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Helicopter Parents and the End of Childhood Freedom [Warden]
I found this 2014 Atlantic article, The Overprotected Kid, and found myself nodding vigorously at the astonishing difference between my childhood and those that my kids are living.
Admittedly, I was parented by insanely libertarian minded parents who figured that any day I didn't come home maimed was pretty much a win. Even for the standards of the 70's, my brother and I were given so much latitude that our parents were the black sheep of the neighborhood. There are things I did that I'd never allow my kids to do. My parents were extreme, bordering on neglectful at times. For example, my mom never bothered buying us snow boots even though she could afford to. Nope, sneakers were fine for running around in the snow. Gloves and a hat were optional as well, even on subzero days. I never owned a scarf until my wife bought me one ten years ago. I remain baffled that anyone who doesn't work in life threateningly cold weather would think one a necessity. Despite this, I think my childhood was far more enjoyable, adventuresome and healthy than that of my children. And I feel guilty about this. I'm the parent, after all. On the other hand, our current culture makes it nearly impossible, legally, socially, and practically, to expose my kids to the same level of risk and freedom that I enjoyed. Looking back, my parents had it pretty damned easy. By the time I was 8 years old, I would ride my bike a mile and a half to the pool in the summer when it opened and not return until close to dinner. At least half of those evenings, I would rush outside to play with friends right after eating. Mom literally saw me for an hour or two a day. The sound of children was a constant in my old neighborhood. Kids were everywhere outside, playing sports, racing bikes, chasing each other through back yards. Today, in a suburban neighborhood packed with kids, you can't find a single one outside on most weekends. Even if I wanted to encourage my kids to disappear for a few hours, there's no one for them to run around with. I'm both saddened and chagrined at the fact that neither of my boys, ages 5 and 10, have every climbed a tree, went creek walking or ran the neighborhood past dark. They've never played kick the can, toilet papered a house or swam in a pond. I'm sensitive to the damage a sheltered life can cause, and I do my best to foster independence where I can. For example, when I take my 5 year old to the supermarket, I let him roam about the store eating sample and searching the discount fruit bin for good deals while talking to employees and sometimes strangers. This never fails to cause some well-meaning adult to inform me that I've lost my kid. "No," I tell them. "he knows where to find me." I usually receive disapproving looks. I wonder what they'd think of my mom, who'd let my brother and I wander off into the toy aisle while she grocery shopped in peace, tasking us with the responsibility to catch up with her at the checkout line when she was finished. They'd likely call the cops on her today. It seems that no matter what I do to give my kids more freedom, I'm stymied by other adults. I used to walk my little one into preschool, open the locked, coded door for him, then kiss him goodbye. It was then up to him to hang his coat, fish his folder out of his backpack, wash his hands and make his way into class. That is, it was up to him until a couple of months ago when one of his teachers got upset after finding him "wandering the hallway alone" and asked that I escort him into class. "Otherwise," she said, "we could get into trouble." And so my 5 year old had even that small bit of freedom yanked from him. I'm annoyed, but I don't blame the preschool. Everyone is terrified of being sued. Even my wife got into the game this past week, freaking out that I left the two boys alone at laser tag for an hour while I went next door for a beer. It was deliberate. I could've gotten a beer inside the laser tag place if I'd wanted to, but I chose to get out of their space. My wife thought this was irresponsible. She's wrong. A 10 year old can look after a 5 year old for an hour in a public place. And so, I continue to fight a desperate and pathetic rear guard action against overwhelming cultural forces. I'll give my kids a few bucks at a sporting event and let them go find the concession stand (and their way back) on their own. I leave them alone at home while I run errands on the weekend. I have my older son cook breakfast for the younger one once or twice a week. It all seems so inadequate. I can't win and we can't go back to a different time--one without smart phones, organized sports starting at 4 years old, and a pile of rules and regulations for ever conceivable situation. It makes me sad. Perhaps I'm someone who just can't let go of things. I have dozens of childhood stories of adventure, mischief, recklessness, foolishness and bravery---hours of planning, exploring, competing, fighting, cooperating, exploring, failing and achieving-- all outside the oversight of our parents. I wonder... what childhood stories will my boys tell?Comments
(Jump to bottom of comments)1
That essay mirrors my thoughts. Thanks.
Posted by: Jinx the Cat at March 26, 2017 07:54 PM (Jcrm4)
2
There are things I did that I'd never allow my kids to do.
Not me. I would want them to do everything I did.
Explore.
Learn.
Fix.
Fuck up.
Dust yourself off.
Do it again.
Build it. Break it. Repair it.
LEARN.
Not me. I would want them to do everything I did.
Explore.
Learn.
Fix.
Fuck up.
Dust yourself off.
Do it again.
Build it. Break it. Repair it.
LEARN.
Posted by: Deplorable Flyover 98ZJUSMC at March 26, 2017 07:56 PM (rxiJx)
3
When I was 8 I had to navigate busy city streets and city buses to get to school. Had a morning paper route when I was 10 -- a real small business
Posted by: Ignoramus at March 26, 2017 07:56 PM (8RTTd)
4
why did I just get a "Windows Driver Support" optimizer page replace the Ace page?
as the Big Guy would say... Bad! (why I stopped visiting weaselzippers)
as the Big Guy would say... Bad! (why I stopped visiting weaselzippers)
Posted by: mallfly suPreme at March 26, 2017 07:58 PM (b7fwp)
5
Your kid's school is a little dramatic; my 5 year old daughter's teachers won't let me walk her to class when I take her.
I'm torn between not wanting to smother my kids and my innate paranoia as a cop. I'm also a father to two young girls, which means I'm going to be overprotective until they're emotional teenage girls and then I'm going to Iraq until they're 18.
I'm torn between not wanting to smother my kids and my innate paranoia as a cop. I'm also a father to two young girls, which means I'm going to be overprotective until they're emotional teenage girls and then I'm going to Iraq until they're 18.
Posted by: UGAdawg at March 26, 2017 07:59 PM (HL3BI)
6
So why isn't the Horde discussing the NCAA women's tournament, huh? Haters!!1!
Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at March 26, 2017 08:00 PM (8fypK)
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:02 PM (6gk0M)
8
So why isn't the Horde discussing the NCAA women's tournament, huh?
Sorry. In no way, shape, or form ... care. In the least.
Sorry.
Sorry. In no way, shape, or form ... care. In the least.
Sorry.
Posted by: Deplorable Flyover 98ZJUSMC at March 26, 2017 08:02 PM (rxiJx)
9
So why isn't the Horde discussing the NCAA women's tournament, huh? Haters!!1!
Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at March 26, 2017 08:00 PM (8fypK)
Those aren't the kind of lesbians I enjoy watching
Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at March 26, 2017 08:00 PM (8fypK)
Those aren't the kind of lesbians I enjoy watching
Posted by: TheQuietMan at March 26, 2017 08:02 PM (auHtY)
10
I agree completely. My brother and I did all the stuff you did, and I think that was the most important part of our childhood.
But I think my wife and I are probably going to be part of the problem here anyway. In fact, I would bet that most middle-class parents agree that kids should have more unsupervised time, but they just can't bring themselves to let the kids run loose.
(I do not see the same issue with what you'd call "poor" families. Maybe the real difference is just that we were poor growing up.)
But I think my wife and I are probably going to be part of the problem here anyway. In fact, I would bet that most middle-class parents agree that kids should have more unsupervised time, but they just can't bring themselves to let the kids run loose.
(I do not see the same issue with what you'd call "poor" families. Maybe the real difference is just that we were poor growing up.)
Posted by: Geronimo Stilton at March 26, 2017 08:03 PM (OVUYQ)
11
reminds me of a Calvin and Hobbes strip: Calvin notes that his clothes are torn and full of grass and mud stains, he's covered in bug bites and scratches, he has all kinds of stuff stuck in his hair... and says something like "I'd call this day conquered!"
maybe playing in dirt all day when I was a kid and had the opportunity explains why I'm not allergic to anything.
maybe playing in dirt all day when I was a kid and had the opportunity explains why I'm not allergic to anything.
Posted by: mallfly suPreme at March 26, 2017 08:03 PM (b7fwp)
12
You should get your kids some tampons. You've seen the commercials - they can go swimming, horseback riding, play tennis...
Posted by: josephistan at March 26, 2017 08:04 PM (ANIFC)
13
Warden, I enjoy these family-related posts. They let people vent and realize their families aren't unique.
Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at March 26, 2017 08:04 PM (5p/Pr)
14
re 6: not until they let men who identify as women play in the league, that's why.
