We saw a commercial for a chair lift for your 2-story home.
You know the ones who take you up your stairs to the 2nd floor should you be unable to climb the steps alone.
I said to Rick they just go so damn slow though.
He said, "Yes, I can fall down the steps much faster than that"
That cracked me up. Point taken.
We also saw people on TV talking about free-range kids.
Were you a free-range kid?
Rick and I were most definitely.
Granted this was a time when one could play outside and not get shot, stolen, or have any fear of one's life.
My sister and I would run outside in the summer and only stop by to use the bathroom, eat lunch, and for me to wash my hands. I hated dirty hands and did wash them a bit too frequently for my sister's and mother's opinion. Oh, it had nothing to do with germs, I was just prissy. Hated getting my hands dirty and hated getting my clothes dirty. Which I did both most days. If they had had wipes in those days, those would have been in my flowered bike basket trust me. I was indeed a weirdo. My sister, she just liked to torment and tease me. My mom just wanted me to stop coming inside, slamming the screen door, and washing my hands.
I have shared with you that we had a drinking fountain in our backyard that the whole neighborhood used because heaven forbid we bother my mom and slam that screen door yet again.
We left and were home in time for dinner. Wash our hands and I had to set the table and that was that. Dinner took place. We went out after dinner if still light out and had to be home before the street lights came on.
Can you even imagine kids doing that today?
My parents never knew where we were. No phones. Usually playing in the creek, grabbing poly wogs, climbing trees, sat in the woods reading (well that was me), and riding our bikes places. We would get popsicles at the dairy farm nearby and sit on the fence and watch the cow cross the road. We'd moo of course.
We went to a local cemetery just two blocks away at a church. We would read off the names and dates and imagine what they were like. There was a big barn nearby with horses and people taking horse riding lessons and we'd ride our bikes there and hang out in the barn and pet horses. No one said we couldn't or bothered us as long as we didn't bother them. When there were a bunch of neighborhood kids we would play games like Red Rover. What a different world.
When my niece was here with her daughter it was a screen thing. Watch TV, Disney, or streaming cartoons or movies. Look at an IPAD or her mother's laptop. Sometimes she looked at books. Being outside was just not something she ever did, wanted to do, or could even imagine doing.
It's not sad to her. She doesn't know anything else. Her mom grew up pretty close to the same way but without the IPAD and streaming it was DVDs.
I find it all so sad that our world has become this.
Another sign of how damn old I am I guess. Why does it even matter to me?
I had so much fun outside as a kid. Even just hanging out playing softball in our neighbor's yard where their swing set was 2nd base. Getting lost in a cornfield and crying believing I was lost forever until I finally heard my father's voice. (My sister ran and got him because she couldn't find me.)
I do recall one time being a bit further from home than I was allowed to be.
I was on my bike but with a neighborhood friend.
A car stopped and it was my neighbor, Mrs. Rose.
She said, "Peggy do your parents know you are on Heidler Road?"
I lied and said, "Sure they do Mrs. Rose. I told them I was getting ice cream with Debbie". She said okay and left. Now that part was true, I did tell my mom Debbie and I were going for ice cream but I also knew she assumed we were at the dairy farm not this far away so I was lying.
But Mrs Rose didn't believe me and tattled on me and told my mom I was on that busy road.
When I got home my mom asked me where I had been. I lied. She asked me again and said, "This time remember if you lie to me that is 2x the trouble" I fessed up. I was grounded for a week - no bicycle. My freedom was taken away.
8 comments:
I was definitely a free-range kid and wouldn't have wanted it any other way. It's the best way to learn responsibility, how to cope, and think on your feet. In fact, I wrote about it a few years ago.
https://darwinfish2.blogspot.com/2018/04/free-range-kids.html
We were totally free range kids. Roamed the neighborhood for hours, climbing trees, etc. My friend from 5th grade on and I howl with laughter when thinking about what we were allowed to do. They built a 4-lane highway bypass and we considered it our personal shortcut between our houses. Two 12 year old girls walking on the side of a 4 lane highway! Shaking my head. I was also the errand girl - my parents would send me to walk to the store (maybe 6-8 blocks from our house) to pick up the Sunday newspaper when it came out late Saturday night. It makes me so sad for the kids who won't ever know what that freedom felt like.
Nina
I listen/watch a lot of crime documentaries and kids went missing a lot back then too we just didn't have the internet to know about it.
The problem to day is most people don't let their kids go outside so if you send yours out there is no one else out to play with. Ran into that when my kids were little. Everyone is so paranoid now. My brother finally started letting my 13 year old niece go out and ride a bike with friends without him watching last year or so.
Julie, of course there were hence why we were told not to talk to strangers, take candy from strangers or pet their puppy when they said to come over. But I still believe statistically far fewer. And let's not forget the stray bullets. Around here that's at least 1 child a day. I get why parents are paranoid. Just glad I didn't live during this time!
Like Julie, I remember our free-ranging, but I also seeing far too many old men exposing themselves and kidnappings (yes, one of us was kidnapped!) As she said, the news didn't make it around the world in those days.
Yep. Free range.
I try to make sure 'my' kids get outside or to the gym every day. Our program is screen-free, so there are games, crafts, LEGO, dramatic play items. Music and conversation.
But these kids aren't the same as the kid I once was. I used to leave the house in the morning during summer and not come home until dark unless I got hungry. Nobody knew where I was or what I was doing. These kids are scheduled from the time they get up in the morning until bedtime. During school vacations, they still have dance and karate and soccer and cheerleading and basketball. Baseball. Scouts. Etc. No time to just go outside and dig in the back yard.
Another free ranger. In the summer, we'd play kick the can in the street after dinner until dark, softball in the field behind our house (now covered with houses) and play in the woods next to our house (became covered with houses by the time I left for college), and ride bikes everywhere. And if you were doing something you weren't supposed to do, some neighbor would always tell your parents, and you'd get in trouble. When my kids (now 40+) were growing up, we went to a neighbor's house because their son was bullying the kids unmercifully. He was always getting into trouble at school, too. The parents said they'd sue the school an told us to f... off. Big change from when I was growing up. I always wonder what prison he ended up in. .
Sheila, I have found here that this falls on generational lines. Those who are young enough to be my kids or grandkids think it was always like scary like today. Where we know it was not statistically. It was there but not in the same way or amount. Sometimes I feel like my generation did a shitty job of raising kids because those kids are so damn entitled today and they made more entitled kids. I am thankful I did not have technology for numerous reasons when I was a kid. And yes, like Mrs. Rose told on me, that's what parents did and they appreciated the tell. It took a village so to speak. We had neighbors who's children were so polite and kind to us and our dog. We told the parents who we did not know. We knocked on their door to tell them that their kids did some wonderful things and we wanted them to know. They beamed!
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