Mem--or--eeeeeeees

Conversations with my kids today about my childhood have prompted me to start 'jotting' down some of my memories--oh, what good times!!

They're on a 2 hr. delay because of bitter January temps...

Back when I was a kid...

Unless the weather was unbearably cold, I was almost always OUTSIDE!  I remember on summer mornings, as soon as I rolled out of bed, I'd wolf down a slice of toast, banana,  and gulp of Tang, throw on some play clothes and be out the door!  I didn't have to call my friends and invite them over.  There were a dozen other kids from various neighborhood families that were available.

What could we possibly do all day until the late summer sunset?  We actually used our imaginations!  Some of my memories:

• My eldest brother was kind of the neighborhood leader.  He created a club called 'INK'.  I forget what the letters stood for, but we were investigators/detectives.  We held meetings on our front porch, and would investigate crimes.   I actually don't remember any specific crimes being committed...LOL
• We held circuses and charged 10 cents admittance.  Our audience consisted of the other kids in the neighborhood.  We would spend a few hours setting up trapezes, animal acts, etc, practice, then round up other kids to watch.  Hardly ever did we follow thru with charging a fee because they couldn't come up with a measly dime!  I don't know that we actually ever made a cent off those circuses.
• We played a game my brother made up called 'Boot Camp'.  He was the D.I. and the rest of us were his poor victims.  I always wound up with grass stains and bruises...:)
• When we had the good fortune of a visit from my Uncle Jim, we almost always got a shiny quarter!  That meant a walk to Lawson's, a little convenience store that was about a half mile from my home.  A candy bar at the time was 20 cents, but I usually didn't want most of my money to go to one item.  I'd buy a handful of the non-chocolates so I could get more bang for my buck.
• The candy I remember buying were Dum Dum lollipops, Bottle Caps, Bazooka bubble gum, Smarties, Fruit Stripe Gum, Milk Duds, Now And Later, Sugar Daddy, and Chicklets.  These things cost anywhere from 2 cents to 10 cents.
• We played the usual kid  things, too--kickball, catch, jump rope, Jacks, hide and seek, follow the leader, Simon says, and tag.
• We had a small seesaw that we'd play on for hours, as well as rocking horses, and a small wading pool.  (The pool was my favorite thing.)
• If we walked around the corner and over one block, there was a playground near the Jewish synagogue.  We spent a great deal of time there, swinging, sliding, and playing on the merry go round.  When I was a little older, I got my first skateboard and the city put in a paved skating trail.  I used to love to take my skateboard there and zoom around.
• We lived fairly close to the big, beautiful Buhl Park.  I remember walking to the park and laying on the dock by the casino, looking for toads with my little brother.  It had tons of swing sets to play on (heavy wooden swings at the time), and lots of woodsy areas to explore.
• In the fall, we would spend hours making the most humongous leafpiles imaginable! 
• Rain didn't put a damper on the fun: almost everyone had roomy porches to sit on!  We would tell ghost stories or have drawing contests.
• Other random fun was 'staring contests', arm wrestling, and Barbies (girls only).
• My mom didn't tolerate us bringing kids inside.  I only recall one time that the kids came in the house: it was storming outside, so she called us in and made us all bologna sandwiches!  Yummy.
• We used to set traps to catch birds.  We never caught one. 
• We put on homemade plays.  Our audience was usually my mom or some of the other kids.

So, who needed computers or smartphones?  We had things to keep us busy and happy all day long!  I remember being called by Mom for lunch or dinner, and feeling put out that our fun was interrupted.  I didn't even like to take bathroom breaks!  When bedtime came, I would protest, 'AW, MOM!!  We just started playing!'  (Even though we'd been outside for 12 hours.)

HugsxxxAnnie