playing house, 1961

The playground in second grade had one shady tree. Sometimes we girls (it was an all-girls school) gathered beneath to 'play house'. We used stray branches as brooms, and swept the dusty ground until it was smooth enough to serve as the floor. We swept leaves into rows and rectangles to create the outlines for rooms in the house, and took turns being the mama, the daddy, the brother, the sister. Small piles of broken leaves filled our imaginary pots and pans, and we stirred the leaves round and round with a stick for a spoon. We brewed coffee and we cooked rice and gravy. We served it up to each other, eating and drinking and washing pretend dishes until the bell rang and it was time to go back indoors.