The Good Old Days
I am not old by any means but I sure do miss the good old days. When a kid could go outside and use their imagination. When homework took 20 minutes and then you were free to play with your friends until dinner. When it was the summer, we would eat breakfast, do our chores and then be gone until dinnertime. When you didn't have to check in constantly via text because there were no cell phones.
I remember my sisters and me walking or riding our bikes everywhere in the summer. As long as we stayed together we could go anywhere we wanted. I was the youngest so I was about 5 or 6 when it started. We would go to the park, stores or even show up at my cousin's house. When my oldest sister got her licence, that was freedom. We drove everywhere. I think that was the first time my parents started putting boundaries on us. We live on Long Island so we were told not to go over a bridge or go through a tunnel without telling them first. That still left plenty for us to explore.
Hubby loves to tell our kids the story about him and his friends building a go cart (without an engine) and they would take turns pushing each other down a huge hill. The thing had no brakes and they did it in the road. A few of them did crash into curbs and parked cars but they didn't get hurt.
Hubby and I did so many things that kids don't do today. I try to do some of them with my kids. Kids today are under such pressure. Everything they do is posted on social media for the world to pick apart. Lets get kids back to being kids.
Some of the things I did as a kid:
*I climbed up very tall trees. If I couldn't get down, OH well. My sister would eat my dessert so I always got down.
*I rode in a car without a seat belt, backwards. My parents had a station wagon with a jump seat and we used to beg to sit back there. We also rode in the back of a pickup truck and we stood up through sunroofs. Hello, Prom Night!
*I drank water from a hose and the river. I also ate snow and icicles.
*We played kick ball, stick ball and baseball in the street. We would move when a car came.
*I shot BB guns at cans and cards and whatever else I could. I never shot another person because I knew I would get a good spanking if I did.
*I rowed a boat across a lake without a life vest by myself. We took a swimming test before we were allowed.
* When we were away camping we used to go to this old abandoned property with our friends and explore. Our parents usually came too. We called it a haunted house. Well one year, the first kid that walked in fell through into the basement. He was fine but the moms sure did get scared.
*My parents left me and my sisters home alone so they could go on dates. I think my sister was 10 the first time. She was the oldest with 3 little sisters to watch. We knew that if there was a problem to go next door.
*A friend of mine in elementary school wanted to see if he could fly so he jumped off his garage. In his defense, his brother told him it was a family secret and all of them could. He quickly learned that he couldn't.
*We would make snow forts and have great snowball fights. We would sled down the biggest hills we could find.
*We chased the Good Humor man around the block. Sometimes he would let us ride in the truck with him.
*We played on swings, tire swings, see saws and merry go rounds. My neighbor flipped his swing set over when jumping off of it. My dad put chains on ours the nest day. Sean did break his arm.
*We went trick or treating with out our parents and we would sneak candy without them checking it out.
*I would walk to my friends houses and they would walk to mine. ALONE!
*We build a fort out of whatever we could find. We even slept in it some nights.
*We looked for frogs and lizards and snakes and then we would hold them.
* We played man hunt and we would run through our neighbors yards. We would even hide in their garages or shed.
In the good old days, kids could be kids. Neighbors watched out for each others kids. Kids could play and use their imagination. Did we get hurt sometimes? Yes we did. But we learned from it. We also knew that our mothers would find out about everything we did so we never got to out of control. Because in the good old days, kids got spankings when they were in trouble.
I remember my sisters and me walking or riding our bikes everywhere in the summer. As long as we stayed together we could go anywhere we wanted. I was the youngest so I was about 5 or 6 when it started. We would go to the park, stores or even show up at my cousin's house. When my oldest sister got her licence, that was freedom. We drove everywhere. I think that was the first time my parents started putting boundaries on us. We live on Long Island so we were told not to go over a bridge or go through a tunnel without telling them first. That still left plenty for us to explore.
Hubby loves to tell our kids the story about him and his friends building a go cart (without an engine) and they would take turns pushing each other down a huge hill. The thing had no brakes and they did it in the road. A few of them did crash into curbs and parked cars but they didn't get hurt.
Hubby and I did so many things that kids don't do today. I try to do some of them with my kids. Kids today are under such pressure. Everything they do is posted on social media for the world to pick apart. Lets get kids back to being kids.
Some of the things I did as a kid:
*I climbed up very tall trees. If I couldn't get down, OH well. My sister would eat my dessert so I always got down.
*I rode in a car without a seat belt, backwards. My parents had a station wagon with a jump seat and we used to beg to sit back there. We also rode in the back of a pickup truck and we stood up through sunroofs. Hello, Prom Night!
*I drank water from a hose and the river. I also ate snow and icicles.
*We played kick ball, stick ball and baseball in the street. We would move when a car came.
*I shot BB guns at cans and cards and whatever else I could. I never shot another person because I knew I would get a good spanking if I did.
*I rowed a boat across a lake without a life vest by myself. We took a swimming test before we were allowed.
* When we were away camping we used to go to this old abandoned property with our friends and explore. Our parents usually came too. We called it a haunted house. Well one year, the first kid that walked in fell through into the basement. He was fine but the moms sure did get scared.
*My parents left me and my sisters home alone so they could go on dates. I think my sister was 10 the first time. She was the oldest with 3 little sisters to watch. We knew that if there was a problem to go next door.
*A friend of mine in elementary school wanted to see if he could fly so he jumped off his garage. In his defense, his brother told him it was a family secret and all of them could. He quickly learned that he couldn't.
*We would make snow forts and have great snowball fights. We would sled down the biggest hills we could find.
*We chased the Good Humor man around the block. Sometimes he would let us ride in the truck with him.
*We played on swings, tire swings, see saws and merry go rounds. My neighbor flipped his swing set over when jumping off of it. My dad put chains on ours the nest day. Sean did break his arm.
*We went trick or treating with out our parents and we would sneak candy without them checking it out.
*I would walk to my friends houses and they would walk to mine. ALONE!
*We build a fort out of whatever we could find. We even slept in it some nights.
*We looked for frogs and lizards and snakes and then we would hold them.
* We played man hunt and we would run through our neighbors yards. We would even hide in their garages or shed.
In the good old days, kids could be kids. Neighbors watched out for each others kids. Kids could play and use their imagination. Did we get hurt sometimes? Yes we did. But we learned from it. We also knew that our mothers would find out about everything we did so we never got to out of control. Because in the good old days, kids got spankings when they were in trouble.
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