Forty-five years ago another small child stood on this spot and looked out the window and into the world outside. Often my mother had left me there and gone off to find my severely autistic brother who had once again disappeared. She would leave me standing at the window to watch and wait. This was back in the days when that was perfectly acceptable and I would be watching when she returned.
Years ago there was always something going on outside; children playing in the street, dogs running through the neighbor's yard, or birds hopping about in the grass. The neighborhood is much quieter these days. There are still the occasional walkers, and birds still hop about on the lawn, but the children who once filled the streets are gone, grown up and moved away.Do children still play in the street? I see them on occasion, but nothing like the days of childhood, before the advent of so many organized sports and computer games. Long before the wii was invented children actually played outside, even in wet, gloomy weather. Sometimes they still do. Lucas was watching Hannah, Audra, and Alicia play catch with a "ball" they made out of an old plastic container, some newspaper and tape.
Papa and I were discussing this the other day.
ReplyDeleteHow safe the neighborhoods felt, how it was a good place to play, not to worry about if you child did something wrong, got hurt, there was always a neighbor who would correct it and tell you. You played with the neighbor kids, they were your friends by location. Your parents didn't make "play dates".
Life was so much simpler then. At least from a child's point of view.
From a young parents too.
Sigh, I miss the good old days.
I miss the good old days too. It was simpler, it was safer. Just think, we were even allowed to play in the woods! (Nothing too scary in our area, just garter snakes and squirrels.)
ReplyDeleteYes, I wonder if it's so different just because of our fears, or if all the danger is real...
ReplyDeleteJudi, I grew up in a small town - literally, every adult was allowed to monitor you and you knew that word would get back to your Mom and Dad. I remember those days. One of the differences today is that we are all so anonymous...
yup
ReplyDeleteI confess that I am grateful NOT to live in a neighborhood. But, I am so grateful that God blessed us with the kids we have and the buddies they've become. They love playing in the raindrops and mud and I've only had one bloody nose this week. ;)
ReplyDeleteI miss those good old days too. I liked the days of no computers or video games. Who woulda thunk they would completely take over our world.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a neighborhood, and we played kickball and jumprope and huge games of hide-and-seek, in all the yards. We went outside every day, unless we played in someone's garage or possibly ended up playing inside. Things just seemed unscheduled and natural....
ReplyDeleteFirst, let me say I love the pictures you post. Especially the boys. I miss playing in the street, maybe the kids and I will go have a kickball game next week. We have rocks in our front yards now, water control and all. But we can still play. The thing is, the kids that are in school don't play out front. I don't let mine play unsupervised. But the Skateboarders I see hanging out on the street are not the ones I want my kids playing with. We too are on an older street. Not many kids. Actually ours are the only ones. But we can still play, and splash in the rain.
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