Quasi cabbage patch kid dolls and 3rd grade memories

1985 was the year of the Cabbage Patch Kid doll.

And every girl had to have one. And every girl brought them to school to put back by the coat rack. That was the doll of my dreams that year when I was nine and in Mrs. Jones's (Miss Leslie to start the year) 3rd grade class. 

My mom knew what was on my wish list that Christmas, but we also couldn't afford the price tag that came with it. Instead, my sister Angie and I got replicas. I took that doll to school with pride, and each night we both put them to sleep in their "beds."

This memory came back to me as I've watched several little girls across the hall at school bring their "babies" to school each day.

That 3rd grade year we could become part of the I.C.M.M.C. which stood for I Can Manage Myself Club. I don't recall exactly what we had to do to be a part of this club hosted by my teacher, but I did get a laminated card to prove I was a part of it. I carried that card for many years.

She also would post our classroom jobs by coming up with funny names. I remember coming into class one day to see Ocean Man next to a class job. I figured out that it must be me since my last name was quite similar -- Seamons.

This was the year I thought it would be funny to pull the chair out from underneath my classmate who sat next to me. As they went to sit, I pulled the chair, causing them to fall hard to the floor. I was reprimanded quite sternly for that.

Many of my friends came back from Christmas break with pierced ears. I would listen to them explain the process of a gun that would shoot a needle into your ear. I imagined someone standing 15 feet away and aiming this device at my head and hoping they were a good aim. To this day, I still haven't pierced them.

One day Mrs. Jones had her back to the chalkboard. The entire class began to snicker at the rip she had in the seam of her pants showing off her pink underwear. A safety-pin took care of that until she came back after lunch wearing a different pair of pants.

I happened upon an old Bible in our basement and took it to school. Whenever I finished an assignment and had some free time, I would pull that Bible out to peruse and read. I'm sure I was the only student to bring such reading material.