Ahhh, the Good Old Days

Last week, when I picked up my little kids from school, I started asking them questions about their day as usual. Clay complained that school is lame.

“Why is it lame?” I asked.

“Because we don’t do anything fun,” Clay answered in annoyance. “We just have to do work and learn stuff.”

“Oh the horror!” I exclaimed in mock terror. “You have to (gasp) learn things?! In school?! I’ve never heard of such abuse!”

Unperturbed, Clay went on. “Whenever it’s raining, we have to stay inside and play dodgeball.”

“Ugh, I always hated dodgeball,” I admitted. “Nothing like getting a basketball thrown at your head. Ouch!”

“Basketball? We have to use these soft, squishy Nerf balls.”

“Seriously? You use Nerf balls? Ha ha, when I was a kid, we used those red playground balls the size of basketballs, like the kind you use for four square,” I informed my kids. “I bet you guys have never played Butt’s Up either,” I asked, even though I knew the answer.

“What’s Butt’s Up?” Clay asked, curiously.

“It’s a game where you get pelted with tennis balls while you stand against a brick wall. Good times, good times.” With the mention of Dodgeball and Butt’s Up, memories of other school games that are obsolete now came flooding back. Things are so different now. It’s all about safety, and no longer about fun and imagination. I remember being outside, running around the neighborhood with every other kid, all day long until the moms starting ringing the dinner bell and calling kids to come home. We rarely played store-bought games; instead we played at the park and around the neighborhood, making up our own games with nothing but our bikes, some sticks, and our imaginations. And it was GREAT!

So here’s a little walk down my gradeschool memory lane . . .



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