Being a Kid

[Marina'sTwin]

Ok, so I drove all the way to the office only to have them tell me that they didn't have enough people to do orientation today, so they're doing it next week. In the confusion of last week, it's no surprise that they tried to call me to tell me that and I missed it. Well, I had to turn in my waitress uniform and pick up my last paycheck anyway, so it wasn't a wasted trip. And of course our paychecks hadn't been delivered yet, so I thought "Ok, well I have some time to kill, I'll just hang out at Starbucks and have an espresso." So I did that and a guy I graduated high school with, who works there, was on his smoke break. So I take my espresso to go and sit outside and talk to him. I asked him how things were going and he told me it was his little brother's first time going to summer camp. So we started talking about how we missed going to summer camp every year. Then, that got us on the subject of everything we missed about being a kid. So, that got me wondering what other people miss about being a kid and since ya'll are older than me, I'm really interested to see what ya'll have to say. So I guess my question would be, what are some things ya'll miss about being a kid?

 

[Elmc]

Well, Holly, that sounds like an enjoyable visit you had with him. First, there was ALWAYS someone to play with or just talk with. Till the age of 18 I lived in the projects ( like council estates I guess, but vertical, lol ) There was a prescribed play area and we were out ALL day. Laughter was the order of the day. You always had a Best Friend with whom you could say anything. My father's cooking is next. Oh, gosh . . beef stew, pork chops, chicken fried steak ( yes, even in N.Y.) mashed potatoes, etc. We ate well. And there was always, pistachio nuts, watermelon, jello or pudding. Scraping the pot after the pudding was cooked, a favorite for everyone. Thanks for the post, hon. A good one.

 

[Marina'sTwin]

That's really cool! When I was a kid, we always had someone to play with too. I grew up in the suburbs, but it was a lot like that. We would all just meet up at someone's house and play until it got dark and our parents called us in. And we would love when the ice cream truck came around in the summer time! I think ice cream is every kid's favorite food. LOL Well, I still consider ice cream to be a food group, but I'm weird. LOL I also remember when we would fight over Gameboys. All of ours looked the same, so it wasn't uncommon to have one kid go home with another kid's Gameboy and then they'd have to try to figure out which one was which the next day. LOL

 

[Marianna]

Being free to roam anywhere on our 150 acre farm — fields, woods, creek. The only off-limits areas were cultivated fields prior to harvest, but it was all right to walk around the edges, and of course never excite the livestock. That would have reduced their productivity.

For complete contrast, despite the chores usually assigned to children plus the extras that go along with raising and preserving most of our winter's food, having the leisure to bury myself in a book long enough to read it through in a single sitting. (I was, and still am, a very fast reader.)

Marianna

 

[Adanor]

Many moons ago, there were many freedoms that children had. To sit between your parents in the front seat of the car. That was a prime spot. Or to sit by the window in the back seat because then you didn't have to squish your legs up over the hump. To go outside and play at will and go anywhere within reason. To have lots of time to do nothing. And if you wanted to play with someone, you went and knocked on their door. If you wanted to go to the park, you just went. There were swing sets, see saws, and lots of big boulders to climb. Oh those were the days.

 

[Howlett]

I miss going out the door on a summer morning meeting up with a few friends on the street ... playing paper dolls, cut-outs (making homes from the rooms in the Sears/Eatons catalogue), not going home for lunch but staying at one of their houses or taking them home to mine for lunch ... mothers never worrying as they knew we were having lunch somewhere (no mothers had outside jobs 'back in my day'). Going on the swings & slide in our yard ... getting on our bikes cycling about the neighbourhood, perhaps playing baseball with some of the neighbour boys, getting a nickel from Dad to get a popsicle ... on very hot days sitting under by birth tree reading my library books ... so much ... never thinking of watching the television ... coming in at the end of the day all hot from the summer sun with mum putting some ice-cold Noxema (a jar always in the fridge) on my skin, a kitchen supper, bath, story ... sleep ... I could always weep remembering this!

 

[Sheree]

The Ice Cream truck in summer!!!!!!! On a recent visit to see my grandchildren,
an ice cream truck was heard and I was going to buy them all an ice cream but they
stopped me saying,"It's soooo expensive!" Can you believe it?! I was a little sad
about that.

 

[Marina'sTwin]

Yeah, I always think it's really cool to hear people older than me talk about how cheap things were back when they were kids. My dad once told me that you could go to the movies with $10 and get the ticket, some popcorn, a drink, and some candy, and still have some change left over. That really blows my mind because now, even with a student id, it costs close to $10 just to buy the movie ticket. Don't tell anyone I still use my college id even though I dropped out! LOL!

