when we were kids

[skyblue]

we'd climb the biggest trees we could find,often to wonder how we were going to get back down because it was swaying in the wind
we'd go brooke jumping,often we'd get a boot full of sludge but it was great fun anyway
we'd be over the field by 9am on sundays in the winter with a ball,we'd play football all day and only go home when it was getting dark...it was a struggle to get back in the house though because we'd be covered in mud and mum didn't want it in there
in the summer we'd go on long bike rides,no flash mountain bikes for us though,we'd find a rusty old frame and build a bike
we found a trout stream once,and we all but emptied it with our old cane rods and tub of worms
if we found an apple tree anywhere the day was eagerly awaited when we could go scrumping,they had to be red

i have some wonderful memories,the kids of today dont realise the fun they're missing out on

 

[pjbleek]

we'd climb the biggest trees we could find,often to wonder how we were going to get back down because it was swaying in the wind
we'd go brooke jumping,often we'd get a boot full of sludge but it was great fun anyway
we'd be over the field by 9am on sundays in the winter with a ball,we'd play football all day and only go home when it was getting dark...it was a struggle to get back in the house though because we'd be covered in mud and mum didn't want it in there
in the summer we'd go on long bike rides,no flash mountain bikes for us though,we'd find a rusty old frame and build a bike
we found a trout stream once,and we all but emptied it with our old cane rods and tub of worms
if we found an apple tree anywhere the day was eagerly awaited when we could go scrumping,they had to be red

i have some wonderful memories,the kids of today dont realise the fun they're missing out on

agreed...and kids are always indoors claiming that going outside, there is "nothing to do"...so sad....I remember being out on my bike on those long summer days/nights....

 

[jassilem]

I used to spend sun up to sun down outside when I was a kid.. riding bikes, playing baseball, soccer, digging in mud etc.. Where we are in the city it's not the same for the kids... I see it.. I don't like it but I see it.

 

[slicktrickery]

Jass, this city has changed hugely, and you are sooo right, no matter what part of this city we live in. Even in my kids generation they had more playing outside. My kids were blessed with good friends and those kids would play for hours outside, ride bikes, make lemonade stands, play in the park, play house, climb trees, have water fights etc. We were lucky to have raised them on a nice quiet street in a decent community. But now I look at my grandkids, they live in a small town outside of the city and their mom won't allow them off the front step alone, just to many sketchy people and situations... ya small town, we are talking a couple hundred people. So it's not just this crappy city.

 

[jassilem]

Jass, this city has changed hugely, and you are sooo right, no matter what part of this city we live in. Even in my kids generation they had more playing outside. My kids were blessed with good friends and those kids would play for hours outside, ride bikes, make lemonade stands, play in the park, play house, climb trees, have water fights etc. We were lucky to have raised them on a nice quiet street in a decent community. But now I look at my grandkids, they live in a small town outside of the city and their mom won't allow them off the front step alone, just to many sketchy people and situations... ya small town, we are talking a couple hundred people. So it's not just this crappy city.

I grew up on dirt road and all my neighbours were family.. I could go play where ever I wanted and never thought anything of it. Ride bikes till we got tired.. go play in the river etc.. I miss that openness.

I hate letting my son in the backyard here because you never know what's going on etc... The house next to us is a rental.. and till the past week I swear there was a dealer living there... cars coming by day and night and staying for 2-3 min then off again etc..

I carry my son to and from my car.. because I am terrified that he will get hit by a car.. I swear they think our street is Deerfoot the speeds they travel around here..

My friend lives out in Chestermere I let Liam play with her girls there.. at the park etc.. It's a different atmosphere.

This city just scares me half to death..

 

[StripedCat]

It's different times today. I think, one cannot compare our kid times with those our kids today have to deal with. Let alone all those pedophiles, dealers, criminal gangs, and so on. It's sad...

 

[Dana]

When I was a kid, id go fishing with hotdogs in the stream down the road, me and my buddy next door would pelt each other with milk weeds, my best friend and I built a fort out of a plank of wood and it was supported by dead trees.... I remember one day me and the buddy the lived next door were fishing under the bridge. I slipped and fell in the stream. I waddled all the way back to my trailer.

