Today, if a little girl told her mom she wanted to run with the boys, play in the creek, climb trees and go hunting (huntin') her own mother may call a counselor and ask if her daughter is a candidate for a gender transformation surgery. Parents today think of sexual roles as being so severely drawn that kids can't be kids anymore. They can't explore their likes or dislikes without there being a real crisis! Stop already! People, please, just know that you're gonna be fine. Kids are just normal if and when they step out of the box that maybe a stranger-than-should-be society has placed them into. Let a kid dance to his or her own drummer now and again. Thank God, I'm old! I didn't have to worry about anyone calling me names or thinking I was weird because I could swallow a tadpole or swing out into the lake and drop off the rope upside down!
Well, I did get called names, but the names I was called were "Tomboy" or "Smartypants". The latter was shouted out to me at various times because not completely unlike Heromine Granger, I seemed to make an annoyance of myself when I knew the answers. I always knew the answers. Why did I always know the answers to whatever the teacher was asking? Hell, that's easy, I read the required assignment when I was told to. I was called a Tomboy because by the time I was four I could climb any tree, hop a fence, rein in a horse, chase down a goat, and if I needed to, yeah, I could swallow a tadpole that I caught myself right out of the creek that ran next to the school. Why would I do that? Because most of the boys were too chicken to do it, but I could! They were still faster than me, and they could hit the ball further, but I didn't mind going over the fence that had the big ol' sign on it warning everyone that it was Federal property, and no one was allowed to "Trespass"; whatever that meant. We didn't really care much about such things.
In school, I wanted to play the saxophone, not the stupid flute. I ended up with the flute, but I wasn't happy about it. I wanted to play baseball but they wouldn't let a girl on the team. I played on the church team though. I wanted to run track and I did. I also lifted weights, swam, and jumped about 100 fences to get from the high school to my house without having to take the streets when I missed the bus. I didn't really like riding the bus anyway. If I walked home I could keep in shape, play with dogs I didn't really know and meet folks who were staring at me from their living room windows...."There she is again!" Little wave.
When I was four I used to climb over my friend's fence because his backyard abutted the main street I needed to go up to get to the library. I lived at 2212 N. Mueller, and the Bethany Library was at 3501 N. Mueller. All I had to do was hop over the Willis' back fence, and go straight up Mueller, and that is exactly what I did. Rain, sleet, snow, heat, it didn't matter. I wanted to "read". I was four. I wasn't really reading, but I thought I was. On the way to the library, I'd have to pass a cop that always placed himself at 30th street and Mueller. The police station was next to the library, and still is in the city of Bethany, Oklahoma. The cop would wave at me, and he'd call the library to let them know I was coming. They'd usually end up calling my mom sometimes even before I arrived! It was such a great little system. I never knew how she knew to pick me up a couple of hours later so I didn't have to walk back after dark. Smart woman, that one!
My uncle had horses. I rode my uncle's horses. I didn't bother saddling them. I just climbed up and held on. There were more horses behind the church too. I left church services and rode those horses. The owners weren't necessarily churchgoers I guess. Somehow mom always found out where I was and there she was at the fenceline just waiting on me; sometimes without a smile on her face. My friend's dad went huntin' and he taught me how to shoot a gun before my daddy did. My daddy was actually rather surprised that I already knew how; mom wasn't thrilled about that either. She didn't really smile all that much when it was just me and her; she was usually dragging me home from somewhere I wasn't supposed to be. At least she understood that I was normal for a Tomboy type and she didn't have my head examined. She did however get a switch after me now and again.
My Grandma on my daddy's side was a GIRLY GIRLY GIRL. Oh my goodness, you never saw such a sight as my gloriously made-up, coiffured, and lipsticked young Granny. She was only 15 when she had my daddy, so when we kids came along she wasn't more than 35-40; far too young to call herself a Granny. She wanted us to call her Olivia. That wasn't going to happen. My mom would have shot blood out of her eyes and mine if I had done that. My mom's mom was 43 when she had my mom, so by the time we came along she was already older and I don't think I saw her made-up except at her funeral. I wasn't really sure who was in the coffin to be perfectly honest with you. She was 99 when she died; my younger, girly-girl of a granny died at age 68 I think. Crazy! My Grandma Edwards, mom's mom, was a stout, hard-working, farmer type and she would have none of the mischiefs I brought to my own mom. I think I know why my mom was so lenient with me. She was raised with a heavy hand. Dad never saw a hand when he was growing up. He was born, hit the streets, then joined the Navy.
Tomboys are tough. We skinned our knees, broke bones, even toppled over a few times, and ended up worse for wear, but we didn't cry about it. We couldn't really take the time to cry about anything, we had things to do. We had places to go. We had things to see, and things to create...mostly havoc. I was raised in the city part of the city of Bethany, not the rural section, but you know I didn't hang out under the street lights long. I headed off to the outer skirts with the livestock, with the wildlife, and where the creek met the river. I may ride my bike five or six miles in one direction when I got old enough to reach the pedals. I wanted the boy's bike, but mom put her foot down on that one. Mine had flowers on the seat. She was determined to make me her little pumpkin...Well, OK, but I took to hanging upside down so often I had to wear shorts under my dress.
To be honest with you, I don't think I wore shoes unless I was going to school or church. I didn't wear them to the store. I didn't wear them to eat at a restaurant. You didn't have to back then. I know I didn't wear them when I drove my car. Mom finally told me once that if I wore another hole in my socks I had to buy them myself. OK. Socks are cheap. Oh wait, did you think I ran around town barefoot? No!! I'm not a hillbilly!! LOL...more of a Tomboy or maybe, OK yeah, a bit of a redneck. I still don't wear shoes unless I'm working or going out in public. They make you do that now. When I come home the shoes come off. I've bought a great many pairs of socks in my life. I don't really care if I match them or not. Mostly not.
I think I grew up OK. That may be up for debate, but I think I'm good. I don't have an identity crisis. I don't think I'm a man trapped in a woman's body. I don't even want to be a man. I just like outshining them now and again because I can. I still can't lift as much as one, I can't outrun one. I can't hit the ball further, and no, I can't out-drink one because (a) I don't drink alcohol, and (b) I'd end up peeing myself if I tried. I'm still pretty much a smartypants though...I still read everything I'm told to, and just for the heck of it, I read so much more than I'm told to. Yep...Little Miss Know it All; well, not all, but you know...stuff.
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