Memory Mining: One Pony or Two?

To be fair he had to use those ties
with the little balls on the ends.

When I was five I would sit on the bottom step in front of a mirror. My dad would ask "one pony or two?" and fix my hair in the requested fashion. Too bad he didn't ask about straight or not, because I always ended up with lopsided ponytails.

After years of giving him a hard time about his salon skills, I admit defeat at the challenge of chasing a child and inserting decent looking ponytails. On the rare occasion I find success, those stinkers yank 'em out within minutes.

What a sweet, if asymmetrical, memory. Ahh, my memory! That wonderful place where snow isn't cold and Ramen Noodles taste expensive.

Have you been shopping lately in your memory for picture book ideas? Maybe the memory itself isn't worthy of a book, but the feeling that accompanies the memory is.

Rob Sanders (author of Cowboy Christmas, which I was lucky enough to win from his blog) had a series of posts in the summer encouraging writers to document those early memories as inspiration. Check out his charts to help you mine your mind.

I didn't really care, as long as
the tree was loaded!

The holidays are a time of memories, aren't they? One Christmas morning I remember creeping down that same set of stairs where crooked ponytails were created and spying the presents in front of the tree. Though many were wrapped in crisp, colorful paper, my breath halted when I saw the Strawberry Shortcake dolls lined up in front of the presents. There were a million of them! (or maybe eight - but still!) Though the image is bright and vivid in my mind, I still like to open the box of Strawberry Shortcakes at home to get the fruitastic smell which accompanies the memory.

What is your favorite holiday memory?

13 Comments

Cathy MealeyDecember 13, 2012 at 5:43 PM
My BFF from first grade said she will never forget that I came to school with one ponytail and one braid. I can't remember EVER doing that, but maybe the bus came early one day and the second braid was never finished?

Great Christmas memory: Santa found the perfect purple snowmobile suit with a faux fur trimmed hood. It was ideal for the huge mountains of snow we had in my youth. Now, looking at the old photos, I see the piles were only about 3 feet high but they SEEMED bigger!
AnonymousDecember 13, 2012 at 7:45 PM
I also remember allowing sun-dresses in November, because Lauri said they were "twirlie".
It's nice to know that she has the same
memories.
The Dad Involved
AnonymousDecember 17, 2012 at 9:07 PM
Finding boot prints on our living room carpet from the fireplace to the Christmas tree! My dad had dipped his boots in soot and stamped them on the carpet. We were talking about it for years! :)
Robyn CampbellDecember 18, 2012 at 9:56 AM
I won a book too. Rob is awesome. Great memories here. I love the twirly dress. I found my bike one year and Dad told me to act surprised. Man, did I put on a show for everyone. Ha. (Overacted) But it's a wonderful memory now. Thanks for taking me down this lane. Merry Christmas!
Janet SmartDecember 18, 2012 at 8:33 PM
I don't know why, but I don't have many Christmas memories from when I was a child. I do remember the Christmas candy Dad used to buy and the nuts in the shell that we cracked and ate. I remember the icicles on the Christmas tree and we always opened our presents on Christmas Eve, at least when I was old enough to remember it, maybe when I was little we might have opened them on Christmas morning.
Mike AllegraDecember 19, 2012 at 2:02 PM
My most vividly remembered Christmas memory was when everyone in the family would pile into my grandmother's tiny house to eat gigantic meal and take part in a present opening riot. The house, with the kitchen stove constantly in use and packed so full of relatives, would get as hot and humid as a tropical rain forest. The smarter ones among us would wear tees and shorts under our sweaters and corduroys and would strip down as the need arose. The dumb ones (and we had a few) would swear a lot, sweat like pigs, and make frequent lumbering trips into the yard to cool down – a constant source of amusement to the rest of us.