REMEMBER WHEN FROM THE PAST--SIMPLER TIMES

REMEMBER WHEN
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Kenna Holm
   
REMEMBERING SIMPLE TIMES

I've been sitting here being very nostalgic today thinking of a million things that 'used to be'.  See if you can remember all these things:

    Remember back before the internet,semi-automatics and crack? Before play-station,SEGA,
    Super Nintendo, even before Atari... and what did we do before cell phones? That seems to be the way we keep track of everyone whether it be in the store or where ever. Remember before CD's, DVD's, Voice mail and e-mail and texting.

    Think way back to playing hide and seek at dusk, or red rover, red rover, playing kickball and dodge-ball until it was too dark to see any longer. And we didn't have street lights then, we played ring around the rosie, London Bridges Falling Down, One potato, two potato, three potato four, Hop scotch, Jump rope, You're It!.
    Parents used to stand on the porch and yell or whistle for their children to come home. I remember Helen Walker's mom, Louise Harmer, could yell from their home on Utah Avenue and Helen could hear here down to my home on 400 West and 200 North. There were no pagers or cell phones then to keep track of your kids. Now your see even the little school kids with their own cell phone.
    Remember when we used to play Mother May I?  If the one that was IT called for you to take one giant step, You had to answer "Mother May I?" before you took the step and if you didn't you were out.

   I remember laying on the lawn and watching the clouds roll by and making out all kinds of shapes out of them. (No one takes time to do that now)
    We never had air conditioning then. And believe it or not--we survived. Now we can't ride in a car without AC. The windows down causes to much havoc with your hair.
Remember when we used to love the sound of crickets and running through the sprinklers?
    Remember the cereal boxes that had wonderful prizes  inthe bottom and also the Cracker Jacks with prizes.  My husband always used to tease me and tell me my engagement ring came from a box of Cracker Jack. We used to buy popsicles that had two sticks and you could break them into and share with a friend.

    Saturday's when we had children they spent Saturday mornings watching cartoons like Tom and Jerry(none of these violent screwy ones they have now.  There were the serial adventures like Cisco Kid, The Lone Ranger or Boston Blackie and remember 'The Shadow'? No TV's then. It was all radio and we could stay glued to them for hours with all the programs they had on.

     Remember  The Lone Ranger, Blondie and Dagwood and Fibber McGee and Molly? I mention my closet looks like Fibber McGee's and my kids just look at me and say, 'Huh?'.
    Remember the first day of school was always so special.  We could wear the new clothes we had bought and the new shoes. Oh yes. Those were the days.
    We used to climb trees, swing in the old tire swings and the swings that hung from a big branch in the tree. We would see how high we could pump our selves up and reach the sky. We thought it was great fun to jump down the steps, and we actually got tired from playing.
    Work was just taking the garbage out or cutting the grass with the old push lawn mowers and washing the car on the lawn with the hose and then end up having a water fight. FUN.
    Rainy days meant the smell of damp concrete and chalk erasers and usually staying in at recess. But on good days we played hop scotch, and all kinds of fun games outside.
    Kool-aid was the drink of the summer. None of these Energy drinks and soft drinks that everyone has now days. We also would take a big drink of water out of the hose. That's a no no now because it is not clean water.
    We loved to ride bikes and a lot of the times if we all didn't have a bike right then, we would hop on the handle bars of someone elses bike and have a ride. And remember how we put a playing card or piece of cardboard on wheel so it would make a cool noise as the wheel went around. We would clip them on with an old wooden clothes pin.
    In those days, nearly everyone's mom was home when they got home from school. I can still remember the hot bread Mom would make and we would always take one loaf and just break it in pieces and eat it with butter and jam or honey. Yum!
     In those days we maybe got a dime for allowance or if we were lucky, a quarter. Then it was off to Mendenhall's Market to buy some penny candy. Rex always put it in a little brown paper sack for each of us.
    Those were the days when ANY parent could discipline ANY kid, or feed them, or ask them to help with a task around the house and nobody, not even the kid, thought anything about it. Now you don't dare even correct your own children for fear that someone will turn you in for child abuse.  I think sometimes a little laying on of the hands would help some of these kids now days.
    Going out to eat was a REAL treat.Now it's an everyday occurrence. Nothing special. There wasn't McDonald's and Wendy's and all those fast food places. We actually ate at home.
    Did you ever get called into the principal's office? That wasn't anything compared to what we got when we got home from our parents if we were guilty of doing something wrong or naughty. They didn't try to make us out angels. (even though some of were, ha ha) We didn't want our parents mad at us.
    Those days there was no fear of drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. I don't remember hearing of those things
    Remember when we use to use "eeny-meeny-miney-mo" to chose someone or mistakes were corrected by simply by saying "do it over".  Those days 'Race Issues' meant arguing about who ran the fastest. It wasn't odd to have several 'best' friends. The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was cooties. No one was prettier than Mom and scrapes and bruises were always made better by a kiss from mom.
    Remember when we used to spin around until we got dizzy and fell downand giggled forever about it. (Now I'd probable throw up) Remember when the worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team. Oh No!
    Water balloons were the ultimate weapon. They were fun to catch someone with a balloon full of water and then run like mad so they couldn't catch you.
In those days, it was a more pleasant simpler times. Those of you who remember most of these things lived in an era that no one else will ever experience. The era has passed and slowly those of us who lived it are passing also. If you do not remember, then ask your parents, grand parents or great grandparents about them. We went from am radio to the stars.
    Make your era a worthwhile time for future generations to build on because it is so much fun to look back and remember when.....