What did you want to be when you a child?

[Krikit 1,164]

Hey remember Canada's version of Paula Abdul... CANDI!

Nice shoulder pads.

I've never heard of her. Love the shoulder pads.

I wanted to be a princess. Did I tell you my princess story? I wanted to be a princess SO bad. We had a play when I was in grade 2, and the teacher was deciding who was going to play what part. I was a rough and tumble child, precocious, assertive, actually...a brat! Not too neat, and I had black hair, and didn't wear frilly dresses. I say that because there were several girls in my class that were "perfect little ladies". They had blond coiffured hair, and wore pretty pink and white frilly dresses. They were most polite and respectful...and didn't play with me. Anyway...they ALWAYS were the teachers pet. They sat up front and got the best marks and won prizes. Sooooooooo when the teacher said, "who want's to be the princess?" in the play, I shot up my hand, says "oof, oof!!!! MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE". The teacher said, "no Carla, you wouldn't make a good princess at all...you don't look like a princess". My word... I put down my hand slowly, and I was devasted. I wasn't princess material?? How come?? The teacher (Mrs Stewart), chose one of the "pretty girls", to be the princess. I can honestly say, from that day forth, that impacted on how I saw myself. Remember, I was a child. I came to believe that if I didn't "look" a certain way, I was not "good enough". This was reinforced throughout all my childhood as far as I'm concerned, and impacted my self esteem.

Fast forward now to 2003, when I met Gene. I truly believe in having one true love, and Gene was it, I knew this very early on, however the clincher was when I told him this story ( I had NEVER told anyone this story) and I wept. I was 45 years old and I wept!!! Over a princess part in a play when I was 6!! Gene wept with me. For me. He told me I was beautiful...and I was truly a princess...his princess.

Nothing has ever been the same since. Did I need validation from a man? No. It was validation from SOMEONE that recognized I was truly beautiful. That my beauty comes from within, and that there is no greater beauty.

I'm crying now, just writing this! I must go...do I hit Post? Yes...

Edited to add that it's too late I think to delete this thread. Sorry if I've brought anyone down with it. I know it was posted to have some fun.

I'll add that after my princess plan, I wanted to be a nun, a nurse, a librarian, a teacher...gosh, I wanted to be a million things!

Awwwwwww, Carla. (F) What a horrible teacher. Wow. She certainly taught you something, didn't she? I had some pretty horrible teachers back in the day, too. I don't think they had any rigorous testing for them back then. In fact, didn't they used to take them straight from high school with only a few hours of teacher's training?

Your story was very heartwarming. I am so glad you hit Post. I'm even happier that you met Gene. He sounds like a real sweetheart.

[Emancipation 2]

I wanted to be a princess. Did I tell you my princess story? I wanted to be a princess SO bad. We had a play when I was in grade 2, and the teacher was deciding who was going to play what part. I was a rough and tumble child, precocious, assertive, actually...a brat! Not too neat, and I had black hair, and didn't wear frilly dresses. I say that because there were several girls in my class that were "perfect little ladies". They had blond coiffured hair, and wore pretty pink and white frilly dresses. They were most polite and respectful...and didn't play with me. Anyway...they ALWAYS were the teachers pet. They sat up front and got the best marks and won prizes. Sooooooooo when the teacher said, "who want's to be the princess?" in the play, I shot up my hand, says "oof, oof!!!! MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE". The teacher said, "no Carla, you wouldn't make a good princess at all...you don't look like a princess". My word... I put down my hand slowly, and I was devasted. I wasn't princess material?? How come?? The teacher (Mrs Stewart), chose one of the "pretty girls", to be the princess. I can honestly say, from that day forth, that impacted on how I saw myself. Remember, I was a child. I came to believe that if I didn't "look" a certain way, I was not "good enough". This was reinforced throughout all my childhood as far as I'm concerned, and impacted my self esteem.

Fast forward now to 2003, when I met Gene. I truly believe in having one true love, and Gene was it, I knew this very early on, however the clincher was when I told him this story ( I had NEVER told anyone this story) and I wept. I was 45 years old and I wept!!! Over a princess part in a play when I was 6!! Gene wept with me. For me. He told me I was beautiful...and I was truly a princess...his princess.

Nothing has ever been the same since. Did I need validation from a man? No. It was validation from SOMEONE that recognized I was truly beautiful. That my beauty comes from within, and that there is no greater beauty.

I'm crying now, just writing this! I must go...do I hit Post? Yes...

Edited to add that it's too late I think to delete this thread. Sorry if I've brought anyone down with it. I know it was posted to have some fun.

I'll add that after my princess plan, I wanted to be a nun, a nurse, a librarian, a teacher...gosh, I wanted to be a million things!

Oh Carla... That is an incredible story.. what an amazing man you have there... thank you for sharing that story.. it's truly a beautiful one..

[thetreble 19]

Aw Carla....I'm sure some of us can remember a similiar story to that when we look back at our childhoods. I remember being devastated in grade 2 over this class bully calling me chubby. In Grade 2 the teacher took a poloroid picture of us, and when I was in highschool I found it and I was SO thin! I was taller then a lot of the other girls, but I was really thin. I didn't even have baby fat. For many years I carried around the feeling of being the biggest girl in the room, even though I played more sports than any girl I knew..as well as danced.

Well, I guess I wanted to be a singer or a poet. I had a love for reading at an early age as well as a love for music that was pretty surreal to my parents. I'd spend all weekend long in my bedroom listening to Phil Collins and Whitney Houston. I could literally be up there for 8 hours straight, laying down on my bed with the windows open in the spring and summer...and just belting it out.

I was in every choir imaginable and have a love for choral music that is beyond what most people I think can understand.

