I’ve been putting things off all day, trying to do what I’ve deemed necessary before I allow myself to do what I find fun. This strategy has mostly been making me anxious as time slips through my fingers: it’s almost 5:30 and the chore-like bits aren’t done. Luckily, I just found a slice of life so good that it simply must be shared, so I’m giving up on cleaning and starting on fun. Here, take a peek into my life at the end of third grade.

Just in case you can’t read my almost-fourth-grade handwriting, here goes:

AMANDA JUNE 8, 1980

Dear Grandpa, and grandma
I passed into 4rth grade.
So far I’ve lost 7 teeth and one’s wiggiling.
I hope you have a nice day! I got some new thongs yesterday. (they are green)
I hurt my big toe too. (yesterday)
My sisters are real brats.
Even my mother is a brat.

I didn’t even bother to sign it – though I did draw a giant smiley face. I guess I figured they would know who I was – the one who wasn’t a brat.