One thing I miss from my childhood is T-Bone's hot dogs! Man, you have no idea what a good hot dog tastes like until you try one of T-Bone's hot dogs! There was this little restaurant in town called T-Bone's because the owner's nickname was (you guessed it) T-Bone. Those hot dogs were delicious! I'm a very picky eater, but I could have eaten those all the time if my parents had let me! T-Bone died a while back and the restaurant closed down, but the good news is his son has re-opened it and word on the street is that he has the recipe for the chili that made the hot dogs so delicious. So as soon as I possibly can, I'm going to get a hot dog from there and see if it tastes as good as I remember it.

 

[brendalovescompo]

Riding our bikes all over. We lived in the country and the block was about 2 miles long. Walking in the creek, picking up rocks , and throwing them in the water. Picking a weed that would grow in the pastures, we called them milk weeds , because they had a oozy white liquid in them, and some soft white fluffy inside, and we would throw them in the air. We would pick buckeye nuts and collect them. Walk on the hot tarred road and pop the bubbles with our toes. Mom would get mad because our feet would be black, and wouldn't let us in until we washed our feet outside. Made mud pies, pretended we worked in a fast food restaurant. When we moved closer into the city we would also have the ice cream truck go by. Have to eat it fast before it melted. Going to my grandparents for the summer on Lake Erie, and fish with my grandpa. I always wanted to go to Florida, or out west like my other friends did, but looking back, I would not give up those summers for anything. I treasure every moment I spent at my grandparents.

 

[me2]

Yeah, I always think it's really cool to hear people older than me talk about how cheap things were back when they were kids. My dad once told me that you could go to the movies with $10 and get the ticket, some popcorn, a drink, and some candy, and still have some change left over. That really blows my mind because now, even with a student id, it costs close to $10 just to buy the movie ticket. Don't tell anyone I still use my college id even though I dropped out! .

Now I'll really show my age. Our movie theater would show two different movies each week. My allowance was 25 cents per week, so I could go to both the Saturday and Sunday shows because they were 9 cents each. I could even get popcorn for 5 cents at one of the shows. I was very unhappy when the price went up to 11 cents - no more popcorn or only one show. That was early 1950's. Oh the good old days!

 

[maltrab]

I think anyone born mid 40's to mid 50's would agree we probably had the best era to grow up in, we had cheap transport,a choice of jobs,the best music, the whole lifestyle seemed to work.

We were there at the birth of new technology,space travel,home computing,mobile phones,satellite TV,space invaders and Ping Pong ;D

Most of us did not earn a lot of money but it seemed to go a long way,if you went into hospital you felt safe,you also felt safe on the streets,there was always a bobby about

 

[barmpot]

I think anyone born mid 40's to mid 50's would agree we probably had the best era to grow up in, we had cheap transport,a choice of jobs,the best music, the whole lifestyle seemed to work.

We were there at the birth of new technology,space travel,home computing,mobile phones,satellite TV,space invaders and Ping Pong ;D

Most of us did not earn a lot of money but it seemed to go a long way,if you went into hospital you felt safe,you also felt safe on the streets,there was always a bobby about

Absolutely - if you did not like a job you could walk out of it the morning and get a new one in the afternoon. And looking back work did not seem so onerous in those days, less pressure but not less hours. More chance to do things well and pause. Always remember being told to take things steady and go at a sustainable pace: very rare being expected to rush things. If not enough staff then more were hired.

 

[WesleyRocks]

Riding our bikes all over. We lived in the country and the block was about 2 miles long. Walking in the creek, picking up rocks , and throwing them in the water.
Walk on the hot tarred road and pop the bubbles with our toes. Mom would get mad because our feet would be black, and wouldn't let us in until we washed our feet outside.

Wow!! What memories .I forgot about the hot tar bubbles!!! So awesome, dad would use gasoline to clean me off, in fact as I remember he seemed to use gasoline for everything???

Simplicity of the times is what I miss the most. No cell phones, you just told your folks who's house you were going to. Our moms would yell and we'd stop what we were doing and listen..... then she would yell again and if it was your mom you were bummed out because you had to go home first.
I miss laying in the field as a cool night fell (I lived in the country as well) and looking up at all the stars thinking how tiny I was.
Playing war in our town, using sticks as guns.
Having a dirt pile, for nothing other than playing on.
Making "substandard" jumps for our bikes only to find out our design was a failure, still have the scars from those. :me:
When the creek ( or crick where I'm from) would be frozen over, see who could walk down it without falling through the ice. Man that water was cold!!!
Showing off for the cutest girl in the neighborhood hoping she would be impressed by your wheelie skills
Just getting dirty!!! the bad part was when your mom would make you get undressed on the front porch. " you are not tracking that mud in here!!!"


