Thanks Heli. This ought to be interesting (for me, not for you necessarily). Take the words in the list and tell what they mean to you from the point of view of your childhood. Then add one extra word at the end of the list.
1. comb
I didn't like combs when I was a child because my hair got really tangled. Instead, I had a handmade wooden brush which I used to make myself representable, to no avail. Nowadays I have a great comb, which folds like a penknife and has a great 2-in-1 feature with both a regular comb and a brush in the same package. I "stole" it from a hotel in Kyoto.
2. bird
I never knew the names of any birds, I still don't to a very large extent. And I couldn't quite grasp the idea that people were actually interested in birds before I met my friend T, who used to be an active twitcher.
3. sea
I guess the sea should play some important role in my life since I've lived in a city by the sea most of my life, but nope. Sure, the archipelago is nice and all, but the sea is basically just bucket-loads of water you can't drink. Have to admit, as a child it was nice to go swimming in it, though.
4. guitar
My dad played the guitar, he still does. I never learned to play it properly, although we used to have lessons in lower secondary school. I know the names of the strings and I can in theory produce different chords, but the guitar was never really my thing. I do appreciate it when someone else knows how to play it, though. What would have many of the parties in my youth been, if there hadn't been for people who accompanied themselves and everyone else on the guitar.
5. clock
My grandparents had a big clock on the wall. It was not quite as big as a real grandfather clock but it had to be wound every day or week. It ticked and tocked rather loudly and made it difficult to sleep. Even today I have trouble sleeping if there's a clock in the same room my bed is. I even have to have my watch in another room if I plan to sleep. For a while, I thought the clock on the wall could talk, actually. For some reason it seemed to say juus-to, juus-to. Perhaps I was a mouse in my previous life. Or maybe I was a very hungry child.
6. throwing up
I once ate lots of cucumber. Lots. Needless to say, I threw up. Now that I think about it, it must've been a Spanish cucumber, I would never have thrown up a Finnish one, I think. This time I did, so it had to be Spanish. I wouldn't eat cucumber for a few years which was bad, because it was practically the only veggie I ate.
7. granny
Lived with her for a good four years of my life, or so. My Christian beliefs stem from that period and so do the battles I face with some moral questions. Such a beautiful lady. Love her to bits.
8. books
What can I say, I love them. For some reason my friends have fallen into the habit of counting their books, so I had to do it too. In my apartment, I have 264 books and then some more at my parents'. My relatives always like to point out that I have my nose buried in a book whenever I'm visiting or something. It's not that I'm trying to be rude or anything. Reading is just fascinating.
9. woolly hat
I had a woolly hat that had my name on it. Why on earth? Was it for me, so that I wouldn't forget my name? Was it for my friends? Some friends they were if they didn't remember my name. I would also have worried if the teachers hadn't known who I was. Was the hat for stangers then? Why should strange people know the name of a child? I never got it. But I wore my woolly hat with pride, all the same.
10. maths
I was never particularly keen on it, but I did ok, at least before upper secondary school. Wagering money on test results made maths exciting for me, so thank you H. Woe the betting that goes on in the school hallways!
11. forest
I built a fortress with my friend in the security of a huge rock and two old spruce trees. The surrounding woods wasn't big but for me it was a real forest - even if I could always see my grandparents' house at the other end of the little path that went through it.
12. thunder
I sat with my granny on the porch and watched the lightning show that the thunder storm was giving us. I was afraid of the storm, I wanted to go inside. Thunder still makes me a bit anxious.
13. hair
My hair has always been wild. Before I started school, I really didn't care; in comprehensive school, I wore too much hair gel.
14. brother
I wanted a little brother so that (and I quote myself) "at least someone would be a bigger loser than I am". What a cheery child I was.
15. window
I have no window-related memories. Except that I used to like drawing pictures into misty car windows. I guess everyone likes that. And I used to wonder how there always seemed to be dead bugs caught in between the windowpanes.
16. calendar
I used to marvel at my mom's calendars since she always had so many of them. And they seemed to be tended to meticulously. When I got into the university, I took the habit of colourcoding my calendar markings. Like mother like son.
17. porridge
Never been keen on porridge, but I've always eaten it. I did like granny's gruel, though. I used to eat it by dipping my sandwiches into it. My other disgusting eating habits included (from the age of three or so) tepid coffee with milk and lots of sugar and crisps with a milk dip.
18. handkerchief
I had a very nice cloth handkerchief when I was young. It was easy on the nose and reusable and I've missed it dearly eversince I lost it. Maybe I should get a new one one of these days.
19. nail varnish
Never really used any, at least any colour ones, if my memory serves. But I did wear some calcium nail varnish at one time just to protect my nail when my it had chipped and it got torn time and again.
20. painting
Not a painting actually but some sort of needle work that I used to think portrayed a monster used hang on the wall in my parents house. Just a few years ago, I realised it was actually a rose flower with to leaves, not a lump of monster with a head and an outstretched claw. The work now hangs on my apartment wall.
21. car
I've seen many of them during my life time, they come and go. My dad used to drive a lot for work, and we rarely had one car for more than a year or two. Having lived 100 km from my parents, I have also spent a few moments sitting in cars. As a child I used to have my own special elevated car seat and all.
22. poster
As a Disney freak, I used to have disney posters on my walls. They used to sell Disney posters in special poster magazines and I of course had them all. I think I've thrown them away now, but I had them for a long time.
23. doll
I preferred dolls, why hide the fact. I preferred them to little toy cars and the like at least. I mean, I never understood what was so great about wroom-wrooming around the floor with a piece of metal when you could actually play with virtual human lives. When I got my Masters of the Universe figures, me and my friend used to write plays with them and then act them out for a nominal fee of a piece of crispbread. I think He-Man always prevailed over Skeletor, I wasn't that enlightened about the realities of life at such and early age.
24. key
I have always been particular about my keys. Even when I didn't have any real ones, I sometimes carried a key ring with some odd spare keys on it. I have never lost my keys, and I have very seldom left them home. When I was just starting school I used to carry them around my neck in a rubber chain that looked like an oldfashioned phone chord. I liked to chew on it, don't ask me why.
25. singin
I used to sing a lot. To the point where my school mates told me to shut up. Granted, it was a bit traumatizing, but I did survive. And given the later developments in my life, I guess it was good practice.
