After posting the story below (Memorial Day 2006), it suddenly occurred to me that we could have died!
What if one of us had fallen off?
What if the sled had run up underneath the pickup? We didn't have any brakes!
What if the rope had broken?
What if a car had come up from behind, and not seen us?
Of course, none of this occurred to us at the time. We were too busy having fun! These are thoughts I have now, as a mother and grandmother.
Back then, we played with metal lawn darts that were really sharp. We didn't have seat belts. We played outside all day, and nobody checked up on us or worried that we would run away, or be kidnapped.
We could have died!
We climbed fences. We played with stray cats. We picked up baby birds off the ground and tried to feed them bugs and worms. We had china toy dishes, not plastic. We cut paper with pointy scissors, and had a toy iron that actually got hot, and an Easy-bake oven with a light bulb that got hot enough to bake tiny little cakes.
We could have burned the house down!
When we got a spanking, it was with a peach tree limb, and we had to go pick the switch and bring it back for the spanking.
We could have had our self-esteem damaged!
We didn't have sidewalks, or organized sports, or play dates.
Nobody taught us socialization!
We brought stray dogs home and kept them, unless a neighbor came looking for them.
We could have died!!
Amazing, isn't it, that none of us are warped, sociopathic, infected with ringworm or rabies, antisocial, or ax murderers. As far as I know, anyway.
What a great childhood!
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2 comments:
Well, not everyone emerged totally unscathed. A lot of kids did get sick/go crazy/die/etc. Maybe those guardian angels worked harder back then? Or maybe there are just new menaces to contend with now? Like internet predators and thimersol?
If it's not one thing...
Ha! I think of this so often when I find someone else preying on my natural mother's anxiety and trying to sell me something that will keep my kids "safe" and "comfortable." I'm finally realizing that safe and comfortable aren't necessarily what childhood is about, that I can't do everything that will make my kids safe adn comforatbel all the time, and that true safety and comfort doesn't come from a top-o-the-line carseat or a padded grocery cart liner - it comes from knowing your parents love you (enough to hook your sled to a pickup truck) and that God is watching over you.
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