After so many posts about things I haven’t done, I figured it was high time we chatted about things I have done.
- Named a calf. (Cherry — after the infamous Canadian hockey commentator, Don Cherry.)
- Had a sibling get married on my birthday. (My sister got married on my 12th birthday. There was cake!)
- Flown in a float plane. (My great-uncle once flew his to the lake where my parents had their summer cabin and I got to go for a ride.)
- Had chicken pox. (It was over Easter when I was 11 and it was horrible.
I was born before the vaccine was availableMaybe it was available, but for some reason it was not part of the standard infant vaccines…so my mom made me babysit a little girl with chicken pox so I’d get it “before I got too old.” Her plan worked, but it was still very unpleasant.) - Broken a bone. (In my foot, jumping off a swing. Ouch.)
- Helped shingle a roof. (Several times, in fact.)
- Sung a solo in front of a crowd. (Dozens of times in church. I also sang a solo as part of my high school valedictory speech, and sang to John from the back of the church right before I walked down the aisle at our wedding.)
- Removed leeches from between my toes with salt. (More than once. Disgusting, but effective.)
- Had a C-section. (Two, in fact!)
- Gone to sleepaway camp. (Many times as a kid — and I hated it. HATED IT. Our kids adore it.)
Your turn.
- How many of my “Ever Evers” have you done?
- Did you love or hate sleepaway camp?
- Do you have any “I did this once and swore I’d never do it again” stories?
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Oh, I loved this list – such a fun way to flip the usual “things I’ve never done” posts on their head!
You singing to John at your own wedding sounds absolutely magical. I hope someone recorded it!
As for sleepaway camp: same! We had one every year through school, and I dreaded it every time. I missed my family, felt homesick from day one, and mostly counted the hours until I could go home. Some kids thrive on that stuff. I was not one of them!
John LOVED summer camp, but when we got married I told him I would never, ever force our kids to go. My parents didn’t “force” me but it was just what was done and I never let on just how much I hated it.
Well, our kids take after their father and LOVE it. I think it also helps that they have established friendships. I was often going to camps where I didn’t know many people and always felt left out. Plus, I’m not athletic and there was always a focus on sports at summer camp which I absolutely hated.
I’m glad for my kids, but I’m so, so thankful my days of summer camp are in my rearview mirror.
Wow, you shingled a roof! Impressive! I can’t do heights nor can I swing a hammer safely, so I get excused from that type of tasks.
I’ve only done #4 when I was 8 yrs old ( I think- I was born way before vaccine!) and #9 ( one emergency, one planned- neither was fun).
Honestly, given what I’ve seen with chicken pox for adults, your mom was probably acting correctly. Adults have it so much worse than kids.
I used to want to sing solos, but I always started off weakly ( anxious!) So it never came to pass. Easier to stay as a member of the chorus.
Leeches -Yuck! But now I know how to deal with them! Thanks for the tip.
Yup. I helped my father lay tar paper, plumb chalk lines and put on roofing shingles. On more than one occassion!
Salt makes leeches shrivel up and fall off!
4 – check
5 – technically but barely
Google tells me that the chicken pox vax was developed in the 70s, but I don’t think it was in use when I was a young ‘un. I remember that everyone got the pox at some point. I was an overachiever and got measles as well. Vaccines are amazing but they’re not 100%.
In the broken bone department, when I was 18 I crushed the tip of my finger in a safe while on the job, which broke a tiny bone. There was no lasting damage other than losing the nail. When I was 29 I got pneumonia and developed a severe pain in my side that lasted for a long, long time. The doc told me that I probably cracked a rib from coughing.
My life goal is to have this list be the only pox/broken bone incidents. Speaking of which, I’m eligible to get the shingles vax now, so thanks for the reminder!
I had measles as a kid as well, which I’m a bit confused by because I WAS vaccinated for measles.
That finger crushing sounds positively horrid. Ouch!
We’ve had 3 bouts of pneumonia in our house and it is truly awful.
I had chicken pox when I was 19 and it was absolutely the worst thing ever. It was during winter finals at university too. I did fine in the classes – I think there was only one exam I had to defer – but wow was I ever sick. It was terrible.
I have sung solo – I was the lead in the grade six musical – and I have also been to sleepaway camp, which I loved! Nothing else on your list though.
My mom was a nurse and I think she’d see enough adults with chicken pox to know it was terrible. We knew someone in her 20s that was sick for weeks with chicken pox. It was inconvenient for me and I hated it, of course, but it was relatively mild in comparison to older people.
Some of those I have done!
Growing up in surburbia, we didn’t have cows. We got our dairy at the drive thru dairy store.
Never had someone get married on my birthday, shingled a roof, sang in front of a crowd (not even solo), flown on a sea plan, or removed leeches.
I did have chicken pox during a freak, giant snow storm that we were not allowed to play in. My sister brought them home from school for everyone to share.
It took me 61 years to break a bone and I did it walking out of my house onto the stone walkway. Turned my ankle, 4 weeks before Thanksgiving for 30+!
