The Good Old Days!

I remember, when I was a child, how we loved to play outdoors.  We'd play tag and red light, green light, badminton,  lawn darts.  We would ride our bikes all over.  The nearby woods were a great place to explore paths and make forts.  Or how about a game of H.O.R.S.E, with our backyard basketball hoop.  Night time hide and seek was always fun.

Every summer my sister and I and sometimes my brother and other friends would make our annual bike trip.  We would ride a few miles from our house to a waterfront park and eat a picnic lunch, or the candy we bought at the penny candy store on the way.  Then after playing there for a while we'd head home, usually pushing our bikes most of the way because it was almost all uphill.

Our parents thought nothing of letting us go play in the nearby woods or school yards, as long as we let them know where we were going and were home in time for dinner.

It's sad that when my daughters were young and now, parents can't really feel as confident letting their kids roam around on their own.  I would've never let my kids run around in the woods for hours, without one of us present.  I always felt nervous letting them walk home from school on their own and arrive at an empty house, even though they were definitely old enough and very trustworthy.

When they road their bikes it was only on our little dead end street, where I could keep an eye on them.

I can't help wondering if it's because there really are that many more predators out there now than when I was a child, or is it because we are more aware of them because of the media?  Sadly I tend to think that there are just more of them out there.  Not only predators, but homeless people living in the woods, that might not appreciate kids tramping along into their territory or bullies ready to cause some trouble.

I find this heartbreaking as I think back onto the good times I had and the freedom.  Maybe I was just lucky because even then, times were changing.  My younger brother, as a kid, had a couple run ins with some unsavory types while he was out playing and luckily he had the sense to head home right away and not get lured into something that could've turned out bad.

Still, I think that if parents are vigilant and join in on those outdoor activities, there is still a lot of fun to be had and good memories to be made!