Today cartoons are on all hours of the day and night with cable TV. It isn't quite as special as it used to be -- getting up on Saturday and staying in your pajamas for hours. Of course, until one of your friends called for you thru the door, yelling, "SHAR---ON!"
In the '70s on our block at least, there was always someone to hang out with. The funny thing is none of us ever seemed to get into too much trouble. Kids were always outside playing and the parents were usually working in the yard or not too far away.
Front & back doors were left open and you didn't have to worry about some crazy nut just walking in your house to do harm to anyone. I also remember all the parents on our block being friends and knowing each other pretty well. My dad would go sit on a neighbors porch with them. It seemed before you knew it, seven or eight dads and moms were together talking and laughing.
The boys would be playing baseball in the street. Of course, you would have an occasional window break now and then. The girls would be playing Barbies on someone's porch or with their other dolls. As we got older, 2 and 4 Square use to keep us entertained for hours. We used to ride our bikes to the park without our parents. You felt safe. It was a much simpler time.
We were one of the few families on our block that had a pool and kids were always over swimming. I also remember my mom feeding other people's kids lunch on a daily basis, especially if they had been over swimming. In the evenings I would have the occasional pool party, and my dad would barbecue hamburgers and hot dogs ; we would also roast marshmallows. Dad would hook up a light to the side of the garage so we could swim in the dark until sometimes 10:00 pm at night. He would be sitting right there watching us to make sure no one got hurt.
Do you remember the big blue "helping hands" in families' picture windows? The big blue helping hand meant if you were in trouble or needed help you could run to that home. At that time you didn't have a fear that someone in that house may harm you.
Sadly, signs like this aren't needed much anymore in this country's neighborhoods
We ate dinner as a family every night, and my mom made sure of that. I also remember wanting to eat dinner so fast so I could go outside to play with my friends. My mom would occasionally get mad because she knew I wouldn't eat as well as I should, being in such a hurry as I was.
The food even seemed better back then. I cook pretty much the same stuff my mom did, but to me it just doesn't seem to taste as good. No one cooks like mom!
The homework wasn't as much as the kids have today. We had time to play after school. Not today -- the homework load is so heavy the kids have no time to just be kids.
The world is so different now and our innocence has been lost right along with our children. No one trusts anyone anymore. You never see boys playing baseball in the street. As for the girls, when was the last time you saw five or six girls playing Barbies or dolls on someone's porch? I see the occational kid riding a bike, but not like in the '70s. We would ride our bikes to 7-Eleven to get a Slurpee or to the corner store to get candy and bubble gum.
What do the kids do now? After the massive amount of homework they want to play video games. Maybe the video games they play relieves some of the stress they feel. We didn't have too much stress when I was growing up.
I feel sorry for our kids because they have so much stress and let's face it -- we bring them up to not trust too many people. School isn't even safe for them anymore. I keep reading about teachers doing unspeakable things to these kids. My daughter hears about all this because it's on TV and in the newspapers. That just adds to her stress.
Someone has to figure out why these kids are going crazy and shooting up schools. When I was a kid, we were ALL picked on at one time or another. I certainly don't remember any kids shooting up schools back when I grew up. There has to be more to this phenomenon than just being picked on. Being picked on may just be one of the reasons; there has to be more to it than that. It is the symptom of a much bigger problem.
Yes, I believe our innocence has been lost and that is so sad. I wish my child could have been born in a much simpler time. Where did it all go wrong? I have no idea, but it is tragic. Maybe it's as simple as the breakdown of the family. Because if we aren't secure at home, how can we feel secure anyplace else?
Our job as parents is to keep our children safe and secure. Part of it may just be talking and having dinner as a family together each night. That way our kids know us and we know our kids. Children should be able to talk to their parents about anything and not fear they will be judged. We need to talk and help our kids through everything in their life and they have to be able to trust us.
Parents can't be perfect and may not always have the right answers, but we owe it to our kids to at least be there for them.
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