A friend of mine posted this on facebook and it really summarized my childhood as well:
My curfew was street lights on. My parents didn't call my cell, they yelled my name. I played outside with friends, not online. If I didn't eat what was made, then I didn't eat. Sanitizer didn't exist, but you COULD get your mouth washed out with soap. I rode a bike without a helmet. Getting a couple scrapes and dirty was OK, and neighbors care as much as your parents did. Re-post if you drank from a garden hose
Two other quotes I enjoyed were:
You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing. What! Is it nothing to be happy? Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long? Never in his life will he be so busy again. ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, 1762
Children find everything in nothing; men find nothing in everything. ~Giacomo Leopardi, Zibaldone Scelto
Two essential items to have when I was growing up were:
A tether ball:
and
A bike to get you where you need to go
People supported me in play by just letting me play. My parents wanted us outside and playing. If we could not find something to do, they would find us something to do, and we usually would not like that alternative.
I feel that play has changed today. I feel that as a parent I am much more cautious with my children than my parents were with me. I feel that when children began to be abducted off of the streets, there was a shift in the amount of freedom children had in this country.
I play with my children in ways that my parents did not with me, perhaps that is because I had my children when I was younger. I think parents are encouraged to be more active with their children and to be interested in their interests as well. I think play has evolved from the time I was young and it will continue to evolve. My hope is that parents and children never lose the love of play!
Hi! Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI love your top post it is so true. Nowadays, one is afraid to let children go outside by themselves without something happening to them. I use to live in a small town that was safe or was safe in my mind. I recently moved back to this small town and it is very scary. The drugs,teen death, and pregnancy rates are skyrocketing through the ceiling.
Amanda Stapleton-Tuhy
Hi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteYour photos brought back memories. I had a bike last that I always took to my grandmas house when I stayed the night with her. I loved that bike.
I love the first quote you chose. I think children today don't get to experience the same fun we had when we were younger.
ReplyDeleteI loved the facebook quote that you used. That really summed up the type of play that many of use experienced as children. It is a shame that our children have to grow up with a different meaning to play due to the dangers out there. Your pictures also brought back many memories for me as well.
ReplyDelete