life as it should be

A little more of a break before getting back to house stuff. Here's the post I've been delaying. I got this e-mail from a friend of mine who was around during these times. Thought I'd share. Walk with me down...

Let's go back... Before the Internet or PC or the MAC. Before semi-automatics and crack. Before Playstation, SEGA, Super Nintendo, even before Atari. Before cell phones, CD's, DVD's, voicemail and e-mail...

Way, way, way back... I'm talkin' bout


- Hide and seek at dusk
- Red light, Green light
- Red Rover, Red Rover...
- Playing kickball & dodgeball until the first...no...second...no...third street light came on
- Ring around the Rosie
- London Bridge
- Hot potato
- Hop Scotch
- Jump rope
- Duck...duck...GOOSE!!!
- YOU'RE IT!!
- Parents stood on the front porch and yelled (or whistled) for you to come home (no pagers or cell phones)
- Mother May I?
- Hula Hoops
- Seeing shapes in the clouds
- The sound of crickets
- Running through the sprinkler
- Cereal boxes with that GREAT prize in the bottom
- Cracker jacks with the same thing
- Ice pops with 2 sticks you could break and share with a friend

But wait...there's more...

- Watchin' Saturday Morning cartoons
- Fat Albert, Road Runner, Smurfs, Bugs Bunny
- Schoolhouse Rock
- Wonder Woman & Super Man Underoos (I totally loved Underoos)
- FONZIE...AYYYYYYYY
- Playing Dukes of Hazzard
- Catchin' lightning bugs in a jar
- Christmas morning
- Your first day of school
- Bedtime Prayers and Goodnight Kisses
- Climbing trees
- Swinging as high as you could to try and reach the sky
- A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers
- Jumpin' down the steps
- Jumpin' on the bed
- Pillow fights
- Sleepovers
- A 13" black and white TV in your room meant you were RICH
- Runnin' till you were out of breath
- Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt
- Being tired from PLAYING
- Work meant taking out the garbage or doing the dishes
- Your first crush
- Your first kiss (I mean the one that you kept your mouth CLOSED and your eyes OPEN)
- Rainy days at school meant playing "Heads up 7-Up" or hangman" in the classroom.

Remember that? Oh, I'm not finished yet...

- Kool-Aid was the drink of the summer
- So was a swig from the hose
- Giving your friends a ride on your handlebars
- Wearing your new shoes on the first day of school
- Class field trips with soggy sandwiches
- When nearly everyone's mom was at home when the kids got there
- When a quarter seemed like a fair allowance
- When ANY parent could discipline ANY kid (or feed him or use him to carry groceries) and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.
- When your parents took you to McDonalds and you were COOL (ours was Pizza Hut)
- When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited you at home
- Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc.
- Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! And some of us are still afraid of em!

Didn't that feel good? Just to go back and say, "Yeah, I remember that!" Well, let's keep going!! Let's go back to the time when...

- Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo"
- Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "do over!"
- "Race issues" meant arguing about who ran the fastest
- Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in Monopoly
- Catching fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening
- It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends
- Being old, referred to anyone over 20
- The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was cooties
- Nobody was prettier than Mom
- Scrapes and bruises were kissed by mom or grandma and made better
- It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the "big people" rides
- Abilities were discovered because of a "double-dog-dare"
- Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles
- The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team
- Water balloons were the ultimate, ultimate weapon
- Older siblings were your worst tormentors but also your fiercest protector

Share this with anyone who may need a break from their "grown up" life... I TRIPLE DOG DARE YA!

Comments

Cheryl said…
I remember those things. Some of my fondest memories are from before my family had air conditioning. Playing outside meant you at least had a chance of a breeze. Running through the water hose was my favorite way to cool down. My friends and I played outside in the evening and never even knew to be afraid. Fireflies in a jar were my flashlight. My children's lives were almost as simple. We lived in a close-knit neighborhood. My grandchildren will never know anything like it. Sigh.
I fondly remember all that..does that make me old? I wish my kids could have it that way...
StaceyG said…
Thanks for the memories!
Editor in Chief said…
Nice one.

Memories....like the corners of my mind. Misty, water-color memories of the way things (we) were.
Katie Lady, don't you love it when Bubba sings that??
Bubba's Mom said…
I remember all that (and I am old!). One I remember was hanging clothes on the line & if it rained your mom would hustle you out there to see if you could get them in before it rained. Also, jacks tournaments on somebody's front porch in the afternoon, and paper dolls. Oh, how I loved paper dolls!
I LOVE paper dolls! And coloring books! And remember these?

- TV Tag
- those Dixie cups that had the riddles or knock-knock jokes on the side
- Kick the Can
- Ollie Ollie Oxen-free (I think that's how you'd spell it - I only yelled it!)
- stores were closed on Sundays
- cartoons were only on Saturday mornings

Those were the days......

crowd favorites

100 things--thankful

hey, would you like to see the nursery?