Posted by: mallfly suPreme at March 26, 2017 08:04 PM (b7fwp)
15
I stayed indoors most of the time as a kid, but that was because I would get beat up & bullied by the neighborhood yutes.
Posted by: josephistan at March 26, 2017 08:06 PM (ANIFC)
16
Man this hits home.
I grew up in a Denver suburb, but WAY out in the sticks, up north. And because of my family situation, I was left to my own devices a fair amount of time. That, along with the spread out nature of where I was, meant I had to become self sufficient pretty quick.
So yep, at age 8-9 I was riding my bike just like Warden, all over. If I didn't, I'd be stuck in the house. And to give you a sense of how times have changed...no bike lanes. To get where I needed to go, I'd ride my bike on the shoulder of Federal Boulevard (a four lane 50mph thoroughfare) some miles to the nearest grocery store where I'd meet up with friends.
Today, like Warden, I can't imagine kids doing such things. Something happened. Even something as simple as walking to school is now frowned upon...I learned that students in elementary or middle school in this district MUST either take the bus or get dropped off, even if they live a block away.
Sigh. Whatever changed, we are the poorer for it.
I grew up in a Denver suburb, but WAY out in the sticks, up north. And because of my family situation, I was left to my own devices a fair amount of time. That, along with the spread out nature of where I was, meant I had to become self sufficient pretty quick.
So yep, at age 8-9 I was riding my bike just like Warden, all over. If I didn't, I'd be stuck in the house. And to give you a sense of how times have changed...no bike lanes. To get where I needed to go, I'd ride my bike on the shoulder of Federal Boulevard (a four lane 50mph thoroughfare) some miles to the nearest grocery store where I'd meet up with friends.
Today, like Warden, I can't imagine kids doing such things. Something happened. Even something as simple as walking to school is now frowned upon...I learned that students in elementary or middle school in this district MUST either take the bus or get dropped off, even if they live a block away.
Sigh. Whatever changed, we are the poorer for it.
Posted by: VA GOP Sucks at March 26, 2017 08:06 PM (2VN2E)
17
I've thought about this a lot. I could never offer my kids the childhood my parents gave me. I think it's a big reason why there won't be any kids for me.
Posted by: t-bird at March 26, 2017 08:06 PM (ZIFyZ)
Posted by: #neverskankles at March 26, 2017 08:06 PM (vsYKI)
19
maybe playing in dirt all day when I was a kid and had the opportunity explains why I'm not allergic to anything.
Posted by: mallfly suPreme at March 26, 2017 08:03 PM (b7fwp)
There must be something to that. We played in the dirt, all childhood and most of high school long, and no one I knew had any allergies.
None.
Posted by: mallfly suPreme at March 26, 2017 08:03 PM (b7fwp)
There must be something to that. We played in the dirt, all childhood and most of high school long, and no one I knew had any allergies.
None.
Posted by: Deplorable Flyover 98ZJUSMC at March 26, 2017 08:06 PM (rxiJx)
20
A couple of years back we camped at Prince Gallitzin State Park in PA.
We took the chirruns, and we gave them their bikes and when to return if they wanted to eat, and to return when it was dark. We were able to let them go, completely. Other campers were doing the same.
It was fantastic. It should always be thus.
We took the chirruns, and we gave them their bikes and when to return if they wanted to eat, and to return when it was dark. We were able to let them go, completely. Other campers were doing the same.
It was fantastic. It should always be thus.
Posted by: blaster at March 26, 2017 08:07 PM (HV1LS)
21
"So why isn't the Horde discussing the NCAA women's tournament, huh?"
Here's my attitude:
I see a scroll along the bottom of a screen and I see that one team has upset another and I ask myself, "How The Fuck?!?"
...Then I see the NCAA(W) "qualifier" and I Get Pissed.
Because Fuck Title IX and everything it
bled into, like a cheap maxi-pad.
Here's my attitude:
I see a scroll along the bottom of a screen and I see that one team has upset another and I ask myself, "How The Fuck?!?"
...Then I see the NCAA(W) "qualifier" and I Get Pissed.
Because Fuck Title IX and everything it
bled into, like a cheap maxi-pad.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:07 PM (6gk0M)
Posted by: concrete girl at March 26, 2017 08:08 PM (fZXYQ)
23
My mom saw me for the sum total of 1 hour a day until I started supporting her and my dad at age 18.
Posted by: Ben Had at March 26, 2017 08:08 PM (koJdH)
24
Great post, agree.
Posted by: BuckIV at March 26, 2017 08:08 PM (CLfqv)
25
6 So why isn't the Horde discussing the NCAA women's tournament, huh? Haters!!1!
Because the Penguins are playing the philthy flyers. Tied up right now.
Because the Penguins are playing the philthy flyers. Tied up right now.
Posted by: Puddleglum at March 26, 2017 08:08 PM (pY+s4)
26
I grew up in the 80s. I rode my bike alone, walked to school alone, hell I too the city bus alone, all before I was 10 y/o. Today the idea of my close to 10 y/o doing any of those things....NO WAY. It's a different world.
Posted by: #neverskankles at March 26, 2017 08:08 PM (vsYKI)
27
I'm still stunned when I hear parents say their kid(s) have a play date. WTF is a play date?
I used to tell my Mom that me and some of my friends were going to the park to play softball or ride bikes and she'd say just be back by whatever o'clock.
I used to tell my Mom that me and some of my friends were going to the park to play softball or ride bikes and she'd say just be back by whatever o'clock.
Posted by: TheQuietMan at March 26, 2017 08:08 PM (auHtY)
28
The Maxi-Pad couldn't have bled into anything, so allow me a moment to redirect my language toward the anger it is to have conveyed.
*Under Construction*
...Pardon Our Dust.
*Under Construction*
...Pardon Our Dust.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:09 PM (6gk0M)
29
on the other hand, when a girl who identifies as a guy comes in 18th in a weight lifting competition against 12 actual guys, I'm sure the SJWs will demand that results be adjusted to take past discrimination into account.
Posted by: mallfly suPreme at March 26, 2017 08:09 PM (b7fwp)
30
My 20 year old daughter likes to remind me that the parents are the problem here for the special snowflake generation. I tell her that I agree in principle but do not take personal responsibility. She was told from an early age that while we thought she was special, nobody outside of our doors was obligated to treat her the same way. Also, the life isn'fair bit, etc.
We treated her to as much independence as the law and common sense allowed, because she had proven she could be trusted with it.
We treated her to as much independence as the law and common sense allowed, because she had proven she could be trusted with it.
Posted by: Flyboy at March 26, 2017 08:09 PM (jvDoo)
31
g'early evenin', 'rons
Posted by: AltonJackson at March 26, 2017 08:10 PM (KCxzN)
Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at March 26, 2017 08:10 PM (5p/Pr)
33
Yeah, when you think about it, I must have been a relative stranger to my folks. I checked in basically to eat and sleep.
Posted by: Notorious BFD at March 26, 2017 08:10 PM (Tyii7)
34
In part I don't let the kids do what I did as a kid because it is a different world. Even though they all have phones and all that.
But mostly, I worry about all the other busybodies in the world. Remember those folks who were the "free range" parents, let their kids go a WHOLE MILE AWAY to a park, and the cops took their kids from them.
But mostly, I worry about all the other busybodies in the world. Remember those folks who were the "free range" parents, let their kids go a WHOLE MILE AWAY to a park, and the cops took their kids from them.
Posted by: blaster at March 26, 2017 08:10 PM (HV1LS)
35
Agree completely and my parents were if anything "worse". Boats, horses, minibikes and of course everywhere on our bikes. My neighborhood and beyond was always full of kids playing outside. I hear parents today say "Who would allow their kids to do that?" about some of the stuff we did and way beyond all the time.
You breed pajama boys, you get pajama boys.
You breed pajama boys, you get pajama boys.
Posted by: JackStraw at March 26, 2017 08:10 PM (/tuJf)
36
Trump says he's open to dealing with Dems on tax reform and other big ticket items.
When the GOP says that, yeah, "fuck!" It's different when Trump says it.
When the GOP says that, yeah, "fuck!" It's different when Trump says it.
Posted by: t-bird at March 26, 2017 08:11 PM (NBHj5)
37
NO WAY. It's a different world.
----
Supposedly it's *safer* for kids now, in terms of the accident and crime rates. Though that may just be because kids aren't allowed out alone as much as they used to be.