I did not have a C section, but did have a hysterectomy thru that way. And God bless every single woman that has to take care of herself and a newborn!
I did not go to sleep away camp, but I was in Drum Corps that slept in sleeping bags on gym floors and traveled by coach bus across the US. We like to think it was just like sleep away camp because we didn’t have our parents; only a few wonderful chaperones and fix it men that traveled with us. It was a lot of hard work/practice, but so worth it.
Chicken pox definitely get spread around quickly in families!
C-section recovery wasn’t fun and I had issues with my scar tissue for years and years. Osteopathy made ALL THE DIFFERENCE in the end.
Drum Corps sounds fun, though I suspect I would have felt the same way about it as I did sleepaway camp. I guess I got homesick easily as a kid.
You have some unusual things here! I can say yes to 4,5 and 10. I did a music sleepaway camp every summer in high school, and I loved it. We stayed in the dorms at University of Illinois, so it wasn’t a traditional camp with cabins and canoeing, etc.
The only thing I’ll add is, I had chicken pox TWICE. Once as a baby and once in third grade. I didn’t have it really badly either time though. (Oh, and my broken bone was a finger, which I barely count).
Hey, a broken finger definitely counts! Ask Indy – a broken thumb was the end of his soccer season last year 🙁
I am with you on chicken pox (though I was so small I don’t remember having it; I do have a small white pox scar on my sternum though), singing a solo (many, many times), and going to sleepaway camp. I went to several different camps and never enjoyed them. I get too homesick and too stressed out by all the socializing!
YES! I think I realize now that my introversion was strong in my tween years and camp really exacerbated it. Plus, I didn’t get to read much while away at sleepaway camp which always left me feeling bereft.
I have had chicken pox (and now live in terror of shingles), broken too many bones to count (*sigh*), and have been to sleepaway camp. I’m just like Jenny! Elisabeth, I loved every opportunity I had in my childhood to not be at home, so I bet you’re not surprised to learn that I loved sleepaway camp. Plus, we learned fun skills and got to hang out with friends. What could be better if you were a Young NGS?
I went bungee jumping once. I am slightly scared of heights, but I had a real fun time. It is crazy to just put your life in some cable and a carabiner, though, isn’t it?
I don’t know if I could do the bungee jumping? But I know Lisa has…so I feel like I really should try it sometime.
I’m so glad you got the respite from tough circumstances at camp. They can be such a wonderful, supportive environment. A bit magical for a lot of people, I think. I’m so glad Young NGS had those opportunities <3
Chicken pox, check! As well as the measles (as a teenager, I missed a tour with my folk dance group, I was SO GRUMPY. Plus, I had a fever of 40+ and couldn’t walk by myself so my mom had me sleep in her bed and my dad had to move to the sofa for a couple nights). My kids are vaccinated. I also had rubella.
Broken a bone: in my foot, as I was jumping rope in our house. Woops…
And sleepaway camp, for sure! I liked most of them, the one where they had to pick me up early was when I went by myself to stay with a family to learn French. And there was nobody who understood Dutch. I lasted 3 days I think…
My kids are vaccinated for chicken pox, but for some reason (even though Birchie says the vaccine came out the 70s) it must not have been standard? I got all the other vaccines? I also got vaccinated for measles, but did have a mild case when I was quite young.
Hey! I broke the bone in my foot jumping OFF a swing. We’re almost twinsies.
Wow, Elisabeth, you SING?? In public?? Solo?? I am very very much in awe.
Sleep away camp was the highlight of my life from 5th grade through freshman year in high school. As a junior in high school, I got to work weekends at that camp. Thought I’d died and gone to heaven.
Ha! My dad was a pastor of a small church so I sang ALL. THE. TIME.
You sound like my mom. Some of the happiest memories of her life were camp and she worked all the way up through the end of high school.
I am a yes to chicken pox, sung solo, and sleep away camp.
I want to know more about naming the calf and why you’ve shingled multiples roofs, please!!
We had a family in our church who were dairy farmers. The wife was my school teacher and for a while she did some homeschooling support at her house. So I would spend recess playing on hay bales and walking through the barn. I happened to be there once when a calf was delivered and they asked me if I wanted to name her!
And I helped my Dad shingle three roofs at their summer cottage turned retirement home. Now they have a metal roof, though, so those days are behind me.
Wow! You have done so many cool things! Singing to your husband has to top the list. That’s wonderful!
I had Chicken Pox during summer vacation after 2nd grade. Totally unfair! I was so mad about it!
I got the requisite two doses of the Shingrix Shingles vaccine. I’ve known several people who’ve had Shingles, and it was a nightmare for them. I had a huge reaction after the booster, which I was warned about, but I was surprised by how sick I felt. But, I’m quite sure it was better than having Shingles.
I also hated sleepaway camp. At one camp, we had to use buckets as toilets. At another, we made “hobo stew,” which was a bunch of stuff wrapped in foil that never cooked completely, and I got sick. Thankfully, our Blue Birds group disbanded, and I didn’t have to endure any more.
