Past achievements and the present mission

In characteristic back and forth pattern this week I'm looking at the past as I look at my boyhood reconnecting to my masculinity after a period it seemed to get lost and also looking around this present the work in progress featuring being an adult schoolboy.

Something I have mentioned before on the blog is I have disabilities, physical and developmental that played a part in my childhood both when it came to schooling and also when it came things such as play and leisure.
One thing I was strongly encouraged to do back then was to go swimming as as with most juniors we did go as a class every week on a chartered bus to a local swimming pool for lessons where we we told not to eat crisps before  the lesson.
That lead to my teacher encouraging me to join a disabled swimming club nearby that met at a local all boys grammar school that had a lot of adult helpers that met weekly and had competitions although it was partial socially where we'd let off steam in a safe way.

I did gain a number of achievement awards some of which are on on these original swimming trunks and won cups in our competitions which also meant having look after said cups.
One thing about swimming is it is a great equalizer so whatever difficulties you may have there is a way you can swim and so feel more able about from building up strength through exercise.

Back to the present where I have a couple of jumpers the sort Junior schools and regular state high schools comprehensive wear.

Compared to the rounded neck ones they do look that bit smarter and for having a V neck much better suited for wearing with ties

There was a drift a few years back against tie wearing in Juniors probably a follow on from many being a part of a combined Primary with Infants where they had polo shirts (and dresses for girls) but this is starting to come back.
I'm glad of it as I honestly feel you do look better and feel that bit more grown up having been a junior boy for wearing a tie and it is preparation for both high school where you do and more formal social gatherings.

As it has been a while since I reviewed my formal shirts, I bought a number of new boys shirts that can be got in up to 17 1/2 collar sizes that should fit most of us from Schooluniform 24/7 who have their own site in addition to being on British Ebay.
These are Zeco's who do a range of good quality schoolwear such as long socks, jumpers etc and these shirts also can be had in short sleeve, both with white and blue options.
They come very well packed with plastic clips to hold down and stiffeners to keep the collar in shape in transit just like those we bought back in the day (or our folks did for us) and are the real deal when it comes to non logo'd plain school attire.

l mentioned would of been last week on Tumblr about how we had found the measure of the kind of boy I was, that there was little doubting I am masculine but how it was more overtly feminine influences and associated habits and behaviour had crept since then that I had no real need for.
One area was very much around the kinds of plushies I did collect and especially when it came to having a lot of saniotown posters of the likes of Hello Kitty  to exclusion of all else all over the place which I was just staring at feeling they didn't make me actually happy.
It just felt as though I'd wondered into another persons space and so I have decided replace the posters completely.

One difference today is that on the one hand the number of  boys comics and magazines   that tended to have pull out posters are much less then they were when I was originally a boy but a number of companies do reproduction posters using modern digital printing techniques and this was one I bought.

This as you know was a comic that did feature in that original boyhood and this iconic issue front cover was available in poster form and so I thought would help me feel that much better for being connected to that and the things I loved as that boy.
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I was never big on Sci-Fi probably because I find it hard to remember all the characters and key things about them but I did remember following plus certainly been shown Marvel's comic books during that era.
I saw this promotional poster on offer and thought it would be improvement on what had been on my walls.

I did manage to get a A3 poster of this illustration but with "Instructions for Outfit No.1" presumably from the original negative which both iconic for the product but also just perfect for its portrayal of boyhood. 
In time I'll get a few more suitable posters and postcard sized pictures more in keeping for boys but at least I will have things things to look at that reflect my own masculine self. 
I know freeing myself of those feminine influences that have only taken me away from my true self is the only proper way to get the point of loving the real me. It is something I owe to myself to do from now on.