Another Childhood Memory - It was Curtains for Me!

When I was a very young girl, I was forced to spend a lot of time in my bedroom, either through sickness (which I suffered at times) or being forced to have afternoon naps--this following little tale takes place in that bedroom, and is also the reason that I seldom was forced to take naps ever again!

I shared a bedroom with my sister, Joyce, who was 9 years older than I was - (I know, sympathy is already laying with her isn't it...), well at the time of this incident she had just been given the opportunity to redecorate our bedroom, and choose the colours and curtains for it.  (I don't ever remember being consulted, but I probably didn't care anyway - the least amount of time I had to think about or let alone be in that bedroom during the day was fine for me!)  I'm thinking that Joyce may have been about 14, which makes me 5--my memory is fuzzy on this point, but you'll understand soon enough.

On this particular occasion, I must have been sick again, and was spending way too much time stuck in my bed.  Mum would give me things to do, like activity books or colouring books, but she discovered early on that crayons don't just colour paper, but also walls and sheets - so in the end I was left with the basics, which also included a pencil and a pair of round nosed scissors to use with my activity books.

The curtains Joyce had chosen were a mixture of cream, tan and turquoise design - They were OK, I guess - I mean they were just curtains.  But this particular day, I decided to make them a work of art.  I have always had a great sense of adventure and often acted on impulse, only realising later that there may have been consequences to my actions - I just never recognised the consequences until later........

I remember laying in my bed looking at the newly decorated room and thought that the patterns in the curtains were an interesting shape--but could be made more interesting if only the sunlight could shine more freely through some of the patterns.  You guessed it - I took my round nosed scissors and cut out the patterns in the curtains at my height--I thought that Joyce might still like her height of curtain to still be whole, but this way, I could lay in bed and peek through the special holes to see the sunlight and day's activities outside.  I only cut through 3 sides of each pattern so that the lose fabric could sway and wave at me as we cheered on the sunlight outside!  When I was done, I neatly put away my scissors and my activity book, and had a nap--that hard work had really worn my tired body out!

I woke up to yelling and heard my name being shouted.  I wondered what was happening, then heard the footsteps on the stairs as Mum, followed by a yelling Joyce, climbed the stairs and entered the bedroom.  Apparently all of my hard work had not been a good idea, and no one could appreciate the creativity and waving curtain patterns that I had created.  I don't remember what happened next, but I bet it wasn't good - and I probably had to once again, "Wait until your Father gets home!".  I like to think that he enjoyed the waving curtain patterns!