Childhood Memories

It’s August and it’s time to get ready for back to school. This time of year always brings back memories from my own back to school days.


Until I was 15 years old, I lived every summer on a boat. My mother was a teacher, and the day after school let out in June, we moved to our boat at the one of the harbors on the North Shore of Long Island. My dad went to work from the boat each day, and we kids swam, played, swam some more, went water skiing, fishing, and generally had a great summer—every summer. We didn’t go on family vacations because living on the boat was a vacation in itself. School always started 2 days after Labor Day, so on Labor Day we moved home from the boat and had one day before school started.


That first night back home is what I remember most about back to school. You see, at the harbor, we never heard crickets. Never. When I would go to bed that first night home, all the windows would be open—this was humid New York remember, and all I would hear were the crickets. It was a soothing sound to me, a welcome sound~~I loved school as a child. And so to this day, I always associate the sound of crickets with back to school.

We invite you to share your back to school memories! It’s always fun to hear stories from others. Also~~stop in this week to get your Back to School gift from Childish Things!!