(Actually, that probably is the reason, now that I think about it. So maybe we're doing the right thing... still a great loss for the kids, though.)
----
Supposedly it's *safer* for kids now, in terms of the accident and crime rates. Though that may just be because kids aren't allowed out alone as much as they used to be.
(Actually, that probably is the reason, now that I think about it. So maybe we're doing the right thing... still a great loss for the kids, though.)
Posted by: Geronimo Stilton at March 26, 2017 08:11 PM (OVUYQ)
38
I remember the horrors and joys of the inner city I grew up in. So I made it a point to raise my baby in a better state/city. I can't believe I survived and had fun at the same time. But now I want her to be more successful than I or my wife, but that requires us to "be those parents" at times. I'm so torn. I want her to be an independent girl, but I own firearms for a reason. Thanks for the post. It's a struggle all parents go thru.
Posted by: ATC Guy at March 26, 2017 08:11 PM (EIU0L)
39
Okay... Here Goes:
Fuck the NCAA and everything that it allowed the Title IX Bullshit to bleed into. As if we didn't know that NINE! wasn't a Cheap Pad that would allow Socialist Bullshit to run down the Leg of Society.
*fix'd*
Fuck the NCAA and everything that it allowed the Title IX Bullshit to bleed into. As if we didn't know that NINE! wasn't a Cheap Pad that would allow Socialist Bullshit to run down the Leg of Society.
*fix'd*
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:12 PM (6gk0M)
40
I like the "Let's do this again and not fuck up like the first time" Grandpa Urinestain and Granny Skidmark.
These grandparents want to give their little shit grandkids all the things they neglected or couldn't give to their own kids.
Let it go already.
These grandparents want to give their little shit grandkids all the things they neglected or couldn't give to their own kids.
Let it go already.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at March 26, 2017 08:12 PM (5VlCp)
41
Families were large so parents could spare losing one or two
Posted by: Ignoramus at March 26, 2017 08:12 PM (8RTTd)
42
We shared a similar childhood. My gran knitted a scarf for me when I was at College because we were experiencing the 50 below zero windchills. I delivered papers in sneakers, all seasons, all weather. I learned to ride my bicycle on snowy streets to do so. I used to sneak away during recess and find places to be alone and away from the commotion. The rule at home was go play and don't come back until mealtimes otherwise my parents would find work for us to do, in addition to the normal chores.
Posted by: Locke Common at March 26, 2017 08:12 PM (Gofnu)
43
My wife grew up in Detroit. Not in the suburbs. The hood. She rode city buses to school at single digit ages.
But again - no way with our kids.
But again - no way with our kids.
Posted by: blaster at March 26, 2017 08:12 PM (HV1LS)
44
So why isn't the Horde discussing the NCAA women's tournament, huh?
Because we're too busy watching basketball.
Because we're too busy watching basketball.
Posted by: t-bird at March 26, 2017 08:13 PM (NBHj5)
45
Sorry I'm with the wife on the laser tag. I had an extraordinarily free childhood, growing up in the city of Pittsburgh. Single mom who left me alone quite a bit as she worked 2 jobs, plus I was a very independent and confident child. But I have a clear memory of being 10, and keeping track of a 5 year old could get a little dicey. I had a good friend who was 7 when I was 10; I was expected to be responsible for her, but she got into some situations that I wasn't adequate to handle at 10. IMO--and it truly is a humble opinion--they are a year or so away from this being a reasonable idea. OTOH, all of my friends who are parents now think that it's crazy dangerous to leave a 10 year old alone at home for even short periods of time, and I think that there's nothing wrong with leaving a prepared and mature 10 year old home for a few hours.
Posted by: rigeldog at March 26, 2017 08:13 PM (Qg0qV)
46
I wonder sometimes if I can give my growing brood the same upbringing I had. We were homeschooled and when we got done around 11am my mom would hand us a sandwich bag with a PBJ and a bottle of water and we'd run off into the woods till dinner. We usually ended up miles away from home in the middle of nowhere. I'm not sure my parents ever knew just how far we walked.
We had a few close calls back there. Snakes. A very angry bull. Falling through a frozen pond.. finding a homeless man... But in the end I have some damn good stories and a great childhood.
We had a few close calls back there. Snakes. A very angry bull. Falling through a frozen pond.. finding a homeless man... But in the end I have some damn good stories and a great childhood.
Posted by: Inventive at March 26, 2017 08:13 PM (6TVEY)
47
When I was 10 or 11 and it was fall, I'd come home from school, grab a firearm and disappear into the woods until dark.
Yes, it's different now.
Yes, it's different now.
Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at March 26, 2017 08:13 PM (EUMr7)
48
Now those with soaked socks want to claim surprise, while Title IX dates back to 1972.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:14 PM (6gk0M)
49
I grew up in a town of ~ 12-1300 people. We had a baseball diamond, an outdoor basketball court and woods about 100 meters from the house. Didn't spend much time indoors.
Posted by: Javems at March 26, 2017 08:14 PM (yOqwj)
50
I broke my arm three times before I was 16. Both my boys are now past 17 have never broken anything other than busted lip.
Posted by: freaked at March 26, 2017 08:14 PM (BO/km)
51
I've no standing to comment, not having kids myself but consider this: Harry Reid is still running around free.
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at March 26, 2017 08:15 PM (vRcUp)
52
i let my kids out into the yard every day, weather permitting, and wait for them to ask to come back in...
Posted by: redc1c4 at March 26, 2017 08:15 PM (GZ7a6)
53
32: Still the defending Stanley Cup Champions Pittsburgh Penguins 1; the vile despicable flyfuckers 1.
LETS GO PENS!!!
:-)
LETS GO PENS!!!
:-)
Posted by: Puddleglum at March 26, 2017 08:15 PM (pY+s4)
54
19 maybe playing in dirt all day when I was a kid and had the opportunity explains why I'm not allergic to anything.
Posted by: mallfly suPreme at March 26, 2017 08:03 PM (b7fwp)
*************
This isn't your imagination. Research backs it up.
Pets are also helpful. And agrarian societies have almost no allergies.
Posted by: mallfly suPreme at March 26, 2017 08:03 PM (b7fwp)
*************
This isn't your imagination. Research backs it up.
Pets are also helpful. And agrarian societies have almost no allergies.
Posted by: Warden at March 26, 2017 08:16 PM (YOnlm)
55
Criminy neds, when I was a kid (late '60s, early '70s), I basically checked in for dinner. Instead of going to another school, I rode my bike several miles back and forth for a couple of years.
And what became of me after this hideous, irresponsible neglect? I'm now a Moron commenting at AoSHQ.
And what became of me after this hideous, irresponsible neglect? I'm now a Moron commenting at AoSHQ.
Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at March 26, 2017 08:16 PM (K2ygU)
56
Some of my cherished memories as a child was climbing the crabapple tree at my late grandmother's house.
Then picking the crabapples and raining them down on my brothers.
Then picking the crabapples and raining them down on my brothers.
Posted by: logprof, sports tard at March 26, 2017 08:16 PM (GsAUU)
57
I had that sort of childhood and gave my daughter as much as was possible. the neighborhood I live in now, there are kids out everyday, riding bicycles, skateboards, etc. It's nice. Can't imagine living in a big city anymore.
Posted by: Infidel at March 26, 2017 08:18 PM (uKRys)
Posted by: Caitlyn Jenner at March 26, 2017 08:18 PM (vRcUp)
59
My cousin and I got flat fucking lost one time. You know what- we found our way out.
Posted by: Ben Had at March 26, 2017 08:18 PM (koJdH)
60
44 So why isn't the Horde discussing the NCAA women's tournament, huh?
Because we're too busy watching basketball.
Posted by: t-bird at March 26, 2017 08:13 PM (NBHj5)
--LMAO.
What, no one bothered to fill out a women's bracket like Bathhouse Barry?
Because we're too busy watching basketball.
Posted by: t-bird at March 26, 2017 08:13 PM (NBHj5)
--LMAO.
What, no one bothered to fill out a women's bracket like Bathhouse Barry?
Posted by: logprof, sports tard at March 26, 2017 08:18 PM (GsAUU)
61
Another story...
When I was around 9 or so, there was a bully in my neighborhood. He was around my age, a bit large, and so on. He would harass me and my friends as we would walk from school, and do all the other bully stuff.
I would try to avoid him but it wasn't always successful. One day he got very bold and followed me into my yard where he tried to start something. I went inside. My mother wanted to know who the other boy was and I said that he is a bully so I wasn't going to go outside again.