 

[slicktrickery]

Forts yes, how I forgot about that, my brother and I and a couple friends had a fort built in the trees... of all places, on the Indian Reserve that borders the west side of our city... and we had not a care in the world. One of our friends fell out of said fort one summer and dislocated her shoulder.... she was taken to the hospital, fixed up and released. NOBODY sued a damn soul. We were just kids being kids... ah them were the days.

 

[slicktrickery]

I grew up on dirt road and all my neighbours were family.. I could go play where ever I wanted and never thought anything of it. Ride bikes till we got tired.. go play in the river etc.. I miss that openness.

I hate letting my son in the backyard here because you never know what's going on etc... The house next to us is a rental.. and till the past week I swear there was a dealer living there... cars coming by day and night and staying for 2-3 min then off again etc..

I carry my son to and from my car.. because I am terrified that he will get hit by a car.. I swear they think our street is Deerfoot the speeds they travel around here..

My friend lives out in Chestermere I let Liam play with her girls there.. at the park etc.. It's a different atmosphere.

This city just scares me half to death..

There are way worse cities hun, look north what the heck is Edmonton at 35 homicides? ...We have changed over the years indeed, it's called progress, sadly.

 

[Dana]

There are way worse cities hun, look north what the heck is Edmonton at 35 homicides? ...We have changed over the years indeed, it's called progress, sadly.

35 homocides? I can't speak from experience living in Maine but that doesn't sound very high on a yearly average.

 

[slicktrickery]

by this province's standards that's crazy high... we are hicksville out this way...

 

[jassilem]

There are way worse cities hun, look north what the heck is Edmonton at 35 homicides? ...We have changed over the years indeed, it's called progress, sadly.

It's the country girl showing..

I would rather wide open field than city any day.. and it comes to the point I hate walking outside my front door for the most part.. .

 

[AUFred]

When summer arrived we threw away our shoes when school let out. Other than Sunday shoes we did not wear shoes again until we went back to school. Mom always knew the old shoes would not fit. We cut off all our jeans for shorts because that was what we did. Our summers started with working in the fields at daylight and ended with chasing fireflies (Lightning bugs). We played outside except for meals and sometime my mother or grandmother would offer us a snack and kool-aid.

 

[Mystic]

my son spends equal time in and outside, thank goodness...actually maybe more outside seeing how we spend most if not all our summer at the beach.

There are a lot less kids today as well in a close area, so i think it also has to be looked at in a relevant way. There has never been kids on any of the streets where i live so my son never has had any other children to play with, so being in the house playing video games is sometimes necessary. You can only play for so long by yourself.

Also, i find adult today expect and push their kids to grow up faster so much of imagination is taken away from children long before they are 9 years old. Thankfully my son still plays with his toys and he'll be 14 this December.

We live in a fast world...childhoods are a blink of the eye.

 

[Pumpkin]

yeah its sad that kids don't do these things nowadays but what I find more sad is that it is the PARENTS who did grow up with all those wonderful things who allow their children to sit inside on the computer etc.

 

[Dana]

It's the country girl showing..

I would rather wide open field than city any day.. and it comes to the point I hate walking outside my front door for the most part.. .

if i lived on an island near the ocean i wouldnt mind the country

 

[jassilem]

if i lived on an island near the ocean i wouldnt mind the country

25 min from the city.. 5 min from the beach... *sigh*

 

[Panacea]

If I ever had kids I'd definitely want to teach them to enjoy the world outside. It requires being able to be there, though. My parents never watched me when I was outside, maybe that's not the best thing for safety...idk. It's hard when both parents have to work all the time, our society has changed so much.

 

[AUFred]

Our kids had a trampoline, a swing set and a swimming pool. They spent far more time outside than in.

My daughter did art, karate, band and soccer.

My son did a variety of sports including baseball, soccer, swim team, tennis and bowling.

When they were young I took them fishing and my wife and I got out and played sports with them. We took a lot of trips to parks and mountains and the beach.

 

[darkcgi]

I stayed in the woods
climbing tall thin trees to the top while friend cuts them down
building tree forts and booby traps
swinging from vines