CHILDHOOD STUPIDITY

The youth in our church have been learning about family history this month.  I attended a Wednesday night youth activity, and they took the younger group to the Family History Library while the older group stayed at the church.  I stayed to supervise the older group.  One of the leaders passed out paper and pencils and had the youth write down events from their childhood that they would like to remember.  He assigned a topic, allowed five minutes for the kids to write, and then had volunteers share the stories they wrote down.  I really enjoyed the activity.  So much so that I would like to share with you the topics and stories I wrote down.

The first topic was  - SOMETHING STUPID I DID AS A CHILD

Here is the event that came to my mind (besides throwing an enormous icicle at Brett and hitting him in the head, or throwing paper airplanes at passing cars to freak them out, or....well... never mind). 

The night was dark and cold.  The frigid air hinted at the coming snow.  A slight breeze whispered of trouble in the air.  I can't remember why Ken and I were out wandering the neighborhoods in our area that late at night, but we must have been bored and were looking for something to do.  We agreed it would be fun to knock on doors and run away.  We chose a door, knocked and ran.  Safely hidden away we quietly snickered at our craftiness, until we realized that the parents of the house were out thoroughly searching every bush and shrub in their yard.

As they drew closer to our hiding spot, we panicked and made a run for it.  Ken took off so fast I didn't have a chance to see where he went.  The dad, seeing he had no chance to catch my brother, turned his angry sites on me.  I sprinted as fast as I could down the street.  Like a cheetah, I had him beat with my speed, however I didn't have the stamina.  My muscles were soon exhausted and he started gaining on me.  To my foolish child's mind I thought maybe I could dodge his rage-filled grasp like I did with the boys on the football field at recess.  To my chagrin, he instantly caught a hold of my coat and lifted me off the ground.  He hissed his curses in my face gave me a good shake and let me go.  I honestly have no idea what he said to me.  All I heard in my head was, "YOU ARE SO DEAD!!!  YOU'RE GONNA DIE!!!  PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!!!"

I stood where the man had set me down in a daze.  My face burned from the embarrassment of being caught.  As soon as the dad had disappeared out of site, Ken popped up out of the darkness.  He had a sheepish grin on his face.  I imagined he felt bad for ditching me (at least I hope he did). 

He gave me a little shove and asked, "Why did you let that guy catch you?" 
"Why did you leave me?!?" was my reply.
"Last I looked you had him beat, so I took off."  Ken answered.
"Yeah, thanks a lot."

We both gave a weak laugh and headed for home.  I never, ever, played that game EVER again!