Driving with Aidric today down 4th street, and we drove past CLC. 'I went there.' he says, pointing at the building. 'No, you didn't.' I say.
'Yes, I did.' he insists.
'No, you didn't.' I assure him. 'You were six months old when we moved back from France. We were only here a month maybe to sell the house in Sycamore and get to California.' I explain.
'Yes, I remember sleeping on those little blue mats. I even remember getting yelled at for not sleeping and making too much noise.'
'No, you slept on those little blue mats at your pre-school in California. You never went to CLC.'
'Mom, yes, I did. First of all, I didn't nap at pre-school in California. You always picked me up after lunch. And yes, I remember napping there and having a snack.'
'You did nap at the pre-school in California, though not every day. And you did not go to CLC.'
To nap on a mat would mean he wasn't there in the infant or toddler room. There are cribs in those rooms. So he would have had to be 2 or older. Could I have put him in for a few days when we were there on a visit in the summer? I doubt Lynne would have allowed that sort of 'drop-in' service. Now that I think about it, there haven't been blue mats to sleep on since I worked there. Cots were purchased for all the rooms back in the '90s sometime...
I told him he came in and out with me when we got his nephews and niece from time to time. But he never went there. He insists that he did, and he remembers it.
This is like that memory I have of standing on the corner of Main and 7th in El Centro and watching the Hotel Barbara Worth burn into the ground. 'Into' the ground because the structure eventually collapsed into its basement, where it continued to smolder for days. I remember standing water in that concrete hole for years after. My mom insists that the hotel burned before I was born. But it's a very clear memory for me, of standing with a large crowd and watching as flames and smoke billowed out of the windows.
Yet, I looked it up, and the hotel burned in 1962. In January of 1962. I was indeed not alive then. My parents had just been married the previous November.
....................
On the heels of that conversation, Aidric has another pre-school related recollection.
When he was 3, he attended pre-school in California. The pre-school was and is on the campus of the California State University at Channel Islands. The actual building is part of the infamous Camarillo State Mental Hospital (aka The Hotel California). The building is haunted, but that is just a tangent to my story.
Because of its historical use, the school's play yard had an 8 to 10 foot tall, heavy iron gate used as the main entrance. It was set in the middle of 10-foot walls made of stuccoed concrete. You came into the giant gate and then walked through the play area to the building. The gate was wide enough for a semi to drive through comfortably. I cannot overstate how large this gate was, and it had a doorknob for access in and out. The workmanship of that gate is astounding. That gate opened and closed easily and smoothly for something so big.
Although I'm not sure why we didn't use the door as I think of it now. There was a door in the front of the building that led into the pre-school's main office. The gate was right off the parking lot, which was at the side of the building, so maybe that's why. It was easier to go in the gate right where you'd parked than to have to park and walk around to the front of the building and then back. Ok, never mind.
Anyway..., One-day Aidric and a friend of his decided that they did not want to quit playing when recess was over. So when they were called inside, they hid in one of the many playhouses in the play yard. They figured they'd wait for everyone to go inside and then come out and keep playing.
The play yard was rather large. It had several playhouses in one corner that also housed two large hutches that held pet rabbits. There were 3 or so climbing structures along the south edge that bordered the building and a large covered area with tables for lunch and outdoor learning activities along the north play yard wall. It had paved roadways for trikes that circled and crisscrossed the whole yard. There was also a blacktopped area near the entrance gate for basketball, hopscotch, and a large tricycle parking lot. So yes, large area.
When the boys didn't come in, their annoyed teacher came out to look for them. She called their names, and the boys, amazingly enough, stayed quiet and in hiding. Eventually, the teacher went and got help, and the building was searched in case they'd gotten inside and gone to the bathroom or were in another room. The playground was searched again, and the boys could not be found. Eventually, the police were called because the staff had begun to fear that someone had come in the gate unnoticed and taken them or that the boys had gone out the gate. The knob that opened the gate was set higher on the gate than a normal doorknob, but the boys could have reached it.
However, as the police arrived, the boys got tired of waiting for the adults to go inside so they could play. They broke cover to the astonishment of their teachers and just continued toward the building as if nothing was happening at all, completely oblivious to all the hullabaloo they'd caused. The other parent and I were not notified until we'd arrived to pick up the boys. Their reasoning was that we were due within the hour anyway, and there was no reason to scare us and have us driving pell-mell to the school.
Shortly after that, a security lock was placed on the gate. You then had to punch in a code to get in and out of the gate. Not terribly secure as every parent had the code, but at least no child could open the gate.
Aidric relates this reminiscence as if it was a fond and happy memory. The gravity of the situation never having made the slightest impact on him. I don't recall if I scolded him or if the teachers scolded him. We must have spoken to the boys, but clearly, that part did not make an impression at all.
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