I have heard so many horror stories about shingles. When can one get the vaccine? I’m pretty sure I’m too young for it??
BUCKETS FOR TOILETS. Michelle, that sounds positively horrid. And the food. I am so sad for young Michelle having to endure all of that!
I’ve done 4, 7, 9, and 10. I also was sent to play with a friend that had chickenpox so I could get it. And then I gave it to my baby sister. I am glad it’s something we can vaccinate against now! It was so miserable!
I went to 4H camp and enjoyed it. I was glad to be away from home. My summers were quite boring since I lived in a rural area and didn’t see friends very often. I had lots of boring chores. So camp was better! Our church has a really excellent camp so look forward to when our kids are old enough to attend!
Yup. Our kids are counting down the days until their summer camp this year, and Belle is a volunteer leader for three weeks in addition to her week of overnight camp. They definitely feel very different about the experience than their mother did 😉
I went to a sports camp at the college that I ended up attending. It was so fun. I wasn’t homesick at all. I also didn’t sleep much. I’ve broken bones – a few fingers. I’ve not shingled a roof. No one has gotten married on my birthday, but fun fact – Ed was baptized on my 30th bday. Great memory. No solos, no leeches, no C-sections, and no float planes here. Thank goodness for the first three No one would want me to sing a solo. I had chicken pox. There are home movies of all of us in our underwear (I was 3) and we are covered in dots and my dad made us flap our arms like we were chickens.
You’re so nonchalant about having a multiple broken fingers!
I have done 4 of these – I have had chicken pox, broken a bone, sung a solo in front of a crowd, and gone to sleepaway camp!
The sleepaway camp was only for five days and I LOVED IT. But I was also really happy to come home when it was all over. I don’t think I would have wanted to do longer than that, and it was with my girl’s group at church so we already knew each other.
My mom had my brother on my grandparents’ anniversary! A pretty special gift. 😉
Awww. That is a special gift. My sister was born on my Dad’s birthday. She’s the same one who got married on my birthday! And, her husband shares a birthday with HIS father. What are the odds?
Named a calf. Nope, but we had a pig when I was a kid. I don’t remember if we named him, but I do remember that we ate him. 🙂
Had a sibling get married on my birthday. No.
Flown in a float plane. No, but I have been in a small plane a few times as well as a helicopter.
Had chicken pox. Yes, when I was a teenager and it sucked. I read the entire Lion, Witch and Wardrobe series and was so worried I would have scarring on my face because…I was a teenager!
Broken a bone. Yes, my little pinky finger when I was in my 20s.
Helped shingle a roof. So many times, and I have also done metal roofs too.
Sung a solo in front of a crowd. Does karaoke count? If so then yes.
Removed leeches from between my toes with salt. No, thank goodness.
Had a C-section. Not that I recall.
Gone to sleepaway camp. Nope, but I was always jealous of Haley Mills.
“I don’t remember if we named him, but I do remember that we ate him.” Hahaha.
I have to admit that I’m surprised, with all your world travels, you’ve never had a leech on you before!
I think I have had a leech on me, but it was not between my toes!
Out of these things I have only had chickenpox and broken a bone. I still have a scar right up high on my forehead at the start of my hairline from chicken pox. When we were young, we used to ride down this very short grass hill in our backyard, and I hit the fence at the bottom and fell off my bike, and my brother came down behind me and rode over my arm and broke it. All of my siblings also broke their arms, and my brother and youngest sister broke theirs twice, so I just thought it was something that every kid did.
I have certainly never sung solo, and I’m sure my potential audience is pleased about that. We don’t have the whole summer camp thing in Australia, but we have school camps, and I loved them. Camp in Australia always means at least overnight.
HE RODE OVER YOUR ARM?? Ouch, Melissa. That sounds so painful, and that after crashing into a fence. Eeks.
I didn’t realize summer camp wasn’t a “thing” in Australia. It’s fascinating to me that schools organize some overnight events, though. That is very uncommon, at least in public schools, here in Canada.
I think most schools have camps in Victoria, often starting with a sleepover in maybe grade 2, then 2-3 night camps in grade 3-5 rising up to 7 or more days in high school. There is a whole outdoor education sector in Australia that run camps for schools, either with their own camp sites with built accommodation or by providing the equipment and expertise to take classes camping in wilderness. A lot of primary schools also take the grade 6 classes to Canberra for a week because studying our system of government is part of the grade 6 curriculum.
We matched three times.
C-section (2), broken bone (nose), and chicken pox (on my 29th birthday—thought I would die!)
I remember seeing large leeches at a beach when I was a kid, and we aptly named that spot Leach Beach. They were huge, and if one got stuck on me, I’d probably have nightmares forever.
I never went to sleepaway camp, but I would have enjoyed it.
Oh, fun to see the I Have Done for a change and, eh, leeches? I’m sure there’s a really good story in there!