My mother looked at me, got stern, and said no boy should ever have that kind of power. She took me to the front door, put me outside, and closed the door behind me. I then heard her lock the door.
So at that point, what choice did I have? The bully looked rather smug and was trying to intimidate me, but hell I was scared and desperate. So I went up to him, and I hit him in the face as hard as I could. Really hard. I don't think he was expecting it, and he fell backwards when I jumped on him and kept hitting him until I heard him cry. Yes, cry. I stopped and he got up, and walked away without another word. He never bothered me again, nor anyone I was friends with.
I think this is another thing that changed. I think these days there's be parents calling parents, schools intervening, and all of that. It was a hard lesson for me but a necessary one. I hate to think that kids today aren't learning these kinds of lessons.
When I was around 9 or so, there was a bully in my neighborhood. He was around my age, a bit large, and so on. He would harass me and my friends as we would walk from school, and do all the other bully stuff.
I would try to avoid him but it wasn't always successful. One day he got very bold and followed me into my yard where he tried to start something. I went inside. My mother wanted to know who the other boy was and I said that he is a bully so I wasn't going to go outside again.
My mother looked at me, got stern, and said no boy should ever have that kind of power. She took me to the front door, put me outside, and closed the door behind me. I then heard her lock the door.
So at that point, what choice did I have? The bully looked rather smug and was trying to intimidate me, but hell I was scared and desperate. So I went up to him, and I hit him in the face as hard as I could. Really hard. I don't think he was expecting it, and he fell backwards when I jumped on him and kept hitting him until I heard him cry. Yes, cry. I stopped and he got up, and walked away without another word. He never bothered me again, nor anyone I was friends with.
I think this is another thing that changed. I think these days there's be parents calling parents, schools intervening, and all of that. It was a hard lesson for me but a necessary one. I hate to think that kids today aren't learning these kinds of lessons.
Posted by: VA GOP Sucks at March 26, 2017 08:18 PM (2VN2E)
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:19 PM (6gk0M)
63
I think a lot of this depends on where you're living. SoCal was exactly like you'd expect: you'd NEVER see kids alone on the street except in the 'hood. Now that I'm living in semi-rural Texas, it's pretty much normal to see kids riding their bikes on the sidewalk or walking home from school.
I think a lot of this depends on where you're living. SoCal was exactly like you'd expect: you'd NEVER see kids alone on the street except in the 'hood. Now that I'm living in semi-rural Texas, it's pretty much normal to see kids riding their bikes on the sidewalk or walking home from school.
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at March 26, 2017 08:19 PM (cuZZW)
64
I don't have kids, but the problem as I see it is that children are not allowed to make mistakes. In this day and age, mistakes and failing are considered the worst thing ever. How exactly is someone supposed to learn anything if mistakes are to be avoided at all costs? It takes away the children's ability to think for themselves, and makes them so much easier to control. So feature instead of a bug?
Posted by: wytshus at March 26, 2017 08:20 PM (EVi2J)
65
I have some younger neighbors who have two adorable little girls. These two are out in the yard almost constantly, playing and being generally rambunctious. There appears to be very little couch potato TV or video game time with those two. Does my heart good to see it.
Posted by: Notorious BFD at March 26, 2017 08:20 PM (Tyii7)
66
...and by die-roll I mean D&D -or- Atari -or- Intellivision -or- Colecovision in the Winter.
A "Smorgasboard" of Rocks, Sports and Fighting, otherwise.
A "Smorgasboard" of Rocks, Sports and Fighting, otherwise.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:22 PM (6gk0M)
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 26, 2017 08:22 PM (IqV8l)
68
We gave both our girls as much independence and freedom as they could handle growing up.
They were STILL expected to adhere to the "please, thank you, yessir, no ma'am respect the adults WE had to.
Result has been the 2 most exceptional children in the hemisphere.
We gave both our girls as much independence and freedom as they could handle growing up.
They were STILL expected to adhere to the "please, thank you, yessir, no ma'am respect the adults WE had to.
Result has been the 2 most exceptional children in the hemisphere.
Posted by: irongrampa at March 26, 2017 08:23 PM (X35Yt)
69
Amen. We've tried to give our kids (now 20 & 17) long leashes, but they've had no where near the freedom we did.
I grew up in Sunnyvale, the heart of Silicon Valley. We used to hop on the bus to go to the mall 20+ miles away, or take our bikes to the mountains, hitch a ride to the summit, and bomb Hwy 9 downhill. We'd play unrestricted in the orchards and vacant fields. We'd catch tadpoles in the drainage ditch behind the house, and walk along that same ditch for miles into the next town. We'd play with firecrackers, bottle rockets, and cherry bombs. My brother, who was 9 years my senior, used to hunt for rabbits with a .410 in the orchards next to the civic center. One time he and his friend was messing around with a pellet gun in an orchard. A cop drove up and said "bet you $5 you can't hit the blackbird up on that telephone pole." My brother won the bet.
It wasn't always positive. My neighbor almost blew his eye out while we were playing with firecrackers. The kid with no arms down at the park used to freak me out. When I was in gradeschool, my friend and I got jumped by a gang of teenage girls wearing flannel shirts. But I learned some important lessons; lessons that my kids haven't learned...
I grew up in Sunnyvale, the heart of Silicon Valley. We used to hop on the bus to go to the mall 20+ miles away, or take our bikes to the mountains, hitch a ride to the summit, and bomb Hwy 9 downhill. We'd play unrestricted in the orchards and vacant fields. We'd catch tadpoles in the drainage ditch behind the house, and walk along that same ditch for miles into the next town. We'd play with firecrackers, bottle rockets, and cherry bombs. My brother, who was 9 years my senior, used to hunt for rabbits with a .410 in the orchards next to the civic center. One time he and his friend was messing around with a pellet gun in an orchard. A cop drove up and said "bet you $5 you can't hit the blackbird up on that telephone pole." My brother won the bet.
It wasn't always positive. My neighbor almost blew his eye out while we were playing with firecrackers. The kid with no arms down at the park used to freak me out. When I was in gradeschool, my friend and I got jumped by a gang of teenage girls wearing flannel shirts. But I learned some important lessons; lessons that my kids haven't learned...
Posted by: Average Guy at March 26, 2017 08:23 PM (LMcFk)
70
My former girlfriend's ex called the cops on us after we left the 14 year old to look after the eight year old while we went to the gym for an hour. The cop acted like we had left the kids in a crack house. I told him to get a clue . The 14 year old would be driving in less than a year.
Posted by: Jack Sock at March 26, 2017 08:23 PM (IDPbH)
71
If your kid isn't bleeding once-a-year? (Month for boys. I'm being nice.)
They are either Indoor Girls or they are not Learning.
They are either Indoor Girls or they are not Learning.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:24 PM (6gk0M)
72
I think 60 Minutes is doing a story about "fake news."
After next Monday I can go back to not watching CBS until football season.
After next Monday I can go back to not watching CBS until football season.
Posted by: logprof, sports tard at March 26, 2017 08:24 PM (GsAUU)
73
When I was eight, I had a bike and the run of the town. When I was a bit older, I took a header on my bike, and a kindly driver stopped and transported me home. My parents were throwing a big party - the high point of the party was my showing up with blood pouring down my face - it was a minor scalp wound.
Inconceivable that this would be tolerated today.
Inconceivable that this would be tolerated today.
Posted by: Whatever at March 26, 2017 08:24 PM (xnAyb)
74
A while back some of my customers had a young boy(6) . While they rode I would give him a board, hammer and nails.
Posted by: Ben Had at March 26, 2017 08:24 PM (koJdH)
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:25 PM (6gk0M)
76
It's not safe to let your kids run around any more. There are all sorts of sicko gropists out there. But you must tolerate them because otherwise you would be a racist. So I'm afraid we're stuck with an intractable problem, and the only solution is to coddle your kids until they are 18.
Posted by: Angela Merkel at March 26, 2017 08:25 PM (vRcUp)
77
Some few years ago we lived on several acres outside Cincinnati. A young couple with young kids moved into the house next door (also on acreage). They would run around the front yard, chasing and yelling, pursued by a couple of Shelties barking their heads off.
One day the dad apologized for the noise. I said, why? That's what they should be doing.
One day the dad apologized for the noise. I said, why? That's what they should be doing.
Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at March 26, 2017 08:27 PM (K2ygU)
78
on the other hand, when a girl who identifies as a guy comes in 18th in a weight lifting competition against 12 actual guys, I'm sure the SJWs will demand that results be adjusted to take past discrimination into account.
