The Year That Recess Died

Recess. Arguably the best part about school growing up as a kid. Nothing felt better than throwing off the shackles of the classroom and bolting outside towards freedom, your friends in tow. Wind, snow, or humidity that made even your eye-balls sweat. It didn't matter what the heavens tossed our way. It was recess time, it was ours, and it was sacred.

I'm not sure when all us girls collectively agreed to stop playing at recess. I definitely wasn't part of that jury. At some point in the 7th grade it was decided that playing at recess was much too childish and that we should start an impromptu race towards adulthood. If only we had known what sort of misery awaited us, we would have savoured those moments for so much longer. Gone were the days of gathering sticks, rocks, and other bits and bobs to decorate our shanty house which was actually just a large rock. And tag? That was completely out of the question. I've always been a slow runner so I didn't mind that they'd taken that game off the recess roster.

What I did mind, however, was the way they ''played'' now. It was all about inconsequential drama and talking about crushes. And if you weren't talking about boys or kissing, you were considered a social outcast. I didn't want to kiss any boys at recess, but I certainly didn't want to be an outcast. So, I played along.

I remember the girls had discovered a new obsession; 'The Hitlist'. For those of you who aren't familiar with Canadian programming from the early 2000s, 'The Hitlist' was basically a segment on a popular channel that showcased the latest hits in music [hence the name]. My 11 year old self was completely baffled at the concept of watching a show about music. Why not just listen to the songs? ... I didn't ask questions. I had the intel I needed. I made a mental note of the name and went home that day determined to watch this new show and reintegrate myself. And the rest is history. Before I knew it, I stopped caring that all we did was talk at recess.

Looking back, I see how happy we were. Carefree and blissfully unaware of the drama and hardships that would come our way in high school and beyond. If only we could go back to those days. But alas, recess is just a distant memory and so is my childhood. It comes to me in visions, now. I'll be lying in bed and suddenly I'll remember the time my friends and I had the idiotic idea of sneaking back into the school at recess to play in the pitch black gymnasium. Why? Because we were kids and back then not everything was a means to an end. We did without thinking which didn't always have the best consequences but it made things fun; the operative goal.

The year that recess died was the year that everything changed. It was the year we were forced to grow up too soon, and leave our childhood behind. Recess was the one time during school where we could just be kids. We could run around, let off some steam, and just be carefree. I try my best to linger on those memories when they come to me. They're reminders of simpler times when all you had to worry about was whether or not you were going to get picked as the chaser in 'Man Hunt'. Who would have ever thought that one day I'd even miss tag.

So, what do you think? Was the transition from carefree childhood to adolescence abrupt for you as well? I'd love to hear what you think.

Until next time,

Luna ❤