15 Years Ago

(Yes, that is Taz on my shorts)

A few weeks ago I wrote about myself 20 years ago in an attempt to capture that period of time in the off chance that I'll someday forget those early childhood memories (seriously we're talking the memory of an elephant here, people), but also to give my twenty-something self some perspective on the brevity that comes with each stage of life so that I can better appreciate where I am now.  Tonight I'm taking a look at my 10 year old self, 15 years ago.

At 10 years old I was happy, yet more neurotic and strange than I think I ever have been (if you've ever seen the movie Parenthood think Steve Martin's son).  I was in the 4th grade at the same elementary school I had been attending 5 years earlier in Kindergarten.  By the time I was ten I had met all four of my besties- Caitlin, Chelsea, Julia and Allie- and we were all but inseparable.
I was still in the process of building the absolutely wonderful relationship I have with my parents (something that I guess is still in process).  Nearly everything I am is a result of those two people, and my 10 year old self was no different. 
I was a little ten-year-old bookworm and would read as many Goosebumps books and other ghost stories as I could get my hands on, even though I would spend the hours following literally every bedtime quivering under the covers, trying in vain to talk myself out of being scared (did I mention I was a little neurotic at this age?).  Like every kid in the mid '90's I loved movies like Harriet the Spy, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, Scream, Twister, Blank Check, Independence Day - and although I'll always have a soft spot for these movies I will admit that they were pretty terrible.  T.V. was always a sore subject to 10 year-old me - we didn't have cable so instead of watching shows like The Adventures of Pete and Pete, Doug, and Clarissa Explains it All - my sister and I were watching countless hours of Wings re-runs.
Speaking of my sister, I mentioned in my 20 Years Ago post that we have had a relationship that was in a constant state of flux during our childhood and the 10 year-old Sarah and 8 year-old Amanda were no different.  We fought constantly at this age.  I'm not talking arguments and door slamming (although that happened on a daily basis as well) I'm talking about knock-down drag-out fights that would always end in scratches, rug burns, bruises and tears.  It seems rediculous now but it was the majority of our relationship then and I am so glad that phase didn't last forever.
At ten time is still crawling, you can't wait to grow up and the "adult" world starts to seem more accessible but that special child-like wonder still shows up every once in a while- making it a time full of contradictions and transition, a preview to the quarter-life crisis, perhaps?