Whatever Happened To: Lazy Days?
I think 'lazy days' are a fond memory from my youth. I can remember at a very young age having the freedom of roaming the neighborhoods with my siblings and little friends. Our parents didn't have to worry about anybody kidnapping us ... we just made sure we behaved decent and came home for lunch and dinner. Some days we'd go to the local appliance store and snag large appliance boxes sitting out in the back alley. These boxes made the perfect fort in a vacant lot just down the street from our apartment. Imagination was the key ingredient to having fun as a child. Being outside in the fresh air, roller skating down the sidewalk, making our own scooters from discarded parts, attaching playing cards with clothes pins to our bike's spokes to make engine noise. Even digging in the couch cushions for the spare change that was always there to walk to the store for a frozen ice slushy. My grandpa would often spring for treats for all the neighborhood kids when the ice cream truck would make its rounds. We played in the gutter water and never got sick! It made the perfect canal to float large leaves. Not one of my friends was overweight ... we ran around all day long ... and slept sound at night. What a different world it is today. We had common sense ... something lacking today.
Ann is returning this afternoon so I'll be making a run to the airport later. DH is heading back to work keeping the world a little bit safer. Nathan ... well, he will be exploring the great outdoors with his pooch and playing ball. I'll be weeding the flowerbeds, cleaning house and tending the garden. Have a wonderful day.
16 comments:
My childhood, too, Mrs. Mac - so like yours....*drifting into memories*...
Now is different...the best safety we could offer our children was a fenced backyard - which has competed with the lure of computers and tvs.
Esp note - sleeping well and no one being overweight - all before I ever heard the words 'fiber' and cholesterol.
Thanks for the delightful trip*, and I'm smiling thinking of you and Nathan in the yard. Barbara
Ahh...those were the days!!!
Our Grandbabies, have been playing, for days, in the large box our fountain came in...it has been a dog kennel, a jail, and who knows what else...it made for lots of loud laughter...and a few spats...but it surely kept them busy!
Have a great 4th weekend!
Lovely post, dear Cathy...
Welcome back to the family.
Have a great fourth of July today.
Praying for America.
Dear Mrs. Mac,
Oh how I, too, long for those good old days. Did you get the e-mail I sent along those same lines? I told our step-great grandson about my childhood and he couldn't believe I did without TV, computers, cell phones, Ipods, etc., he then wanted to know what I did for fun. I told him about playing hide and seek, kick the can, jacks, hopscotch and so on - he thought that all sounded like a lot of fun. I feel sorry for the children today who don't have to use their imagination. I'm glad I was able to raise you children in a time not yet overcome with technology. Thanks for all the wonderful blogs. Have a happy 4th of July weekend - we plan to stay close to home.......
Love,
Mom
What did happen to those days? We think we've improved the world, but sadly I don't see it that way. Our grandchildren aren't safe outside without supervision of some sort ... we buy bottled water rather than trust tap water ... obesity is rampant and I believe it's because we don't get outside and just move! Too many electronics to fill our time ... improved??? Not much.
ah 2009 idaho mother of the year, just do what i used to do after i was all grown up at the age of 17 and still living at home...i would just grab a little brother, or sister or two and some of their little friends and do some of those lazy time things of my youth...play hop scotch, hide and go seek, and tag and statues and marbles!
you and nathan will be alone, holding the fort and sci just make him think that you are doing him and the dawg a big favour by going out on a picnic!!
oh so much fun it would be, eh?
oh and don't forget to pack the freshie and the peanut butter sandwiches!.....oh so good!
love terry
Well, M&M, what did happen to those lazy days? They are like a deleted e-mail, hard to explain where they went.
I know where mine went, I was five, not yet in school. I was playing with wheeled toys in the dirt out in the farmyard.
Dad came out and said, "I have something you might like, come see." I came and my life has never been the same. He showed me how to milk cows. There wasn't any choice about what I was to do from then on, it was help with the chores, including milking the cows, every day.
For others it is getting married, having a kid, or buying a car. Those things happen later in life but most farm boys don't have that many lazy days.
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Forgot to say, I like your pictuure. There needs to be a rabbit and a turtle playing in the grass.
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Happy Fourth!
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Very nice, very nostalgic post. How blessed we were to be outdoors like that all the time without worrying about the dangers little ones face today!
We had an empty lot in my neighborhood where there were lots of piles of dirt and it was fun to hide behind the piles of dirt and do imaginary things there.
And poor hopscotch...no sidewalks get properly chalked any more!!
And I thought about it and I only knew one girl who was somewhat overweight but she was the one who always stayed at home and wasn't out playing like her thin sister!
Have a lovely 4th of July.
blessings and peace,
marcy
Ahhh simpler times...so fun! Hope your 4th was grand!
I grew up on a farm and spent so many wonderful lazy summer days riding my bike, building play houses out of old boards from Daddy's barn yard and old coffee cans discarded by Momma! We were outside from sunup till sundown and afterwards. We worked, we played, we laughed and made memories. We ran around the yard just to have something to do and then would fall out under the shade tree exhausted. Momma or Daddy would usually sneak up on us with water hose and hose us down with good cold well water to cool us off! Wonderful days of so long ago. It makes me so sad for kids of today who only have elctronics for playmates and barely recognize the sunshine as a blessing! Wonderful post, Mrs. Mac! Have a great week!
Many hugs...........
Diane
The older I get, the more frequently I ask myself the question, what happened to those simpler times? Do you suppose the children of today will ask that same question when they are older?
My parents lived a very frugal life, we weren't showered with "things" and I never recall being bored!
At the risk of sounding like an old fuddy duddy...I long for the good old days!
A lovely post Mrs.Mac, whatever happened to the lazy days of summer indeed? Your childhood sounds idyllic. Mine was filled with babysitting my brothers and sister. We always kept plenty of library books on hand though! =)
DEar Mrs. Mac,
I guess back then the difference between the Norwegian and American children was not that big.
We played similar games, and occasionally the girls were let in on the Cowboy and Indian game too.
One of my friends was the lucky owner of an old white peak tent with buttons and a bamboo stick. I guess that was the main reason we were allowed to play Indians.
Endless, of, so happy summers.
We were equipped with sandwiches in white paper bags and raspberry juice on little glass flasks. Our valley was a square kilometer, but my mother's voice would always reach me, when it was time to gather foe dinner and supper.
We were indeed rich.
I hope Nathan is doing fine. I often think of him and his summer school. Hope they are loving and gentle while teaching him the social borders of behavior.
Also hope they have in mind that people becomes angry when feeling helpless and frightened.
Now, I'll have Serina painting my toenails red. Isn't that something?
From Felisol
Growing up in the inner city of St Louis I remember the firemen turning on the fire hydrants for us kids and being blasted by water to cool off! I remember the "Mr Softee" truck that sold soft-serve ice cream cones up and down the street. I remember the tamale cart that came up and down the streets, sold out of them w/o any FDA regulations. I remember summer passing slower than it does today! Sadly my old neighborhood is now run down, a crack house is right across the street from where my folks lived and it looks as if a bomb has been dropped on it. In spite of everything, my childhood summer memories are sweet ones!
Connie
what a different world for sure ...
atleast you have your little bit of heaven where you are ... and that is a blessing ...
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