Close your eyes... And go back...

Before the Internet or the AIM

Before semi automatics and weed

Before playstation2 or X-bOX

Before the 5 hours of homework you put off every night...


..Way back...


I'm talkin' bout hide and go seek at dusk.

Red light, Green light.

Playing kickball & dodgeball until your porch light came on.

Mother May I?

Red Rover

four square

Hula Hoops

Running through the sprinkler

Happy Meals

Getting the privelage to sit in the front seat of the car



Wait...

Watchin' Saturday Morning cartoons

Like Hey Arnold and Doug

Or what about legends of the hidden temple, global guts, double dare, and who, ARE YOU AFFRAID OF THE DARK!

Who could forget Snick

Or the teenage mutant ninja turtles, scooby doo, and Power Rangers,


Christmas morning...

Your first day of school

Bedtime Prayers and Goodnight Kisses



Climbing trees

Getting an ice cream off the ice cream truck

A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers

Jumpin' down the steps

Jumpin' on the bed

Pillow fights

Runnin' till you were out of breath

Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt and you almost peed your pants

Laughing so hard that you did pee your pants

Being tired from playin' all day

Your first crush...

Rainy days at school meant playing "Heads up 7-Up" in the classroom

Remember that?


I'm not finished yet...


Kool-Aid was the drink of the summer

Giving your friends a ride on your handlebars or spokes

Wearing your new shoes on the first day of school

Class Field Trips

When nearly everyone's mom was at home when the kids got there.

When getting high was swinging on the swing-set

When $5 seemed like a million, and another dollar a Miracle.

When your parents took you to McDonalds and you were so cool.

When Toys r Us overuled the "mall"


I want to go back to the time when...


Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-moe"

Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "do over!"

"Race issue" meant arguing about who ran the fastest.

Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in "monopoly"

Catching fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening

It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends.

Saying cuss words were referred to the "F, B or S - word" or h-e double hockey sticks.

Being old, referred to anyone over 20.

The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was cooties.

The only real heart break you had was when your mom wouldnt buy you that new toy

Nobody was prettier than Mom

Nobody was cooler than Dad

Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better

It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the "big people" rides at the amusement park.

Getting an inch of snow was a dream come true.

Abilities were discovered because of a "double-dog-dare"

Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles.


If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED!!!

Pass this on to anyone who may need a break from their "grown up" life...


i double dog dare you...

It's no wonder so many kids tell me they don't want to grow up...many nice memories there. I do miss how simple things were once....

I like to keep it that way! =]

I was up in Northern Wisconsin during Halloween. All the store windows had Holloween scenes painted on the windows by school children. They used to do that in GE years ago and I can't really remember when they stopped. It was kind of fun to see the decorative scenes depicted by young artists of the holiday. The best was a HUGE orange Moon with the sillouette of a black witch on a broom flying in the sky. May sound weird but I liked it. Bring it back I say!

Gus -- That still happens in GE.

Oh, can't wait to see them again. Somehow missed it last year!

...the post by NATIVEHEAT65 slipped by me. Very nice.
Funny thing though, how you can pin-point a persons age by some things.
As I ran down the list it was easy to spot that I'm a little older. I've done all of those things (and more)
Happy Meal? Wasn't invented until after I graduated high school.
Hey Arnold and Doug? Teenage mutant ninja turtles, Scooby doo, and Power Rangers....Way after my time. We had - Road Runner & Bugs Bunny. Romper Room, Ray Raynor and Garfield Goose.

As for Amy's - "I do miss how simple things were once...."

Things were never "simple"...ever.
I never received rose colored glasses as a kid

I remember hearing my father yell..."get on the floor - NOW!" as our car was pelted with stones (after Martin Luther King was assassinated) as we passed through Bellwood after visiting our grandparents.
I remember my first grade teacher (ironically Mrs. Kennedy) weeping at her desk after RFK was assassinated.
I remember the feeling in my grandmothers house while her TWO son's were in Vietnam.

The "simple time" is not a place in time - but a place in your life.
Child and Adult

Red light, Green light. - instead of golf with the boss.
Playing kickball & dodge ball until your porch light came on - instead of weeding the garden before the mosquitoes come out.
Mother May I? Red Rover, four square & Hula Hoops - instead of Jazzercise, step aerobics and power walking
Getting the privilege to sit in the front seat of the car - instead sitting in traffic to and from work
Watching' Saturday Morning cartoons - instead of cutting the grass before it gets to hot outside.

...but if you do things right, you can still enjoy the magic moments with your children. And if you do - you will smile more than they do, because at this point in your life you know how important these things are:

Christmas morning...
Bedtime Prayers and Goodnight Kisses
Getting an ice cream off the ice cream truck
Catching lighting bugs
Pillow fights
Runnin' till you a out of breath, but letting them cross the finish line first.
Smiling so hard when you let go of their bike and it continues - without them falling
Rainy days playing checkers and go fish
Setting up the lemonade stand
Going for bike rides together
Taking them for ice cream for no reason
Kissing the scrapes and bruises
Teaching them to make snow angels

If you can do most or all of these with your kids, then you have LIVED!!!
If you can do most of these things with your grandchildren you have really, really lived.

Make a child's life a happy one - so they remember what it is to be a kid.
I double dog dare you...

Cog,

Excellent post...

Each generation faces it's own problems and issues.
Wine, women and song transforms into Sex, drugs and rock & roll, but it's
still the same isn't it?

Everyone reminisces differently and most people think they grew up in a
"golden age". It reminds me of the old saying,

The older a man gets, the faster he could run as a boy...