5/15/2010

Remember, Part 1

Remember what it was like before we got caught up by the high-speed technology train, and were rushed into the future at breakneck speed? Life was simpler. I know many would say that it wasn’t better, that all our technological advances are, well, advances. But it was simpler; you can’t argue that. 



Take toys. Kids today yearn for complicated whiz-bang toys that, at the end of the day, often languish on the closet floor. Remember when a refrigerator came boxed in a magical castle, and after the pesky refrigerator was out of the way, you could climb into the castle and rule your kingdom?  Remember when a bike was just a bike, and the jazziest accessories were a bell, handlebar tassels and playing cards clipped to the spokes for that zoom-zoom-y "putt-putt-putt" noise? Remember when skates had four wheels, and you attached them to your shoes with a skate key that hung around your neck?

You don’t remember that??? (sigh...)

9 comments:

  1. yeah, when kids could play outside and be happy...and imaginations ran wild...

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  2. We just to have so much fun...
    I do tell my kids they are missing so much...
    everything changes...
    not just in the USA,
    if you come over to developing countries like ours, we may seem 10 years behind you , 30 years ago but NOW...we are more advance than some part of USA..but again...what is the point?
    that is why...
    I am telling my kids to enjoy traveling with us...school is no longer the same..
    sad...

    Have you a beautiful Sunday!
    hugs
    shakira

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  3. I bless my daughter and husband who live in a place where their children can play in the full sense of that word. No TV, timed allocation of computer access, a small, safe village and daily PLAY.
    And I do remember the very things you described.

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  4. Refrigerators come in boxes? Hmmm... puzzling.

    As far as wanting my kids to play... I guess that's why I sound like my mother and tell my kids, "Go outside and play."

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  5. Ah the good old days. My bike was passed down to my sister then brother (8 years younger than I) until he literally rode it into the ground. It broke in half one evening! Things were also made to last back then, too. That bike was ridden every summer day for almost 9 years.

    Playing outside kids thought of games on the spur of the moment and played them till the sun set and Mom hollered "dinner's ready!". I still have a book my uncle gave me 38 years ago containing nothing but ideas and instructions for making simple handmade toy etc. My son doesn't quite understand the fun contained in those pages! (sigh)

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  6. Brian: Fortunately for us all, your imagination still runs wild.

    Shakira, Jingle & Grandmother: Playing outdoors was so much fun, and happily, safe. Hopefully, there are still places (like that small village, Mary) where kids can still play happily and safely.

    Lisa: Ah, you're too young to remember the boxes. You do remember playing outside all day long, coming home when the front porch light flashed to announce dinner, I bet.

    PJ: Remember hide-and-seek at dusk on a warm summer night? Was there anything more fun?

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  7. Ah, Patti....the good old days...
    We lived in a small town where you could play 4 streets over, but had to be able to hear mom when she hollered out the door.

    Great post, sweetie...good to read you..

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  8. I long for the days when telephones had a dial tone.

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Thoughts? I would love to hear from you.