Posted by: mallfly suPreme
Now that kids are being started on hormone therapy when they are very young, like that female Texas wrestler, it will be interesting to see if they can eventually compete as men. She looked like quite a gorilla, and is probably being pumped full of more testosterone in a week than Lidsey Graham's testicles have pumped into him in a lifetime.
Posted by: mallfly suPreme
Now that kids are being started on hormone therapy when they are very young, like that female Texas wrestler, it will be interesting to see if they can eventually compete as men. She looked like quite a gorilla, and is probably being pumped full of more testosterone in a week than Lidsey Graham's testicles have pumped into him in a lifetime.
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at March 26, 2017 08:28 PM (vRcUp)
79
I think a lot of this depends on where you're living. SoCal was exactly like you'd expect: you'd NEVER see kids alone on the street except in the 'hood. Now that I'm living in semi-rural Texas, it's pretty much normal to see kids riding their bikes on the sidewalk or walking home from school.
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at March 26, 2017 08:19 PM (cuZZW)
Delurking...I grew up in Yorba Linda, CA during the late 70s, early 80s and we (the neighborhood kids) were ALWAYS out and about without supervision. This nanny state/helicopter parenting crap began in the 90s from what I remember. I would add that with the growth of the video game industry, most kids decided that they would rather do that than be outside. Hell, I have four nephews and the two oldest (18 and 10) are two of the most antisocial individuals I have ever been around. All they want to do is spend time playing video games or texting on their phones. When they are with me, all that shit comes to a screeching halt and they are forced to interact and have fun...outside and around other people.
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at March 26, 2017 08:19 PM (cuZZW)
Delurking...I grew up in Yorba Linda, CA during the late 70s, early 80s and we (the neighborhood kids) were ALWAYS out and about without supervision. This nanny state/helicopter parenting crap began in the 90s from what I remember. I would add that with the growth of the video game industry, most kids decided that they would rather do that than be outside. Hell, I have four nephews and the two oldest (18 and 10) are two of the most antisocial individuals I have ever been around. All they want to do is spend time playing video games or texting on their phones. When they are with me, all that shit comes to a screeching halt and they are forced to interact and have fun...outside and around other people.
Posted by: I Be That Chick at March 26, 2017 08:29 PM (S/qwI)
80
Helps explain the politics of millennials - when you have been taken care off and looked after all your life, you expect that treatment in the future.
Millennials expect the government to be their parents and take care of and look after them.
Millennials expect the government to be their parents and take care of and look after them.
Posted by: Whatever at March 26, 2017 08:29 PM (xnAyb)
81
Hell, some of my fondest memories from childhood scared the living shit out of my Mom once I fessed up 30 or 40 years later. Like playing in the rock quarry at Barbers Point NAS, throwing rocks at 6 foot across bee hives on the quarry walls, hiding forest porn in the brush near some of the abandoned warehouses on base, trying to find a way to climb down into the quarry near the main gate that literally had a rain forest at the bottom (the dirt ramp down to the bottom had been cut off into a 30ft or better dropoff), dodging the base SPs because we were out screwing around past curfew, riding home from Boy Scout meetings at 9pm and stopping to throw rocks onto the corrugated steel roof of the building where the post had Karate classes the same night.
Good times, good times.....
Hell, some of my fondest memories from childhood scared the living shit out of my Mom once I fessed up 30 or 40 years later. Like playing in the rock quarry at Barbers Point NAS, throwing rocks at 6 foot across bee hives on the quarry walls, hiding forest porn in the brush near some of the abandoned warehouses on base, trying to find a way to climb down into the quarry near the main gate that literally had a rain forest at the bottom (the dirt ramp down to the bottom had been cut off into a 30ft or better dropoff), dodging the base SPs because we were out screwing around past curfew, riding home from Boy Scout meetings at 9pm and stopping to throw rocks onto the corrugated steel roof of the building where the post had Karate classes the same night.
Good times, good times.....
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at March 26, 2017 08:29 PM (cuZZW)
82
When I was a sixth grader in north Miami I would:
Get on a bus and ride many miles to the museum in south. Stay for the star party one night a week and leave around 9:30 and ride the bus back. Tho the fellow running the planetarium would give me rides back. Something else forbidden today.
I would ride the bus to Crandon Park out in the bay and go to the zoo, the Seaquarium or ride the glass bottom boat. I had free passes.
I would ride the bus to south Miami Beach and spend the day swimming.
I wandered downtown Miami, had a favorite restaurant for lunch and went to the movies. We spent a lot of time in Biscayne Park.
We rode our bikes to the Saturday matinee which let you in for a certain number of bottle caps.
We swam in Biscayne Bay, I still have a scar on one knee from a coral cut. No big deal was made of it.
When I was visiting cousins up north in New Jersey a group of us jumped on bikes and rode 10 or 12 miles to some other cousins house.
They had mobs of 10 to 15 kids running around playing hide and seek until 10 PM when the parents ran us inside. We had Monopoly tournaments.
On thing is the lack of kids in today's neighborhoods. In this neighborhood my kids had two other families with one or two kids. And one set of those were junior future prison inmates. You can't have a pack of 15 kids running around at night when there aren't any kids.
Get on a bus and ride many miles to the museum in south. Stay for the star party one night a week and leave around 9:30 and ride the bus back. Tho the fellow running the planetarium would give me rides back. Something else forbidden today.
I would ride the bus to Crandon Park out in the bay and go to the zoo, the Seaquarium or ride the glass bottom boat. I had free passes.
I would ride the bus to south Miami Beach and spend the day swimming.
I wandered downtown Miami, had a favorite restaurant for lunch and went to the movies. We spent a lot of time in Biscayne Park.
We rode our bikes to the Saturday matinee which let you in for a certain number of bottle caps.
We swam in Biscayne Bay, I still have a scar on one knee from a coral cut. No big deal was made of it.
When I was visiting cousins up north in New Jersey a group of us jumped on bikes and rode 10 or 12 miles to some other cousins house.
They had mobs of 10 to 15 kids running around playing hide and seek until 10 PM when the parents ran us inside. We had Monopoly tournaments.
On thing is the lack of kids in today's neighborhoods. In this neighborhood my kids had two other families with one or two kids. And one set of those were junior future prison inmates. You can't have a pack of 15 kids running around at night when there aren't any kids.
Posted by: agesilaus at March 26, 2017 08:29 PM (861WE)
83
and the only solution is to coddle your kids until they are 18.
Posted by: Angela Merkel at March 26, 2017 08:25 PM (vRcUp)
Please tell me you didn't reproduce.
Posted by: Angela Merkel at March 26, 2017 08:25 PM (vRcUp)
Please tell me you didn't reproduce.
Posted by: Infidel at March 26, 2017 08:29 PM (uKRys)
84
You and me both buddy.
My children don't (didn't) enjoy a fraction of the independence and unsupervised time I did, and I grew up in NYC in the 1970s. I've written here before, my parents had only two rules:
1) don't call us from jail, we're not coming for you, and
2) don't go above 92nd St
That said, Mrs. Franpsycho and I have done more than most of our peers. Our boy has autism but does his own laundry, helps cook dinner, makes his own school lunch, and gets his own breakfast. He takes out the garbage, sets and clears dinner, loads and unloads the dishwasher.
My sister's kids have all of these things done for them, and she thinks we are cruel to our son.
My children don't (didn't) enjoy a fraction of the independence and unsupervised time I did, and I grew up in NYC in the 1970s. I've written here before, my parents had only two rules:
1) don't call us from jail, we're not coming for you, and
2) don't go above 92nd St
That said, Mrs. Franpsycho and I have done more than most of our peers. Our boy has autism but does his own laundry, helps cook dinner, makes his own school lunch, and gets his own breakfast. He takes out the garbage, sets and clears dinner, loads and unloads the dishwasher.
My sister's kids have all of these things done for them, and she thinks we are cruel to our son.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 26, 2017 08:30 PM (pGvPP)
85
My good Southern Baptist parents raised us on hard work, honesty, okra, oysters, and rice. I think I turned out pretty much as they intended. I even think they would be happy I'm a Presbyterian now.
Posted by: Eromero at March 26, 2017 08:30 PM (zLDYs)
86
When I got home from Church, my friends were already out in the World. I had to find them.
When we stopped going to Church at the New Place, I had to wait for every other one of my Friends to get home.
We then built, burned, rode, jumped, punched, ran and otherwise forged out way through childhood.
When we stopped going to Church at the New Place, I had to wait for every other one of my Friends to get home.
