When my sister was visiting we took her 12-year-old daughter out to where we all grew up in the 'burbs.
We showed her our favorite place to ride our bikes and we'd go down to the creek and play for hours.
She said, "what could you do there?"
We told her about the pollywogs, us running through the water, a rope swing. Sometimes we'd pack a lunch and stay down there all day.
She kept saying, What were you doing there all day?
Stephanie and I laughed because we don't remember everything we did, but we would spend so much time there with other neighborhood kids. We were just "playing" I remember picking up pretty stones, learning to skip rocks, cutting my foot so badly on something and tying my sock around my foot to use as a bandage.
So worried that when I got home I would be yelled at because I was told NOT to go in the water that day. Oops.
We showed Sophie where we would ride our bikes and get popsicles and sit on this fence and watch the cows cross the road. She laughed and said, "Wasn't that boring?" Not to us for some reason. We'd talk to the man who crossed the cows across the road. We always knew this one cow would give him a hard time and we named her Bessie. Weren't all cows called Bessie back then? Sophie just kept shaking her head.
We showed her our 2nd favorite place to eat our popsicles. It was a church cemetery 2 blocks from our home and 2 blocks from the dairy farm. So after we'd get our popsicles at the dairy farm we'd ride over to the cemetery and sit there and eat our treats and sometimes just wander through the cemetery talking about the names of the people and we'd make up scary stories. Just silly stuff.
She just couldn't comprehend no technology in our lives.She felt sorry for us.
But, honestly I felt sorry for her.
No imagination type play. We would round up kids in the neighborhood and explore. I sat in a tree with a friend and we ate these small green apples. We thought we had discovered them. They were so sour, but we liked them for some reason. Oh boy did I get a stomach ache and feel awful. Took me years to eat an apple again. That she thought was funny and the idea of climbing a tree she got a kick out of. Sad to think that she has never climbed a tree. Isn't that the fun of being a kid? We showed her the tree and the tree swing the neighbor still had up there and how we'd fly on that and then jump. No, nothing was broken on us and I suppose that is a miracle. Mark was the one who could jump the farthest, it was always our goal to beat him. We would try for hours.
Stephanie told her how my first job was picking strawberries at age 14. I was told I could eat as many as I wanted. I think Mr. Myles knew that after the 1st day I wouldn't want any more strawberries and that is exactly what happened to me. I made 15 cents for every pint I picked for him. And the first day he lost money because I ate so many. After that, I made money because eating them wasn't as big a thrill.
So when I saw this ad it hit me. Kids spend all their time indoors and not with nature and it's sad in a way I hadn't really thought about. I loved that my whole childhood memories are double dutch, hopscotch, snow forts, riding my bike, playing in a creek, climbing trees, playing softball with make shift equipment, playing with kids outside. Hell, Stephanie told her daughter that we'd go outside and never come home until we were hungry, had to use the bathroom or it was time to eat dinner.
Our mom got so tired of us coming in to get something to drink she had our dad put a drinking fountain in the back yard. That stopped the door from slamming for a drink of water or whatever. The whole neighborhood used that fountain. Mom would go out in the morning sometimes to hang clothes on the line (remember that?) and she would see a kid getting a drink. They would just say Hi Mrs. Malizia and she would greet them back. It was just the way it was.
Just think when this home bound generation grows up what will their kids be doing?
Scary thought to me. I'm old and I am thankful I got to play outside and use my imagination.
7 comments:
Sounds like my neighborhood growing up! We had a creek across the road complete with a rowboat. We'd paddle and fish all day long sometimes. The field next to us was usually planted with wheat, but the guy who planted it (our neighbor) let us build a baseball field in it so we didn't have to bike to the school a mile away just to play ball. We even had that drinking fountain thingy installed on the back yard hose bib so the door wasn't constantly slamming from kids running in & out.
I don't think I ever saw a TV in the summer unless there was REALLY bad weather - we were always outside. It helped that we had hundreds of acres of open fields & woods to explore. It's a shame these days, kids just sit in front of their Xbox waiting to be entertained instead of getting out and exploring.
Brian, exactly the same! We had a corn field behind our yard. We would get lost in there. Literally. I was crying because I couldn't find my way out. Which, of course, all the kids could hear me crying so I was eventually found. That cracks me up.
And yes, my mom hated that slamming screen door so hence the fountain.
It really was a village. All the parents had shit for their kids and we all just shared. One day at our house and the tether ball, corn fields and pool. Another day at Kim and Scott's near the creek. It was a good way to grow up in my mind.
I grew up in the city. Our playgrounds were the alleys and sidewalks. My first job was cutting grass. When I was 16 I worked on a newspaper truck from 1am to 5am rolling and throwing newspapers. We did climb trees at a local park but you had to be careful not to get caught by the park rangers. I used to take my dog to the park and let her run loose (against the law). Never got caught doing that though.
Excellent video. Both my daughter's spend most of their spare time on devices. They did spend a lot of their childhood riding horses, swimming etc. but now we ALL spend too much time glued to a screen.
Most kids today don't have a clue how to entertain themselves. They are too dependent on technology to do the entertaining for them!
Yep, BUT it's also the parents to blame. No one wants to leave the tv to take the kids outside to do anything.
Also, then there is the girl in Santa Cruz riding her scooter in her own little complex. Neighbor boy calls her in ties her up, rapes her and throws her in the dumpster. If that doesn't scare everyone from letting their kids out to play unsupervised I don't know what will. It's a sad world we live in.
My kids pretty much have had free reign in our little neighborhood but my son never can find anyone to play with so now he stays inside and watches you tube all the time. It's sad. BUT no one can go out and play without their parents and they are 12 years old.
This happened when I was a kid too.
I remember a little girl being grabbed off her bike, raped and killed.
So it's not new. We just now have a 24 hr news cycle that vomits this shit up constantly.
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