Earliest Childhood Memory

Day 4 challenge is earliest childhood memory. I was four years old. My mom was something of a celebrity here. She was on The Noon Show with Judd Collins. She shared recipes and talked to people, and one time a hypnotist tried to put her "under" on air, but could not. He blamed it on her, saying she  couldn't concentrate. Perhaps, my pinball machine mind is genetic?

Well, her TV work was the reason I had to go to daycare at MISS RUBY'S. Say MISS RUBY'S in your mind with a loud and menacing voice. I despised going to MISS RUBY'S. Truth be told, I do not remember anything specific about MISS RUBY, but I remember the hard dirt playground, the dirty little boys, and the lack of compassion shown by MISS RUBY and her minions. On the playground was a swing made from an oil drum, hanging on a frame by two ropes.  One could swing straddling the drum, or we more lady-like girls in our dresses would sit daintily on the barrel and grasp the ropes. It was all quite idyllic in our minds. One day I asked someone to give me a push. When they obliged with great enthusiasm, I went flying off the back of the barrel, dress over my head, landing hard on my back in the dirt. When I cried, I was told, "you got what you asked for."

I rarely had to stay for rest time at MISS RUBY'S because my grandparents would pick me up. As much as I despised playtime at MISS RUBY'S it did not compare to my dislike of rest time. If one raised one's head from the cot and MISS RUBY saw it, she would snap her fingers and yell in a harsh voice, "put your head down right now!"  She terrified me. I really only remember staying for rest time once. The memory still terrifies me.

I was never a squeaky wheel. Frankly, I am still not, really. For that reason my mother never knew how much I hated going to MISS RUBY'S until when I was 5. It was the first day of my second year at MISS RUBY'S, and Mom began to fix my hair, I began to cry. Great, gulping sobs. Mom was stunned. When she asked what was wrong, I poured my heart out about everything I could not bear to endure another year. She immediately called MISS RUBY, and told her that I would not be there. MISS RUBY had some unkind things to say, but she was no match for my mother. I spent my five-year-old year going to work at the television station with my mom. It was great!

Day 4 - earliest childhood memory - check