We then built, burned, rode, jumped, punched, ran and otherwise forged out way through childhood.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:30 PM (6gk0M)
87
*our*, even.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:30 PM (6gk0M)
88
I had no clue how, but when I was 8 some rope (more like a cord) got tangled up in the rear sprocket of my bike. I borrowed a thread cutter to try to cut it off, and I put too much strength into cutting a piece and the hand with the cutter kept going and cut my scalp.
It did not hurt too much, but boy did I drip a decent amount of blood.
I've always been kind of a spaz.
It did not hurt too much, but boy did I drip a decent amount of blood.
I've always been kind of a spaz.
Posted by: logprof, sports tard at March 26, 2017 08:30 PM (GsAUU)
89
One day the dad apologized for the noise. I said, why? That's what they should be doing.
That's the way I view it. It gets a tad annoying at times, as the younger one is into that glass-shattering, piercing scream that seems to afflict all little girls at one stage or another. Small price to pay for seeing genuinely happy kids.
That's the way I view it. It gets a tad annoying at times, as the younger one is into that glass-shattering, piercing scream that seems to afflict all little girls at one stage or another. Small price to pay for seeing genuinely happy kids.
Posted by: Notorious BFD at March 26, 2017 08:31 PM (Tyii7)
90
My kids are raising theirs as we raised them--seems to be a successful method.
In order to do this you need the proper setting--just as rural as can be managed, a city simply won't work.
No freedom to simply be a kid.
My kids are raising theirs as we raised them--seems to be a successful method.
In order to do this you need the proper setting--just as rural as can be managed, a city simply won't work.
No freedom to simply be a kid.
Posted by: irongrampa at March 26, 2017 08:31 PM (X35Yt)
91
My mom worked since I could remember. I walked to kindergarten by myself when I lived in Rapid City ,SD. It was probably only a few blocks from my house but of course it seemed much further. My mom did tell me she followed me to and from one day to make sure I didn't deviate.
Posted by: Jack Sock at March 26, 2017 08:31 PM (IDPbH)
92
My parents used to throw us out of the house so they could have sex. Same reason they sent us to church on the baptist church bus. My kid played sports since he was 5. Bowling and baseball. He never had much free time and we didn't have any kids in our neighborhood so it was play dates and sports. He's a funny sarcastic macho guy at 29. He'd fit in wonderfully here.
Posted by: Jaimo at March 26, 2017 08:31 PM (eDc0r)
93
My son and a neighbor kid built a really shitty go cart out of old lumber and some wheels off a junk mower today.
There's still some good out there.
There's still some good out there.
Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at March 26, 2017 08:33 PM (EUMr7)
94
One of the best times as a kid was coming across a bum's nest in the woods while out and about.
If the bum was home, we would try and get tales of adventure and misdeeds out of him while seeing what porn or booze he was hiding.
If the bum was out, we would raid his nest for anything of value. Good times, good times.
If the bum was home, we would try and get tales of adventure and misdeeds out of him while seeing what porn or booze he was hiding.
If the bum was out, we would raid his nest for anything of value. Good times, good times.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at March 26, 2017 08:33 PM (5VlCp)
95
83 and the only solution is to coddle your kids until they are 18.
Posted by: Angela Merkel at March 26, 2017 08:25 PM (vRcUp)
Please tell me you didn't reproduce.
Posted by: Infidel at March 26, 2017 08:29 PM (uKRys)
--Heh, IIRC Frau Merkel actually has not any children.
Which could explain a lot.
Posted by: Angela Merkel at March 26, 2017 08:25 PM (vRcUp)
Please tell me you didn't reproduce.
Posted by: Infidel at March 26, 2017 08:29 PM (uKRys)
--Heh, IIRC Frau Merkel actually has not any children.
Which could explain a lot.
Posted by: logprof, sports tard at March 26, 2017 08:33 PM (GsAUU)
96
So I'm afraid we're stuck with an intractable problem, and the only solution is to coddle your kids until they are 18.
Posted by: Angela Merkel at March 26, 2017 08:25 PM (vRcUp)
Obamacare: Why not make it 26?
Posted by: Angela Merkel at March 26, 2017 08:25 PM (vRcUp)
Obamacare: Why not make it 26?
Posted by: TheQuietMan at March 26, 2017 08:34 PM (auHtY)
97
Our "pack" consisted of Eight Firework-Seeking, House-Egging, Vandalizing Neer-Do-Wells from the Fourth Grade and below.
We had to learn that we were idiots. My Fourth-Grade, Jesus-Loving buddies thought I was Too Much Fun.
We had to learn that we were idiots. My Fourth-Grade, Jesus-Loving buddies thought I was Too Much Fun.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:35 PM (6gk0M)
98
and the only solution is to coddle your kids until they are 18.
Posted by: Angela Merkel at March 26, 2017 08:25 PM (vRcUp)
Please tell me you didn't reproduce.
Posted by: Infidel
Ok, just checked up on wikipedia. Seems we're good to go, I have no kids and I'm guessing I'm past menopause at this point.
Posted by: Angela Merkel at March 26, 2017 08:25 PM (vRcUp)
Please tell me you didn't reproduce.
Posted by: Infidel
Ok, just checked up on wikipedia. Seems we're good to go, I have no kids and I'm guessing I'm past menopause at this point.
Posted by: Angela Merkel at March 26, 2017 08:36 PM (vRcUp)
99
If the bum was out, we would raid his nest for anything of value. Good times, good times.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at March 26, 2017 08:33 PM (5VlCp)
--Did he ever show up while you were plundering and give you the bum's ruch?
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at March 26, 2017 08:33 PM (5VlCp)
--Did he ever show up while you were plundering and give you the bum's ruch?
Posted by: logprof, sports tard at March 26, 2017 08:37 PM (GsAUU)
Posted by: blaster at March 26, 2017 08:37 PM (HV1LS)
101
I don't have kids but I am very close to my young 13 year old friend. Her parents have a place at Pelee island in Canada. It's like going back in time about 50 years. She's up there most of the summer and has beautiful, boundless freedom. Rides her bike from her folks to her grandparents and uncles places down the beach and just has to check in occasionally. Just like when I was a kid. I was gone on my bike from dawn to dusk. I basically came home for lunch and dinner. I never thought about it, but as some others of you have said, our parents had it kinda easy. Didn't have to expend much energy helicoptering.
Posted by: Obamaisacommunist at March 26, 2017 08:37 PM (F2j+i)
102
Hell, I have four nephews and the two oldest (18 and 10) are two of the most antisocial individuals I have ever been around. All they want to do is spend time playing video games or texting on their phones.
Posted by: I Be That Chick at March 26, 2017 08:29 PM (S/qwI)
You just described my two nephews. Annoying as hell. They usually try that "make me some lunch, Uncle Cur" shit with me when I go back to visit for the holidays. Errr, no. Get your ass in here and I'll TEACH you how to make your own lunch, but I ain't playing waiter.
Hell, I have four nephews and the two oldest (18 and 10) are two of the most antisocial individuals I have ever been around. All they want to do is spend time playing video games or texting on their phones.
Posted by: I Be That Chick at March 26, 2017 08:29 PM (S/qwI)
You just described my two nephews. Annoying as hell. They usually try that "make me some lunch, Uncle Cur" shit with me when I go back to visit for the holidays. Errr, no. Get your ass in here and I'll TEACH you how to make your own lunch, but I ain't playing waiter.
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at March 26, 2017 08:37 PM (cuZZW)
103
I walked to first grade and on the way home I would try to convince the neighbors horses to let me ride them.
Posted by: Ben Had at March 26, 2017 08:37 PM (koJdH)
104
I got good grades to keep my Parents off my ass. I was a Hellion. A respectable, contrite Eddie Haskell without the pretense.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:37 PM (6gk0M)
105
2 There are things I did that I'd never allow my kids to do.
Not me. I would want them to do everything I did.
Explore.
Learn.
Fix.
Fuck up.
I was not allowed to fuck up. Making mistakes was a cause for scorn and derision, and in some cases punishment. It's really screwed me up even to this day.
Not me. I would want them to do everything I did.
Explore.
Learn.
Fix.
Fuck up.
I was not allowed to fuck up. Making mistakes was a cause for scorn and derision, and in some cases punishment. It's really screwed me up even to this day.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 08:38 PM (0mRoj)
106
27 I'm still stunned when I hear parents say their kid(s) have a play date. WTF is a play date?
I used to tell my Mom that me and some of my friends were going to the park to play softball or ride bikes and she'd say just be back by whatever o'clock.
