School should be in full swing for kids across North America and many kids are busy with their after-school activities. Some are in band, cheer or sports among many other activities. Others go home and enjoy some quiet time and get a head start on their homework for the evening. The right photo sure can stir up sweet memories of good times. Lily and Jennie are sharing some of their memories in this “After-school Edition” of Throwback Thursday.
Jennie Looks Back
I was a latchkey kid before the term really came into vogue, I think. For most of my childhood – at least after the age of seven or so – my mom was working and I came home to an empty house (usually my sister would arrive home around the same time, though).
I don’t recall doing much of anything organized after school during most of my school years – athletic I’m not. My main routine was to come home, get a snack, and watch whatever was on television. When I was younger, it was reruns of old sitcoms – The Brady Bunch, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Beverly Hillbillies, Gomer Pyle, Gilligan’s Island – on our black and white set (cable was not even an option at that point). Ooh, and I loved the 3:30 Movie, especially when it was horror week! Though I attribute my sister’s deathly fear of rats to repeat viewings of the 1976 classic Food of the Gods, which featured giant you-know-whats (in fact, they were clearly normal-sized you-know-whats swarming over cheesy miniature sets; special effects was not the film’s strong suit). Also, I loved Gargoyles,. which was about…gargoyles, and starred Jennifer Salt, later of Soap fame and Cornel Wilde, of…being Cornel Wilde fame, I guess.
When I was older, in high school, eventually my sister and I had separate bedrooms, each with our own color TV (la-di-da!) and I think at some point a VCR (cable was still reserved for my parents’ TV and that could only be watched when my dad wasn’t watching it). The VCR coincided with my interest in soap operas, so that opened up a whole new vista for me. Actually, in middle school I’d gotten into General Hospital, but that was pre-VCR and so the best I could manage was watching it on sick days or maybe, if I rushed out of school and the bus came at just the right time, I was able to get home for the last 15 minutes. Those were glorious days!
My sister and I did play outside, sometimes with other kids, though there were rarely many on our street. We roller-skated or went to friends’ houses. We sometimes went to the library or the local park, which was quite close by (something that in retrospect I probably did not appreciate or take sufficient advantage of, at the time).
At one point we got a cheap little camera and we enjoyed posing for photos outside; the picture here depicts me on our next door neighbor’s steps, holding our chihuahua mix, Poochianna (usually shortened to Poochie). Pro tip: don’t let your seven-year-old name your dog, unless you want the dog to have a really stupid name. For some reason my sister and I liked hanging out in the neighbor’s yard; I think it was a bit more attractive and nicely landscaped than ours. The neighbor, however, did not appreciate our appreciation, while we did not appreciate the sophisticated notion of “private property.” Our neighbor was subsequent dubbed a “mean old lady.”
It’s hard not to glorify the days of my childhood; kids today seem to have so many more restrictions on them, as well as responsibilities and pressures. All I had to do was sit back and watch to see if Gilligan and the rest of the crew would get off the island that day. Those were the days.
Lily Looks Back ~ 1980 
I was trying to think of which after-school memories were my favorite. I fondly remembered the elementary years. There was plenty of time before dinner to watch the local kid channel and to play outside with my friends. There were cartoons, super heroes, and reruns of Lost In Space and I Dream of Jeannie. Once out the door, we’d act out our favorite characters, ride our bikes or play games like freeze-tag. After dinner, we’d carry on until called in for the evening.
From Junior high on, it seems most my time after school was spent in cheerleading. It was a small school and offerings to the girls were slim. It was sometimes a struggle to have enough players for a team sport. I loved playing softball whether or not it was a real team. One year, the boys’ basketball coach undertook the girls’ softball. He was serious and I don’t think I’ve ever been in fitter shape. The team walked around so sore the first couple of weeks of practice. As girls, we drove him nuts. A bunch of us sang together in choir, ensemble and, of course, the church choir. We really enjoyed our harmony. He’d be steaming over a game we’d just lost and we’d be singing away in the back of the bus. He’d lose it and turn around screaming at us to shut up. We’d wait about ten minutes and start again.
As a cheerleader, we never knew who would be handling us and if they were forced or happy to do it. But, it was something that was there for us to do. We liked cheering for our school’s basketball team. Later on, they added in the thrill of cheering for soccer, an embarrassment to bear in addition to our ugly uniforms. A fellow cheerer and I got in a lot of trouble for skipping a game. We did not want to show up as soccer cheerleaders at a particular public school where we knew people. I can’t remember what price we had to pay. I do remember the lady who was in charge of our squad being furious.
Basketball season was mostly fun. Our school was reserved and we considered our skirts too long. As a Christian school, the cheer “Go Go! Get em get em! Ooh! Aah!” was removed as being too suggestive. Under the pressure of cheering for a state game, the squad forgot and began this illicit cheer. The two coaches went nuts from the side-lines causing us to want to die from embarrassment. This was before the day of being thrown high into the air, twisting and twirling towards the earth trusting some one to catch you. No, we started each cheer with a swing-step and a hand clap; “Ready? Okay!” Our genius came in devising new mounts with which to end the cheer. We did cartwheels and splits that we practiced after school, always trying to improve our gymnastics and spotting each other as we did our back-walkovers. We planned bake-sales and learned new cheers for pep rallies.
