@mikaylar

Oh my goodness you must be the same generation as I am. I am 84 and was 5 when I had this routine ( at that time) procedure done along with the adenoids. They thought that having tonsils would lead to more infections throughout the body. I was also in a crib because I remember the railings on both sides. I also remember lying on my back with my head turned to one side and being so afraid to move or turn my head around to see where all the crying was coming from. The nurses said I was so quiet and so good . I was probably terrified. And yes…unlimited ice cream and gradual soft food when I was released home later that day. I don’t remember if my older brother ( by 11 months) had his removed but he was diagnosed with encephalitis and passed away before his 7th birthday.

Speaking of death in the family at a young age..when he passed away that night…we were in separate rooms..family kept coming over and no one told me anything. I remember being told to go back to sleep. I also remember being at the funeral parlor sitting on my dad’s lap and walking up to the casket and asking why Frankie was so cold. My dad tried to pull my hand away before I touched him.

I realize death to a 5 year old would be so difficult to comprehend but I honestly don’t think anyone tried to explain to me. My mom said I use to ask when he was coming home from school. He would have been in first grade. My dad sent me and my mom to England where we had family…for 6 months..so we could see my grandmother and kind of recover, I guess.

Such bewildering times back then when my family never spoke of anything.
I made sure when I had children that things would be so different. I also remember my mother in law commenting on my wearing maternity clothes so early when I was carrying my first child. In “her day” she wore larger clothes to hide the pregnancy.

Thank goodness I overcame all this reticence during college but had to learn to open up more over the years. I think that’s why all my bosses always liked me. I was mature, didn’t gossip and could keep a confidence.

Boy you should see me now! I am so pleased that my children have such an open and non judgmental relationship with my wonderful grandchildren.

I am wondering if my upbringing was the norm in the mid 1940s and 1950s. I went to an all girls catholic college in the 1960s and we actually had a sex education class in Junior year…really! Even I was stunned at what other young women didn’t know,

I will say though that, in high school, my father sat me down with Grays Anatomy and explained the entire female reproductive system to me when he found out I had my first period. He also said I could read any book in our library…which I did. That got me into some hot water at our catholic high school when the nuns saw what I was reading.

I think I got off the original topic but, I often wonder what life would have been like if my brother was alive today, I have a beautiful picture of us probably not long before he passed…so handsome.

Happy daylight savings from FL Mary.