………………..”When we were Kids, our parents never forced us to go outside….They had to force us to come inside!”………..I was a kid of the 50s. I truly believe the lives we led were so much better than the way kids live today!…..”Outside” was our world, our playground! We didn’t have, and weren’t glued to phones or video games, and TV had few channels with little programming that interested me……We created things to do with our imaginations!…..We went to the local park and went on the swings and slides and monkey bars. We pretended to be pirates on a ship….We went swimming…..We rode our bicycles all over without a care in the world, and our parents never thought we were unsafe….because we weren’t!…..Today many kids are only outside when they have organized activities…..We played tag, hide and seek…we went fishing in the local stream, but I never caught a thing! We went to the local farms and played in the barn….with permission….We built go carts…Well, actually my brothers built them and let me ride them….We jumped rope and played hop scotch…..In the winter we played in the snow, built snowmen, igloos and forts…where we had our snow ball fights… and went sledding and ice skating…… Yes, sometimes we were naughty and did things we weren’t supposed to….like making camp firers in empty lots!…..However, I never got away with it, because my Mom could always smell the smoke on my clothes….”LOUIS!…were you playing with fire again!…How many times must I tell you not to play with fire!”….We slid down the sides of sand hills on pieces of card board in the local sand pit….a place that was actually off limits, but we used to sneak in through a hole in the fence…..If my older bothers could sneak in and play there so could I!….It was great fun!!…We were NEVER bored…..We ate the wild berries that used to grow there…..What I’m saying is we were KIDS, and had carefree wonderful lives……In the summer I would stay out as long as I could…..until I heard my Dad’s very distinctive WHISTLE!…..I knew it was time to get home pronto for dinner….After dinner it was outside again until it started to get dark……The next day was a repeat of the day before….THOSE WERE WONDERFUL DAYS!
We need to put our own parental and unwarranted fears aside and allow our children to have “play-based” childhoods and NOT “phone-based” childhoods. Read “The Anxious Generation” – a NYT science-based book about childrearing.
It was true in the 60s also!
I came from a large family as did most of the children of our neighborhood. We would venture out after breakfast and play “ Kick the Can” or Hide & Go Seek “ , dress up and put on Fairy Tales for the parents, and ride our bicycles ( with clothespins and baseball cards attached to the bike tires) till dinner. We were definitely free to use our imaginations and creativity!
For me a ” girl ” of the late 40s was similar. Would leave the development on bikes and EXPLORE! In summer knew when it was dark go home!! In winter it was sledding and ice skating. Oops left out the Good Humor Man in summer after dinner 😋