Elementary school

The morale lessons I got from those liberal teachers prepared me very well for the difficult task of facing a growing complicated world. Because the majority of the kids still followed the catholic lessons we only were about 5 kids in our class getting almost personal tutoring in morale. This led to very interactive conversations about the beliefs and values of different people in the world. We were objectively thought about the different religions on the planet and our minds were broadened in accepting various ways of living and behavior depending on how people got raised and educated on our globe. The teacher also nourished our appetite in discovering who we were, why we were there and most important to accept the fact we all are unique but different and have to respect each other. These lessons were a blessing compared to what the Roman Catholic students got to endure. They had to listen for hours to the unilateral views and opinions of somebody preaching a single way of life and belief to achieve eternal life in heaven after death, no questions asked.

Being a small frail boy I avoided playing the rough games most other boys my age enjoyed and I often found myself just observing them from a corner or distance. I remember already showing a growing interest in the various shoes other children wore and was especially attracted to the latest fashion for both boys and girls: a golden inside zipper to close the low beige or brown booties on a crepe sole. (similar modern version below)

My parents couldn’t afford to buy me a similar pair and I got obsessed looking at this type of footwear. In that time zippers were of bad quality and did not stay up very well so most of those kids had their zippers halfway down after running around for a while. I wanted to be helpful and often pointed this out to them after which some of them nonchalantly just pulled their zippers closed while some others didn’t care and continued their way. I would have given anything for a pair of my own and was sometimes dreaming of being able to continuously close my zippers, a movement that kind of excited me. One day my mother took me along to buy winter boots at discount shoe store where all the shoes were freely exposed on tables and I had the opportunity to try a pair of beige ones with pale fur lining. All my persuasion was to no avail because mom said she had seen other kids wear similar models and they all had problems keeping the zippers closed, and these were much too expensive anyway so I ended up with a boring pair of brown sturdy lace up booties. I made friends with a guy in my class wearing a zippered pair but never had the guts to ask him to wear his boots. Did I make friends because of his boots? I still don’t know. 

Free time occupations

During elementary school I also upgraded from my previous dream job of driving a trash truck to wanting to become an architect and I often spent my free time drawing and painting houses in light aquarelle colors. I also played a lot with my Lego plastic construction blocks. These were rather limited in scope compared to what’s available today but allowed me to combine various factors as the desire to create something, with the limited possibilities of what I had, and combining it with other available materials in the house. This kind of creativity to realize unique designs has been omnipresent in my life. I did have excellent results at school and had a few friends with whom I mostly played with our Dinky Toy cars and trucks. One of those guys was not really my type but I often went to his place because his mom always insisted I changed from my shoes into his slightly large old furred walrus haired moccasin slippers.

First shoe swap

Another guy in our street had a sister, which was a bit of a tomboy and liked to play with us in our tree houses and other spots around the vast green spaces behind our homes. I still remember Blanche (her name) often wore some soft black leather slip on shoes with a crepe sole that although plain and simple attracted my attention. (picture of similar slipper below).

She sometimes complained her feet slipped out of her worn shoes during our running in the woods or climbing in the tree houses and this time I had the guts to volunteer swapping my dark blue basket ball laced canvas play shoes for hers. She didn’t hesitate and her slip-ons were ideal for my slightly larger feet and I never lost them. I also remember I played more with his sister than with the guy (even don’t remember his name) although both always were together. 

First skirt experience

After building a new tree house that was a little more difficult in access I once was following her climbing up there and asked why it took her so long. Once comfortably up there she answered it was very difficult for her to climb that tree in her rather tight below the knee brown velour’s skirt (girl scout type) and frankly told us we even wouldn’t be able to do it. (in those days girls always wore skirts and dresses, rarely pants). I always liked challenges and took that one up. She pulled my pants on and helped me zip up her skirt.

Xxxxpict brownie skirt?xxxx

Getting down from the tree house was not difficult using the rope although I couldn’t squeeze the rope between my knees as usual because now it was my bare flesh instead of my jeans touching the rope. Getting up the tree was almost impossible because due to the narrow skirt I could not raise one knee high enough to get from one branch to the other. She came down to help me and so won her bet. I had to keep the skirt on for the rest of the afternoon and I can assure you I never got used to it. It curtailed most of my activities and even just walking fast required smaller steps. While talking in our tree house I asked her why she always wore that rather tight skirt. She told me her mum selected that skirt for her because of the heavy velour’s being sufficiently strong to endure activities in nature and knowing her daughter’s tomboy behavior thought a straight and below the knee model would prevent the rest of the world seeing her undies without always having to pay attention to her skirt. This all sounded logical and practical to me and soon we all were resuming our usual activities. Jumping over the waterway had to be done with joined knees and I had to use her bicycle instead of mine and even on that girl model it was difficult getting on, getting started and putting a foot on the ground when stopping. I endured all this with a smile because I wanted to execute my debt caused by losing the bet, but also because somewhere deep in me I liked the challenge of doing all those activities with the added restriction of this type of garment. Maybe I wanted to prove a guy could do all that as well as a girl so she didn’t have any reasons to complain anymore later. We swapped clothes again before going home but this experience did create some feelings and sensations that would haunt me later in my life. I think we kept swapping shoes everyday for the next two months of holiday but we always changed back before going home and I never wore her skirt again, but often marveled at her dexterity to perform difficult tasks in that restrictive skirt. While wearing her things I was still at a very innocent age of around 8 and did not feel any guilt or shame doing that. I had no feelings of real excitement and it just was a game I liked and helped to explore new things in life. It just felt good and natural and for me they were just clothes and shoes, not at all related to any sex or gender. Between the age of 8 and 11 I had quite a normal life and played a lot with my Mecano steel construction set.

New town, new school, new interests

My dad had changed jobs and now was a salesman for the leading tobacco producent in Belgium. He got promoted but that required a move from Gent to Antwerp at the start of the New Year. For me this meant changing school in the middle of my final elementary year. I now attended an all boy school and got very interested in the space program. It was the year John Glenn made his first orbit and this whole event was broadcasted life through the school’s PA system. I started reading lots of books about the conquest of space and dug deep in the subject. I never dreamed of becoming an astronaut but my frequent visits with my mother of the Antwerp harbor got me focused on the prospect of becoming a captain of a ship. My dad often had to do PR work during weekends and being alone with mom looking around in the huge harbor had its advantages. The people on the boats never refused my requests to visit the ships because they knew they my good looking mom would always be with me. Usually the officers talked with her while I was free to explore the command deck. I also got my first large bicycle because of my good grade at school end and rode that a lot during the holiday, including trips to watch the airplanes at Deurne airport.