The Kindness of Jump Ropers

 Jump roping was a popular recess activity with girls when I was in elementary school. However, I didn't learn to jump rope until 5th grade. Thinking back, at the elementary school I attended in a small Wisconsin town from 2nd grade through 4th grade, I didn't play with the girls at recess. I had two friends who were boys. They didn't play with the other boys, who were generally playing football or kickball, or some other semi-organized ball game. The three of us played games of our imagination. I don't remember much at all except for running up and down the heaps of snow the plows left in the winter while making up our own adventures.

In 5th grade a new elementary school opened up and my siblings and I were among the children who were sent there. My two friends were not. We didn't keep in touch. It was the 1960s and we had no other connection except for school.

At my new school the boys still played organized ball games at recess and the girls jumped rope. So I joined the girls. I did not have the hang of it. In case you have never experienced jump rope, two people are the twirlers (of the rope) and everyone else waiting in a line for a turn. When it's your turn, you run into the twirling rope and start to jump over it while the rest of the girls recite a jump rope chant. I don't remember any of the chants, but I googled jump rope chants of the 1960s. I think this is one we did:

Cinderalla Dressed in Yella

Cinderella dressed in yella,
Went downstairs to kiss a fella,
Made a mistake and kissed a snake.
How many doctors did it take
1, 2, 3, . . . .

Cinderella dressed in yellow
Went downstairs to kiss her fellow.
How many kisses did she give?
One, two, three, four, five . . .

Every time it was my turn, I ran in and tripped over the rope and became a twirler. The girls decided that wasn't fair to me and gave me permanent jumper status. Until one day I ran in and started jumping to my and everyone else's surprise. I guess I caught on to the rhythm of the rope. I did miss, after a respectable amount of jumping as well as astonishment! I became an equal and took my turn twirling.

When I remembered that experience today I was struck by the kindness of the girls. It was a collective decision, with no discussion or dissent, that I should get special treatment. Without that, I would probably never have learned to jump rope. I have only vague memories of the individual girls - my family moved out of state after 6th grade - but I do remember their sense of fairness and kindness.