When I was a kid, we played Red Rover all the time at recess. Kids who wanted to be extra safe on their bikes changed from their flip flops (which we called thongs before they mucked up that word) to their tennis shoes, and merry go rounds and seesaws could be found on playgrounds. Also, in my house at least, video games and computers were not something we spent a lot of our time playing with. Not when there were books to read, sandboxes to play in, sprinklers to run through, and bikes to ride.
Fast forward to nowadays, and Red Rover has been banned from play grounds, along with seesaws and teeter totters. In many places swings and slides are on their way out as well. Big toys, which used to be made of wood and metal, are now all plastic.
Some of this change I'm okay with. Like the metal playground equipment part. I can get behind that. Especially considering that when I was little I tumbled down a slide backwards and cut my head on the edge of the slide on the bottom. I still have the scar on the forehead to serve as a memory. Although if there were no alternative, I would still feel that to get rid of a play toy because someone could get hurt on it is silly. Kids can get hurt on trees. Are we going to cut down the trees? Or perhaps we could be reasonable and just teach our children not to climb trees and hope they have the good sense to not climb too high when our backs are turned. I have many little cuties (see cuties tag) who I care about, and who I hope don't get hurt. But I also hope they are allowed to have fun as kids. And if I never broke a bone playing Red Rover when I was little (if you've met me, you will understand why that is a big thing), I think they will be okay. And if they break a bone then they get a cool cast and their friends can all sign it. Also they will learn a bit more about being careful so they don't break bones.
The helmets on bikes thing I get. Head trauma is bad, and if we can prevent trauma I can totally get behind that. But again, it amazes me that if head trauma was possible, I never incurred it, especially considering how much time I spent on my bike growing up. I also get seat belts and booster seats, although I sometimes wonder if we're being a little too loony about this booster seat thing. But I totally support preventing internal injury and death.
When I was a kid, my mom refused to get us a Nintendo. It was partly because it wasn't in the budget, but as an adult I now understand why she would put her foot down. Video games muck up childhood. (I want to put a disclaimer here that I have friends with children who own wii's (the friends own them, not their children) and who allow their children to play computer games. This is not a criticism of those particular families. The parents are doing great keeping their kids busy with other activities and balancing things out. They get a gold star) "I'm bored" is in one of the most annoying things a kid can say, in my opinion, and it seems to be code for "I want to go play a video game," or "I haven't chatted with my friends online for hours" nowadays. I've met lots of ill-socialized teenagers who seem to have more "friends" online whom they've never met (creepy, by the way), and I can only conclude that allowing them to get hooked on video games and computers when they are young would lead to develop this seeming inability to relate to kids realtime. I've decided that my kids will have limits. There will be a timer. Maybe 30 minutes max, or if I'm an in an incredibly good mood, and they have no homework, AND they've done productive things, an hour. Also every time I hear the word bored they lose a half hour. Because I'm mean.
When I was little, and my mom would ask me what was on my wishlist for christmas and my birthday (being a December baby I only got to make one list), I would often just put "books." I didn't even put titles. Because I loved books so much that I didn't care which ones my family got me, I knew I would love them. Books are wonderful places children and adults alike can go to develop their imaginations and think new thoughts. When I am a grownup with children, they will not be used as punishment, as sorely as I will be tempted to say "go read a book" as punishment for saying they are bored. Because they should love books. And if they don't love books, they will just have to watch their mother break down into tears all the time until they see the error of their way.
Really what it all comes down to is I wish I was still five. Then I could run through the sprinklers and race my friends in their Dora bathing suits down the slip and slides, and color and put together puzzles and... oh, wait, I did that last week.
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