Any way, I was scouted by EMI records when I was 16 after I did a performance at my arts school. A demo tape that I made myself to get into the performance was sent unknowingly by a teacher to a friend of his at EMI. I talked with the agent for a bit but after a few discussions, I really wanted to go to university more than anything. So left it at that.

By then my every attention had been turned to poetry. I have been writing extensively since I was in little but more seriously by 18. I studied Canadian writing in university and it was my specialty.

I'm still a kid.. (almost 25 now) so...I think I'd like to be an English professor. I hope to start my Masters this fall.

[Krikit 1,164]

Ohmygosh, Treble, that just brought back memories of my own childhood. I totally wanted to be a singer. My Mom says that when I was really little I used to go find all the bathrooms whenever we went out (as well as using our own bathroom at home) and sit there and sing because I loved the acoustics.

I also got drunk when I was three and sat at the top of the stairs and sung my heart out. Apparently my Mum had left some cider on the kitchen table and I had found it. (In England the cider is alcoholic.)

So, anyhooo...... my Mum was convinced that I would become a singer.

That's cool that you were scouted by EMI.

[thetreble 19]

Ah it was more bullshit than anything. They weren't 100% interested but I wasn't about to stop my life and jump through hoops to convince them either. I was really loving life as a teenager at that point so...I think I made the best decision for myself. I will have to record a song for you guys and put it up online for you all to listen.

Singing is just a super fun thing for me now...although I should really get myself into an adult choir just for the hell of it.

[Laura+Tom 2]

At first (when I was about 7) I wanted to be an artist, then I wanted to be an RSPCA Inspector and save all the fluffy animals, then I went back to the art and wanted to be an interior designer, when for some reason I thought sod it and wanted to be a Scenes of Crime Officer (like CSI) so I went on to study Forensic Science at university.

Now I work for the govermment, where did I go wrong?!

[thetreble 19]

Now I work for the govermment, where did I go wrong?!

Me too Booooooooooo.

[trailmix 77]

You should post a song for us to hear Amanda!!

[thetreble 19]

You should post a song for us to hear Amanda!!

I shall. I will try to record something this weekend and pass it along. I switch computers so much I seem to lose everything I record. At one time I had an internet friend from Texas (for years now..she even visited my apartment in Ottawa back in 2004) and she had more of my music than i did! haha

[JillA 2]

Carla, that story was soooo sweet and nice of you to share with us, the sweet part being you and Gene not the teacher!! I have some bad memories of school too, for example I developed a bit later and one nasty boy in about grade 6 or 7 told me I was "flatter than a brick wall" I went home and bawled my eyes out and asked my Mom to buy me a training bra!!

[Krikit 1,164]

At first (when I was about 7) I wanted to be an artist, then I wanted to be an RSPCA Inspector and save all the fluffy animals, then I went back to the art and wanted to be an interior designer, when for some reason I thought sod it and wanted to be a Scenes of Crime Officer (like CSI) so I went on to study Forensic Science at university.

Now I work for the govermment, where did I go wrong?!

Ugh. I had a friend who worked for the Humane Society. Yikes. The stories he told. Like this one guy who hung himself and they didn't find him for days and so the police called them in because the guy had a pit bull and the police won't go into the scene until the animal is secured so my friend had to go in first. Well, apparently the dead guy hadn't left enough food out for the dog and..... you guessed it..... dead guy became dinner.

Carla, that story was soooo sweet and nice of you to share with us, the sweet part being you and Gene not the teacher!! I have some bad memories of school too, for example I developed a bit later and one nasty boy in about grade 6 or 7 told me I was "flatter than a brick wall" I went home and bawled my eyes out and asked my Mom to buy me a training bra!!

Awwww. I had the exact opposite problem. I cried and asked my Mum for a bra because I was getting too big and the boys loved looking at the bouncy boobies.

[Emancipation 2]

Krikit you reminded me about a shirt my mother used to make me wear (circa grade 5).. it was a blouse and it buttoned up the back.. so I couldn't put it on (or take it off) myself.. when we used to line up in class to go to music class or whatever the boys used to stand behind me in line and unbutton it.. I couldn't yell out or try to stop them cause our teacher was an ogre and would get made at us for doing anything but staring straight ahead when we were in lines.. Dumb boys..

Oh and then there were the velor knickers

[Krikit 1,164]

Krikit you reminded me about a shirt my mother used to make me wear (circa grade 5).. it was a blouse and it buttoned up the back.. so I couldn't put it on (or take it off) myself.. when we used to line up in class to go to music class or whatever the boys used to stand behind me in line and unbutton it.. I couldn't yell out or try to stop them cause our teacher was an ogre and would get made at us for doing anything but staring straight ahead when we were in lines.. Dumb boys..

Ohmygosh, I had one of those shirts too!

Oh and then there were the velor knickers

Huh?? What????

OMG!!!!! I just made a huge blunder!! When I read "velor" for some reason that translated into "velcro" in my head!!!!!!! I was like......

[Emancipation 2]

Huh?? What????

OMG!!!!! I just made a huge blunder!! When I read "velor" for some reason that translated into "velcro" in my head!!!!!!! I was like......

They were like baggar vance pants.. just below the knee.. button at the bottom, and velor... my mother made them for me.. she thought they were "awesome"... everyone (and I mean teachers included), made fun of me...

I was so tempted to pull a Degrassi and bring a 2nd outfit to school and change in the bathroom, but I feared my mother's wrath to much in those days

Edited January 15, 2009 by Emancipation

[Krikit 1,164]

OMG, I was totally off! I had interpreted "velor knickers" into "velcro underwear". I had no idea you meant velour capri pants. That's why I was like "OMG, #######".