laundry room, and a rec room. We also had a huge yard for us. I thought that it was so fun. I spent a lot of time playing with my neighbor and my brother. We didn't have a lot of nice things, but at least we weren't poor anymore.

I always wanted a PS2, and I never got one. But I remember one Christmas, we got it! I remember my brother and I were so ecstatic. We ran downstairs and played as soon as possible. We had so much fun. Then one day, I remember my mom came home crying. I was worried, my dad brother and I were like"What's wrong?" She said that she got the promotion. And from then on, we got more and more nicer stuff. I remember we had a nice TV, and we had a lot of nice games. But when I was 10, Chloe was 5, and Tim was 13, we had to move. The house was just too small for us.

We moved into a 4 bed 1 1/2 bathroom house. This was such a nice house. We had a nice basement with a bar, my brothers room, a rec room for our games, and a laundry room. My favorite room of the house was the rec room. It had two TV's, and an Xbox 360. I spent a lot of time down there, I was a huge nerd! We lived in that house until I moved out. I had so much fun in that house. I also spent a lot of time playing basketball and football. Another great thing about that house is that we lived as block away from Pick N' Save, so we could just pick up food anytime. Our backyard was also connected to a forest. It was nice because we always had firewood!

Our daily routine was usually the same. Every morning I would wake up, shower, eat, get dressed, go to school. After school I would get back, do my homework, eat, play video games or play sports, eat dinner, then play for the rest of the day. After that I would go to sleep. My mom would take Tim to school, and leave at usually 7:14 every day. My dad would leave at the same time. My dad would get home at 4, and my mom would get home at 5:15-5:30. My dad would make dinner and we would wait for my mom to get home to eat. Almost every day we would eat ad a full family. That was one of the best parts of the day. We would usually tell everybody about our day. It was a good thing to keep our family nice and close. I loved growing up, and I think that I have a very fortunate life.

Jacob K.
When I was a teenager, I would spend great potions of my time reading my books. Whenever I would get home from school and finish my homework, I would pull up a good book and tantalize myself with the knowledge they provided. Some of my favorite books included, "Physics of the Impossible" by Michio Kaku, "Principles of Physics," by Frank J. Blatt, and "The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe," (or "The Elements," for short) by Theodore Gray. I would spent hours alone in my room either reading or listening to my iPod. My favorite band to listen to when I was in 8th Grade was Rise Against.

After I got bored of listening to my iPod, I would shuffle out of my room to see what my family was doing. If they were watching a show like Bones, The Simpsons, or That 70's Show, I would stick around and spend time with my family. Occasionally, my sister would be playing video games downstairs, in which case, I would join her. This occurrence would almost always end in disaster, for we would always find something to argue about. Usually, when we were playing video games, the argument would be based on a mistake that either of us had made whilst playing (i.e. accidentally killing each other).

After our argument, Abby would usually run upstairs and leave me to play games by myself or go on the Internet. Once I get onto the computer, I would watch some videos on YouTube such as Knox Korner or go on Facebook. I may chat with some friends or explore to see if old friend that I used to have in previous years at Burdick have Facebook accounts. While on the computer, I may have also bought a few song to put on my iPod that I don't feel like buying the album for. Afterwards, I would go upstairs and continue to watch TV with my family until I to go to bed. The next day, (if it was a school day) I'd get up a 6:00 am and tiredly shuffle my way to the bathroom, where I'd take a shower. After I get out of the shower, I'd head back over to my room to put on clothes, apply deodorant, rub a Stridex pad on my face, and comb my hair. I'd then head over to the kitchen to prepare my breakfast (usually, my breakfast would be Total 100% Raisin Bran in 1% low fat milk).

After consuming my breakfast, I'd head over to the kitchen again to clean my bowl and place it in the dish washer. Next, I would head over to the bathroom again to brush my teeth. I'd spend the remaining amount of time listening to my iPod or watching television until I leave for another eventful school day at 7:00.

Trevor Nord
As a teenager I remember the trips to Michigan to visit my family. We would just hang out and have fun. Every time we went we would go river rafting. I remember that it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. It took about 6-7 hours to get done. I remember that there was a bridge about 30 feet above the river and it was fun because like all 10 of my cousins and me jumped off it. On the side of the river there were sand dunes and sand bars. It was a very relaxing experience just floating on the river for hours.

My great grandma in Michigan is amazing. She is 92 and she is 6 feet tall. She is turning 93 in June. She goes every Sunday to help people at the nursing home that are sometimes 30 years younger then her. She drives to church almost everyday. I would remember every year or my birthday she would send me a card with $20 and a box of cookies.