Posted by: TheQuietMan at March 26, 2017 08:08 PM (auHtY)
Now you'll get the cops and CPS at your door for that, depending on the kids' ages.
I used to tell my Mom that me and some of my friends were going to the park to play softball or ride bikes and she'd say just be back by whatever o'clock.
Posted by: TheQuietMan at March 26, 2017 08:08 PM (auHtY)
Now you'll get the cops and CPS at your door for that, depending on the kids' ages.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 08:39 PM (0mRoj)
107
My daughter told me about another girl in school bullying her. I asked her what the girl did when she fought back. She replied that they were taught never to fight back, and to tell their teacher about it. She did this three times before she told me about it.
Next day I called the Principal and raised holy hell. Asked him what was being done to the bully. Nothing, despite complaints from 4 other kids. I told him that I had taught my daughter how to defend herself physically, and that I had authorized her to do her best to kick her ass next time the bully started something. If she were to get into any disciplinary issues for defending herself, they would be hearing from my attorney.
He finally called the bully's parents in for conference. The bullying stopped, but it took a legal threat to get the school to take any action at all. This was when my daughter was 8, in 2002.
When I was 8, in 1971, defending yourself would have just been a playground scuffle, and a teacher would have just cleaned up both kids.
Next day I called the Principal and raised holy hell. Asked him what was being done to the bully. Nothing, despite complaints from 4 other kids. I told him that I had taught my daughter how to defend herself physically, and that I had authorized her to do her best to kick her ass next time the bully started something. If she were to get into any disciplinary issues for defending herself, they would be hearing from my attorney.
He finally called the bully's parents in for conference. The bullying stopped, but it took a legal threat to get the school to take any action at all. This was when my daughter was 8, in 2002.
When I was 8, in 1971, defending yourself would have just been a playground scuffle, and a teacher would have just cleaned up both kids.
Posted by: Flyboy at March 26, 2017 08:39 PM (TBXMD)
108
107 My daughter told me about another girl in school bullying her. I asked her what the girl did when she fought back. She replied that they were taught never to fight back, and to tell their teacher about it. She did this three times before she told me about it.
All this does is embolden and enable the bullies.
All this does is embolden and enable the bullies.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 08:40 PM (0mRoj)
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at March 26, 2017 08:41 PM (J+eG2)
110
Did he ever show up while you were plundering and give you the bum's ruch?
Posted by: logprof, sports tard at March 26, 2017 08:37 PM (GsAUU)
Yup...a few times. We would play dumb at first then conduct a hasty retreat before the bum could get close enough for blows. These were real hobos, not the street scum you see today. They kinda knew the deal and no hard feelings as they came and went on a regular basis.
Sometimes me and my pals would see them on the street and give them a handout or a smoke just to even things out.
Posted by: logprof, sports tard at March 26, 2017 08:37 PM (GsAUU)
Yup...a few times. We would play dumb at first then conduct a hasty retreat before the bum could get close enough for blows. These were real hobos, not the street scum you see today. They kinda knew the deal and no hard feelings as they came and went on a regular basis.
Sometimes me and my pals would see them on the street and give them a handout or a smoke just to even things out.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at March 26, 2017 08:41 PM (5VlCp)
111
You know what else doesn't happen anymore in childhood?
Cousins.
In my family, every single Sunday was spent visiting your grandparents. The adults had their own world and the cousins would all be off somewhere together. I'm not talking about two or three kids, I am talking about hordes of kids. We've been burying all our old aunts and uncles at breakneck speed these past few years and everyone laments the loss of our days together as cousins, something our kids never really had, but no one returns to frequent visiting.
People are so busy...doing I don't know what, but it's the kids who miss out on the fun.
Cousins.
In my family, every single Sunday was spent visiting your grandparents. The adults had their own world and the cousins would all be off somewhere together. I'm not talking about two or three kids, I am talking about hordes of kids. We've been burying all our old aunts and uncles at breakneck speed these past few years and everyone laments the loss of our days together as cousins, something our kids never really had, but no one returns to frequent visiting.
People are so busy...doing I don't know what, but it's the kids who miss out on the fun.
Posted by: RondinellaMamma at March 26, 2017 08:41 PM (oQQwD)
112
My good Southern Baptist parents raised us on hard work, honesty, okra, oysters, and rice. I think I turned out pretty much as they intended. I even think they would be happy I'm a Presbyterian now.
Posted by: Eromero
Ok, sorry to bother you Eromero, I'm not religious, but I am fascinated by Christian theology.
SBC is mostly Arminian (free will) but there are some prominent members like Albert R. Mohler, Jr. who are staunch Calvinists.
Presbyterianism has Calvinism built into its genes because of the WCF.
Just out of curiosity, were your parents Arminian, and then you became Presbyterian because of the Calvinist issue? Or did you become Presbyterian because you reviewed the arguments for/against infant baptism and decided the Presbyterians were right? Again, sorry to bug you, I'm just fascinated by this and would like to get your take.
Posted by: Eromero
Ok, sorry to bother you Eromero, I'm not religious, but I am fascinated by Christian theology.
SBC is mostly Arminian (free will) but there are some prominent members like Albert R. Mohler, Jr. who are staunch Calvinists.
Presbyterianism has Calvinism built into its genes because of the WCF.
Just out of curiosity, were your parents Arminian, and then you became Presbyterian because of the Calvinist issue? Or did you become Presbyterian because you reviewed the arguments for/against infant baptism and decided the Presbyterians were right? Again, sorry to bug you, I'm just fascinated by this and would like to get your take.
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at March 26, 2017 08:41 PM (vRcUp)
113
I got good grades to keep my Parents off my ass.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:37 PM (6gk0M)
Heh. I used to ACE tests all the time......but never, and I mean NEVER did homework. Pissed the teachers off something fierce. "How in the hell are you getting A pluses on the test if you don't do the homework??????"
I got good grades to keep my Parents off my ass.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:37 PM (6gk0M)
Heh. I used to ACE tests all the time......but never, and I mean NEVER did homework. Pissed the teachers off something fierce. "How in the hell are you getting A pluses on the test if you don't do the homework??????"
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at March 26, 2017 08:42 PM (cuZZW)
114
I was fortunate enough to grow up in the 1950s in a small northeast Kansas town. My best friend and I would frequently be gone from morning until dark running around out in the woods, swimming in muddy cow ponds (where I learned to swim with no adult in sight), fishing and sometimes shooting guns. We also roamed the town, getting on the roof of almost every building in town, climbing to the top of the local grain elevator grain bins and halfway up the water tower. My dad was a self-employed printer/weekly newspaper owner and worked long hours. My mom had four kids younger than me to take care of so, as she used to say, I kind of raised myself. I always felt bad for my friend. He was the youngest of 3 and after getting home at the end of the day would get his butt kicked for being gone all day. No one ever said a word to me.
Posted by: Suds 46 at March 26, 2017 08:42 PM (3booC)
115
"You just described my two nephews. Annoying as hell. They usually try that "make me some lunch, Uncle Cur" shit with me when I go back to visit for the holidays. Errr, no. Get your ass in here and I'll TEACH you how to make your own lunch, but I ain't playing waiter."
-Posted by: IllTemperedCur at March 26, 2017 08:37 PM (cuZZW)
Amen, Brother!
I had a babysitter that used to put me through The Wringer to do shit on Mom's List. She was old enough to actually Twist My Arm to get me to do things.
I was the Neighborhood Mouth and my Buddies would watch me getting beaten by "A Girl".
She would twist my ass to tears if she thought I was being too much of a smart-ass.
She also brought Jolly Ranchers and cookies for my gay little Brother.
...and me, if I behaved.
-Posted by: IllTemperedCur at March 26, 2017 08:37 PM (cuZZW)
Amen, Brother!
I had a babysitter that used to put me through The Wringer to do shit on Mom's List. She was old enough to actually Twist My Arm to get me to do things.
I was the Neighborhood Mouth and my Buddies would watch me getting beaten by "A Girl".
She would twist my ass to tears if she thought I was being too much of a smart-ass.
She also brought Jolly Ranchers and cookies for my gay little Brother.
...and me, if I behaved.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:44 PM (6gk0M)
116
When I was 8, in 1971, defending yourself would
have just been a playground scuffle, and a teacher would have just
cleaned up both kids.
Posted by: Flyboy at March 26, 2017 08:39 PM (TBXMD)
This. that is how we grew up. Fight after school out behind the gym.