Good times, good thread Marina'sTwin.

 

[cciaffone]

Sneaking up on the milk truck, while the delivery man
was making a delivery, and stealing the ice chips from over
the milk bottles. Mmm they were cold and good!!

Also getting a milk break in first grade and drinking
the cream off the tops of the bottles without shaking
up the milk. Left a mustache!!! Good tho!

 

[Dennisbn514]

Like many others, riding bikes everywhere. I must have had 10,000 miles on my bike (at least it seemed like it to me!). I rode to baseball practice and Little League games, to the playground for pick-up games, to the river, and to my grandparents house. I could only have been 10 or 11 years old. I couldn't imagine my son doing that when he was that age.

Also, there were no big shopping malls or super stores in those days. Most of the groceries, shoes, clothing, hardware, appliances, etc. were purchased at different corner stores being owned and run by a 2nd or 3rd generation of the same family. Going "downtown" and buying "school clothes" was always a dreaded ordeal for me with my mother......trying on 10 pair of pants to get one that fit. The same with going to the "shoe store" to try on several pairs of shoes.

 

[Marianna]

When the creek ( or crick where I'm from)

I was twelve years old and attending school in town before I learned that it isn't pronounced 'crick'. That's what happens when you live in a rather insular rural neighborhood and attend a one-room school through the sixth grade. The teacher came from town, so I expect that she tried to 'urbanize' our speech, if only to save us from being picked on when we went into town to school, but it must have fallen on deaf ears.

Marianna

 

[brendalovescompo]

Wow!! What memories .I forgot about the hot tar bubbles!!! So awesome, dad would use gasoline to clean me off, in fact as I remember he seemed to use gasoline for everything???

Simplicity of the times is what I miss the most.

It is a wonder our dad's didn't poison us!, My dad did also use gasoline to clean up. Forgot about mounds of dirt for bike trails. I was a tom-boy, and had more boys to play with, than girls, the girls were always younger,boys my age. We all had fun. Simple times indeed. Our summer wine?

 

[brendalovescompo]

Also getting a milk break in first grade and drinking
the cream off the tops of the bottles without shaking
up the milk. Left a mustache!!! Good tho!

Chuck, my dad was the oldest of 7 boys , growing up in Cincinnati. My uncles would say," That is why your dad was the healthiest, he would drink the cream off the top"!!!!!!! He would push them all back as they were grasping for the bottles.

 

[Marina'sTwin]

It is a wonder our dad's didn't poison us!, My dad did also use gasoline to clean up. Forgot about mounds of dirt for bike trails. I was a tom-boy, and had more boys to play with, than girls, the girls were always younger,boys my age. We all had fun. Simple times indeed. Our summer wine?

OMG! If you can believe this, I was a tom-boy too! I looked like a girl but acted like a boy. I was that kid who was always up for wrestling on the trampoline. The boys use to like to fight with the girls when we would all play on the trampoline (not the safest thing ever, but we were kids!). The other girls would cry when they got hit, but not me, I hit back and I did win a couple of fights. :respect: The other girls always thought I was weird and the boys thought I was cool. Now, I look VERY much like a girl, but I still act like a dude. What's funny is that the girls now think I'm cool and the guys think I'm weird. Around here, if you look like a girl and act like a boy, you're every man's dream. I think they call me weird because it hurts their ego when I tell them I'm not interested in them! LOL

 

[brendalovescompo]

OMG! , if you look like a girl and act like a boy, you're every man's dream.

Me too,
Also working in a factory with mostly men, the ratio is about 20 to 1 in my area.
The guys respect me and always would shut up when I would come around. It took me a while(sorry Holly but I use to be a blonde), someone told me I was walking in to a nasty joke. They are all like big brothers, to me. After working together for 25 years or more , you know a lot about each other, and take care of each other. I am very lucky, not all area's are like that. Plus, it helps that they know my hubby.:me:

When I told someone I like to fish, and Lake Erie, one guy divorced and mentioned I was the perfect date! Oh, no, "the only man that can take me fishing is my Grandpa (rip), and my uncles." The girl comes out!