My uncle Tim was the manger of a ski resort in Michigan to. So every winter we could visit and go skiing or snowboarding down these huge mountains for free. I remember once he let me go down the giant hill on a sled and I went the fastest I’ve ever went, if I would of wiped out I would have broke something.

**Ashley O.** When I turned thirteen, life was pretty good. It wasn’t extravagant, but it wasn’t totally terrible. I remember how our family didn’t have much of the modern technology that the time period had to offer. Sure we had electricity, television, heat, air conditioning and things like that, but we didn’t have the little extras. We substituted the extras with other sources of entertainment.

Everyone in the household thought cable would be nice to have. According to people we knew, cable offered a wider variety of shows. Mom and Dad never purchased cable however. With the horrible economy no one could afford an extra bill on top of all the others.

Since we didn’t have cable and television was just turning to high definition, we purchased a converter box instead of having to pay a monthly cable bill. True, there was barely anything good on, but there are a few shows that we liked.

I remember waiting everyday for the time when Criminal Minds came on. I loved that show. I would go upstairs, turn on the T.V and converter box, grab the remote and flick to channel 55.1 (with the converter box we received channels in between the channels). There would be three episodes in a row evaluating to about three hours total.

Now, back in those days everyone had the Internet and used it for everything- but we didn’t. We had a computer that worked perfectly in our upstairs hallway, but we never installed the Internet. I remember how Mom used to mention every now and then that the Internet would be useful for her Avon orders, but it wasn’t such a big deal in our family.

Instead of going on the Internet to pass the time, my sisters, brother and I did other things. My oldest sister, Maria, wasn’t at home at lot, which was acceptable considering the fact that she was eighteen and a senior in high school. Jamie was normally found outside or up the street at her friend Cassidy’s house; that was the same for Sean, my younger brother.

I was different than my siblings though. I was rarely seen outside, I didn’t go out much and I loved to curl up in my room and read for hours on end. Sean hated that quality about me; he was always asking me to go outside and play with him, but I rarely ever did.

One bit of modern technology we had was the Wii. I remember how Jamie and Sean were so excited when we first bought it. I didn’t think the Wii was so great though. Sure I played it, but I never enjoyed it as much as Jamie or Sean did. Maybe it was the fact that I didn’t particularly enjoy any of the games we owned.

At Christmas time we didn’t expect anything extravagant (though I never stopped hoping for my own room). We all knew that if we wanted something like an iPod that would be the only present we got from our parents. It was a fair way of doing things and none of us complained. The first Christmas presents our parents made sure we got would be the things we needed. If Maria needed some shirts, she’d get shirts or, to be more specific, money so she could buy shirts she actually liked. Jamie and I got pillows every couple years for Christmas because after a while we’d start to complain that the ones we had were going flat.

Mom and Dad liked to try to give us the things we really wanted. One year, I really wanted I red beanbag chair and, sure enough, on Christmas Morning I crept down the stairs and there it was, sitting in front of the piano all puffy and soft looking. Another year, Sean wanted a desk for his bedroom. When we came downstairs in the morning we saw this //huge// present labeled “For Sean”. Of course, Sean opened that one first and a few seconds later he was jumping up and down in excitement for he had just opened his brand new desk. Dad put together the desk pieces that day; Sean just couldn’t wait to use it.

We may not have had much technology, but those years living at home were probably some of the best years of my life.

**Amber O.**

Today is so much different them my childhood. Back when I was around your age, we never had as much technology as you guys do. You guys have so much electronics, I can't even keep track. You guys have everything easy. You don't have to bring books home from school, it's all done on a computer. I have to say that is pretty cool. I remember my back used to hurt all the time carrying those heave books back and forth to school. It wasn't that fun. We had technology, Just nothing close to what you have today. Are most popular technology thing would probably be the Ipod Touch. I think every child in my neighbor hood had one. If you didn't have one, no one made fun of you, you just didn't have one. The Ipod had many cool things on it. I would say if I could buy one today I would, just to have a good memory back. The only thing is, it's probably not updated to out days. I remember when my friend had an Ipod touch, and somebody broke the screen, and it was jail broke. Jail broke is when you break your Ipod, and then you can have as many apps on it as you want. Normally you can only have about 2 pages of apps, My friend like 10 pages. That's only because he jail broke it. Though it was pretty cool that you could do that, but once you hook it up to the computer it sometimes would delete some of your apps. I really like how you guys have any different choices of technology, only cause we didn't have as many choices. Also your technology is more usable and secure. They make your things less breakable, and easier to handle. That's a good thing. I hope you can tell your children about yours and mines technology, so they can see how the world changes, just by have different technology.