The gentle cadence of a southern accent greets me as I pick up my mom's call. Even though we (the three girls of the family) all spent a good period in the South for some reason we did get the deep, Arkansas accent of our mother. "Hey Sweetie, how'yah doin?" the conversation begins. Though the continual calls and worries from my madre can become exhausting her soothing voice is always comforting. This call was a full of worries about my brother who is just tired of going to school. The conversation came on my walk home after Ben's presentation on Unequal Childhoods. I began to discuss and dissect why it was that my brother was so different from the three girls of the family. It was fun to get my moms opinion and ask her about how she viewed our childhood and her own. I described the two different types of development; conservative cultivation and natural growth. My mom is a STRONG believer in natural growth, most likely a result of her own childhood. She was raised in Northwest Arkansas in a town with few stop lights and fewer attractions. She lived off the land in the truest sense. Over Christmas break we all took a family road trip to visit the farm and walk the land. It is astounding to stand on the small, rickety porch of her childhood home and look out on now empty farm land. Mena, AR where I spent ten years of my life is a place full of natural wonder and few cultural attractions.
Arkansas is one of those rare places where four tan little children could run around in the woods for hours and hours unobserved and unsupervised. I was "homeschooled" till the fifth grade when we moved to Colorado Springs. My education consisted of reading and reading, listening to the radio learning the stats of the San Antonio Spurs (we didn't have a television so we listened to the games on the radio as a family...super old school), watching the occasional classic film at Mimi's house, our grandma who lived down the street(ben hur, great escape, patton, ect...), painting, and playing outside with family A LOT. My mom worked in the ER as a receptionist a couple nights a week; which was fantastic because they had a television in the lobby and we could watch Spurs games. I distinctly remember all four of us kids settling into the linoleum chairs with a drink and snack in hand ready for a Spurs game with the ER waiting room as added entertainment. Extended family was important and always around. Arkansas is a state full of some of the worst public education systems, extreme poverty, and healthcare. With this in mind, I never viewed our finical situation while we lived in AR as dire. It was when I moved to the middle class Blowing Rock, that I began to slowly realize that people don't always shop at Goodwill, going out to eat or fast food is not viewed as a special occasion event by everyone, and was introduced to the eye opening idea of an allowance
When Dr. Hobby asked how the transition to public school was for me in class it took a second to think about it. I wanted to say...well lets see...I had never seen the majority of tv shows or movies most people, had no idea what popular music was, had never been exposed to racism, or class-ism, combo with the fact I had no idea how a classroom environment worked. With all of this the transition was, looking back now, a miraculous affair. It was a blessing I had a twin sister who validate by non-alien status, a family that was so off the grid that we didn't even know what cool was, and parents that ingrained in all of us we were nothing short of spectacular. The first time someone bullied or made fun of my sister and I, I was so confused by the ridiculous of what they were saying of course we fought back. Though I love Boone now and it has been my parents home for almost ten years it will always have a slight tinge of pain. Boone is where I became exposed to racism, and its homogeneous population permanently shaped how my brother views race. While living in AR we would visit my dad's family in San Antonio about once a year. His family is the traditional Mexican community, a MASSIVE family, full of bilingual conversation, and wealthy than my mom's family. When we traveled to San Antonio it was treats galore, shopping, eating out, and television. So when someone called me a dirty, poor Mexican, I was confused...all the Mexicans I knew were wealthy, stylish, and fantastic.
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| Family Reunion |
Talking with my mom made me realize how my natural growth up bring impacts me daily, but I think in a positive way. It is fun talking to my mom about how she looked at our childhood and discussing the impact. When we moved to Boone, my dad's salary changed significantly and by my senior year of high school the difference was clear. Thinking about my childhood is always fun for me, because of the absolute freedom I had. Applying the theories in Unequal Childhoods would not necessarily place me in the bracket for college and a higher paying job. However, I think there are several aspects that made my natural growth childhood different. I had parents who un involved in education in the traditional sense were always trying to spend time with us and teach us. I was continually learning day after day, whether in the woods, working on the farm, helping my dad fix the car, or listening to the adults talk.