The long bus rides back from away games always seemed the bonding moments of the squad. We rode in the back of the second bus filled with teachers and administrators. Quietly, we’d talk about our cheers, how we had looked, boys and drama-filled school gossip. Often, it was snowing and in the late dark and quiet, it had the feel of a beginning of a sleepover. Not so, if it was a weekend game. We’d be anticipating arriving home to plans of dates or hanging out with our friends. It made me happy to recall these times and to my fellow cheerleaders I say, “Go Go! Get em get em! Ooh! Aah!”
Please share your memories of what you did after school in the comments below.
Crazy how things change, always fun to look back though.
thanks for sharing. i need more ideas to keep my kids occupied as we live in an area without the “normal” afterschool bub and we don’t know many people.
I was expected to do homework and chores after school.
We lived way out in the country and my Mom was a stay at home mom… so she was always there when I got home. Supper was always on the table. Things are different today, many times both parents have to work just to make ends meet.
Love Throw Back Thursdays! My mom expected me to do my chores before starting my homework.
It’s crazy how much things have changed…everything is so scheduled these days! I miss the times of having an activity or two, but still allowing kids some free time to entertain themselves.
Amazing to think how times flies it seems like only yesterday I was at school but it was over 10 years ago now – crazy!
It is always fun to look back. I remember coming home and watching classic shows on tv too.
I love TBT, memories, sharing and the photos.
A snack was always first on the list, the phone calls to friends I’d been with all day in school. And the inevitable, ‘don’t stretch that phone cord’ holler from my mom, and later, ‘are you still on the phone?? Hang up now.’ 🙂
Cyndie, in grade school and middle school at least, I didn’t have much homework. Times *have* changed – I know 3rd graders these days have hours of homework, but as far as I recall we rarely had it, unless it was a special project, like a diorama, that we were expected to complete over time.
Everything is changed now..VCR… i don’t think kids born after 90s really know these things.Such a nice post. Thank you for sharing those memories with us 🙂
JennieIW, I agree. I don’t recall having much homework in elementary school. At times, there were projects and reports that were worked on at home. I do remember math homework around the 4th grade. But even when we were assigned, there was still plenty of time for tv and playing outside.
It’s so fun looking back on things. My kids call me crazy for taking so many pictures but I think when they get older and are able to look back on all the memories they will see I was right! ( again! haha) Wonderful memories
It is crazy how things have changed, isn’t it? I’m in the generation where we grew up without Internet but were exposed to it in our high school years. It was still pretty limited, so my afternoons consisted of working at an after-school job or hanging out with friends, not spending time online. There are good things about technology, but I’m actually really thankful I was raised in a time in which it didn’t take precedence over over things. Great post! 🙂
We had to do our homework and chores before anything else. How things have changed!!
I used to come home from school straight to the TV. lol. Those were the days. I miss being a kid. Now my son is in kindergarten and they even grade him on his coloring? what?!?!?! it’s crazy.
I love looking back and reliving the memories. I usually do one myself on Thursdays but today was not a good day for me. Will have to take care of it next week. 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
I love this. You both have such great memories and sounds like you had a lot of fun.
We had homework and chores but we still had time to do plenty of other stuff too. I remember a lot of free play when we were in grade school. In high school, I was in a lot of different activities. Volleyball and softball although they didn’t have organized girl’s sports back then. All kinds of clubs and chorus.
Great times.
I always had a sport or activity after school so I would usually be running at cross-country or track practice or twirling a rifle for drill team practice. Like you, I have fond memories of our meets and competitions together, especially our goofiness on the bus to and from.
I don’t remember doing anything really after school when I was a kid. I guess I hoped to stay with my friends as long as I could.
I was a little overachiever and wanted to go ahead and get my homework out of the way. I really just didn’t want to have to stress about it later! Or, I might have band practice or a club. I also remember a lot of dieting and doing aerobics in the living room right after school!
I remember after-school activities… I hated them. Just wanted to be in my room listening to music… but there was that one computer club~
I LOVE old pics. I find they mean so much more to us because our generation didn’t have a camera attached to everything! We had a film of 24 so every pic was planned and meant something:)
I remember picking my brother up from school when my Mom was working and walking him home to help him with his homework. Those were good bonding times for us.
i worked in high school so i did that and then homework and chores after,
It’s great looking back! Times have definitely changed!
I watched the same shows growing up!
I always had to do homework after school. I only remember riding my bike around once I was done with school work. I do remember having playdates and friends over to play when I was younger.
I would go to my grandmas house. She always had a snack for me. Then I would play outside with my friends.
Love the memories and humor Lily and Jennie! Yes, Food of the Gods scarred me for life, lol! Things were very easy going then. I feel lucky that we were allowed to come home and unwind without tons of activities or homework to put pressure on us. I feel bad that I sent my own daughter to after-school care for many years. It made a long day at school for her, but as a working parent, I didn’t feel I had a lot of choice.
One thing I don’t remember until high school was getting lots of homework. Yes we had some and if you waited till the last minute to write that report you had a month to do, it was stressfull, but little kids today have the work piled on. There is also little opportunity for physical play. Some kids don’t even know how to use their imaginations in play.