Do you remember? - Page 2

Carmie · ‎10-25-2010

I grew up with strict older parents and we were not allowed to run in the streets. I had to stay on the sidewalk on our side of the street and was given boundaries.

My mother had to be able to see us when she looked for us. My best friend lived at house #201 on the opposite side of the street than I did at #260. If we visited, our mothers would watch us cross the street and watch until we disappeared from view. When we arrived, we had to call home and say we got there safely. There were actually very few cars on our street.

We had to be home for lunch and dinner and on the porch when whistle blew for curfew..our town had a curfew.

I remember upsetting my mother two different times and she thought I was kidnapped. Once I crossed the street to visit an elderly neighbor. We sat on the porch talking, then she invited me inside to look at some pictures. My mother couldn't find me and was crying when I got home.

Another time, I had some money and walked to a neighborhood store a few blocks away to buy some soda and candy. When I got home, I remember my mother sitting in the kitchen crying. She was really happy to see that I was alive and well, but I received a few slaps on my behind for leaving without permission. I never did that again.

I was around 13 when I was allowed to cross the street and ride a bike more than 1/2 block from home. I still had to tell where I was and call if I was at a friend's house.

I was, as were the kids in my neighborhood on a tight leash. I grew up in an Italian neighborhood and went to an Italian school. All the kids were raised that way. Our neighborhood was safe.

When I went to high school with kids from other neighborhoods, I was shocked at their freedom. I never knew that other kids were raised differently until then.

CrazyKittyLvr2 · ‎05-11-2013

I grew up in a suburb of a good size town. There were quite a few kids in the neighborhood. In the summer we went from back yard to back yard playing. Sometimes we went to the playground at the elementary school on the next block. Everyone's Mother had the authority to yell at anyone who misbehaved and you knew your parents knew before you got home. We played until dark.

I babysat at 11/12 yrs. old for my 3 cousins, the youngest was a year old. It was only 3 blocks from home. Needless to say, I was a responsible. I remember talking to my Aunt (by marriage) one night when I was 15. The next day she told my Mother she couldn't believe how mature I was for my age.

Azcowgirl · ‎04-10-2012

I grew up spending summers at our beach cabin, and my best friend was a boy. We always had lunch at each other’s cabins and slept out on the beach together as kids in our tent and sleeping bags. All the kids did.

FastDogWalker2 · ‎03-10-2010

Yes, great memories! I walked alone to school - no adult in sight! We could ride our bikes, too, in nice weather. When we were older, we would walk to "town" to buy candy and soda. I also walked or rode my bike to my piano lessons. In the winter, our parents would drop us off at the outside skating rink or sledding hill and we would stay for hours and in the summer at the local pool - no cell phone! When we were in middle school, we would ride the city bus down town and shop and get lunch. Definitely, a safer and less restrictive childhood and I miss those times.

gramgrandkids1 · ‎10-31-2019

@SandySparkles LOL...I feel your pain! I think my mom learned a few moves from being Mike Tyson's sparing partner. One of the few times she showed her moves it was over scrambled eggs. I never liked eggs and she fixed them for breakfast. She went out the back door to hang clothes on clothes line (no dryer). I thought that would be a good time to get rid of the eggs. I went out the front door and threw the eggs under the bush that was next to the house in the front yard. She came back in and there I sat at the table with my empty plate. Thought I was home free until some birds started making a racket. She went outside to see what all the fuss was about and I was busted. She came back inside and I knew it was not going to end well for me. She gave me an big time spanking all the while telling me "we don't waste food". To this day I try not to be wasteful.

LindaSal · ‎05-15-2014

I have a lot of similarties of childhood with you all. We grew up in the country and would go for long walks in the woods, sometimes even getting lost!! I never would have let my kids wonder off like that but you could in those days. We did always have to go in when the streetlights came on too. We had a happy childhood and would never give my mom any backtalk either........being slapped upside the head (lightly) was probably not a good thing but I have to say, it made for extremely well behaved kids!!!!! Had a stable childhood though,

so I cannot complain as many were not so lucky.

@blackhole99 I am sorry for your childhood, your story made me sad.

lovesrecess · ‎03-14-2010

We had no seatbelts in cars...now we must buckle our grandkids into car seats. Our safety system consisted of my mom putting her right arm out in front of whoever was riding in the front seat each time the car was stopping. We even piled into the back of our neighbor’s pickup truck to go for rides and to see fireworks on the 4th. Can’t do that anymore. And when I think of how far and the places we rode our bikes...😬

kelsey17 · ‎04-10-2012

@gramgrandkids1 wrote:
Do you remember doing things as a child that you would not let your children or grandchildren do now? I remember in the summer playing outside with my friends and not having to come in until it was almost dark. No worries about any danger from anyone. Going trick or treat with friends and could eat what we were given. We did live in a small town, not a large city.

I could have written your same memories.....what a different world it was...

Laura14 · ‎06-09-2014

The funniest thing I've seen lately round my neighborhood with the exception of the postwoman bathing in my lawn sprinklers was a little girl and a bike.

I was so shocked to see a kid being a kid and actually out doing what we all did. It warmed my heart that a parent was doing it old school with their child.

Then she got closer and I noticed she wasn't on the bike, she was walking the bike. I looked to see if her chain had come off but the bike was fine.

She was just pushing the bike with one hand and staring at her cellphone with the other. At least she has learned not to text and drive a vehicle but really? Childhood has come to this?

My smile faded and I walked back in the house and lost all hope in the younger generation again. These kids just don't know what they are missing.

PamfromCT · ‎05-22-2014

I have fond memories of growing up in a small town. Now in my mid-70s, it was a long time ago! I had good and caring parents, but it was a different time and place. My parents never locked their doors, and we would walk to movies with friends, take off on long bike rides, etc. I also remember bomb drills in early elementary school, where we were taught to hide under our desks in case of an attack. WWII was over not that long before.

We have young grandchildren, and life has so dramatically changed. Their parents are strict and proactive, and so are we when the kids stay with us. It is just a fact of life.