When I was 8, in 1971, defending yourself would
have just been a playground scuffle, and a teacher would have just
cleaned up both kids.
Posted by: Flyboy at March 26, 2017 08:39 PM (TBXMD)
This. that is how we grew up. Fight after school out behind the gym.
Posted by: Infidel at March 26, 2017 08:44 PM (uKRys)
117
Now you'll get the cops and CPS at your door for that, depending on the kids' ages.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 08:39 PM (0mRoj)
Damn, what would they have done when me and my buddies played army all day? We had our moms pack us a lunch and we took our toy guns and divided up into two groups and went around the neighborhood hunting each others group down all day.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 08:39 PM (0mRoj)
Damn, what would they have done when me and my buddies played army all day? We had our moms pack us a lunch and we took our toy guns and divided up into two groups and went around the neighborhood hunting each others group down all day.
Posted by: TheQuietMan at March 26, 2017 08:44 PM (auHtY)
118
I got good grades to keep my Parents off my ass. I was a Hellion. A respectable, contrite Eddie Haskell without the pretense.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:37 PM (6gk0M)
======
Same here. One friends Mom said " He is such a nice and funny guy. Then, he goes out and gets in so much TROUBLE." Yep.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:37 PM (6gk0M)
======
Same here. One friends Mom said " He is such a nice and funny guy. Then, he goes out and gets in so much TROUBLE." Yep.
Posted by: Flyboy at March 26, 2017 08:44 PM (TBXMD)
119
I'm still a little worried that one of the other parents called CPS on me yesterday because I left my little kids in the (air conditioned) van with my 12 year old for 15 minutes while waiting for a birthday party to wrap up.
We were out at a ranch in the middle of nowhere, my young kids were sleeping, and of course my oldest could come get me if anything was needed but...still I worry someone took that the wrong way.
That's really my only parenting worry. Busybodies.
We were out at a ranch in the middle of nowhere, my young kids were sleeping, and of course my oldest could come get me if anything was needed but...still I worry someone took that the wrong way.
That's really my only parenting worry. Busybodies.
Posted by: Lauren at March 26, 2017 08:44 PM (Mbn3u)
120
RondinellMamma- Great point. My grandparents had 10 kids and I had 40 cousins.
Posted by: Ben Had at March 26, 2017 08:45 PM (koJdH)
121
When I was 8, in 1971, defending yourself would have just been a playground scuffle, and a teacher would have just cleaned up both kids
*****
I got into dozens of fights both in and out of school. The first was when I was 6. Some kid threw rocks at my bike and called it a piece of shit so I slugged him in the mouth and cut up his lips pretty good.
It was no big deal in my neighborhood. At least once a week someone would take an ass beating and walk home crying. You had to fight to earn respect.
When I was 8, in 1971, defending yourself would have just been a playground scuffle, and a teacher would have just cleaned up both kids
*****
I got into dozens of fights both in and out of school. The first was when I was 6. Some kid threw rocks at my bike and called it a piece of shit so I slugged him in the mouth and cut up his lips pretty good.
It was no big deal in my neighborhood. At least once a week someone would take an ass beating and walk home crying. You had to fight to earn respect.
Posted by: Warden at March 26, 2017 08:45 PM (YOnlm)
122
I've posted before that my father was either trying to kill me or making sure I'd become a man's man. I got my first gun( if not counting the various bb and pellet guns well before) when I was eight. .410 wingmaster pump. He let me drive our car as fast as it could go down the Chennault airstrip when I was nine. I think I broke 100 . I got a Honda 70 when I was twelve and he signed me up for Little Britches Rodeo when I wanted to be a cowboy. His last purchase for me was a Yamaha 450 enduro for graduation. Then he politely kicked me out of the house because I was 18. I could visit anytime I wanted ,I just couldn't live there. God I miss that man.
Posted by: Jack Sock at March 26, 2017 08:45 PM (IDPbH)
123
IllTemperedCur:
I was kind of the same way. Almost never made the six-weeks honor rolls, due mostly to incomplete homework, but almost always made the semester honor roll because I would ace the semester test.
I was kind of the same way. Almost never made the six-weeks honor rolls, due mostly to incomplete homework, but almost always made the semester honor roll because I would ace the semester test.
Posted by: Suds 46 at March 26, 2017 08:45 PM (3booC)
Posted by: Eromero at March 26, 2017 08:45 PM (zLDYs)
125
OMG.
Played war with toy handguns and rifles (I'm an 'ette, we all played) walked or rode bikes to the corner liquor store (near a busy street!) and got candy (!), WALKED a mile to school every day, stayed out until dark (when the street lights came on), played in the barranca (i.e., really big culvert) whenever... Had REAL Halloween, when everyone walked the streets and knocked on doors and never worried about anything (all those 'razor blades in candy' stories were crap, but ruined the whole thing anyway). Spent the 60's in Ventura, CA, and 70's in Palm Springs (still a real small town then).... Looking back was heaven. Rode horses all over the desert with friends and none of us had helmets.
I have a 19 year old, he missed all of that, but we have tried to give him experience that make up for it. He loves to camp, and road trip, and go-for-it. Best we could do.
Played war with toy handguns and rifles (I'm an 'ette, we all played) walked or rode bikes to the corner liquor store (near a busy street!) and got candy (!), WALKED a mile to school every day, stayed out until dark (when the street lights came on), played in the barranca (i.e., really big culvert) whenever... Had REAL Halloween, when everyone walked the streets and knocked on doors and never worried about anything (all those 'razor blades in candy' stories were crap, but ruined the whole thing anyway). Spent the 60's in Ventura, CA, and 70's in Palm Springs (still a real small town then).... Looking back was heaven. Rode horses all over the desert with friends and none of us had helmets.
I have a 19 year old, he missed all of that, but we have tried to give him experience that make up for it. He loves to camp, and road trip, and go-for-it. Best we could do.
Posted by: exliberal at March 26, 2017 08:46 PM (kjizk)
126
I try and make sure my Scouts have the freedom to explore and test themselves. Sometimes, the moms and dad's don't agree. Now, we do have to make sure they don't get eaten. We've lions and wolves. Bears, Griz and blacks. Coyote. Fox skunk (oh boy was that a bad experience. But he won't do that again). Deer are dangerous. So are cliffs and trees. All I'm saying is, learn the kids HOW to deal. They grow up ok. I've Scouts who are now Army captains and Navy lieutenants, one testing soon for the bar. This generation, despite the ones who get all the air play, I think they'll do OK
McGyver, out
McGyver, out
Posted by: Mcgyver at March 26, 2017 08:46 PM (6hAG+)
127
You just described my two nephews. Annoying as hell. They usually try that "make me some lunch, Uncle Cur" shit with me when I go back to visit for the holidays. Errr, no. Get your ass in here and I'll TEACH you how to make your own lunch, but I ain't playing waiter.
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at March 26, 2017 08:37 PM (cuZZW)
They have both "tried" me on occasion with the "yeah, naw" responses to my questions and I have had to introduce them to the F5 hurricane that is Aunt I Be That Chick. After leaving them minus both ass cheeks a few times, they have learned to interact with me in a respectful, yet engaging manner. Still, it is an issue that I see them having for a long time, unless they make a change.
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at March 26, 2017 08:37 PM (cuZZW)
They have both "tried" me on occasion with the "yeah, naw" responses to my questions and I have had to introduce them to the F5 hurricane that is Aunt I Be That Chick. After leaving them minus both ass cheeks a few times, they have learned to interact with me in a respectful, yet engaging manner. Still, it is an issue that I see them having for a long time, unless they make a change.
Posted by: I Be That Chick at March 26, 2017 08:46 PM (S/qwI)
128
I do have to say though that kids play outside all the time in our neighborhood.
Posted by: Lauren at March 26, 2017 08:46 PM (Mbn3u)
129
Our sixteen month old grandson loves to be outside, so we take him. My sense is that he doesn't enough of that at home. "Devices", y'know, take up a lot of his parents' time.
Our sixteen month old grandson loves to be outside, so we take him. My sense is that he doesn't enough of that at home. "Devices", y'know, take up a lot of his parents' time.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 26, 2017 08:46 PM (v1g1+)
130
.. uphill. both ways, with just a raw potato for lunch ...
Posted by: Grump928(C) at March 26, 2017 08:47 PM (LTHVh)
131
All this does is embolden and enable the bullies.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 08:40 PM (0mRoj)
======
Yep. Hence the rest of my post.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 08:40 PM (0mRoj)
======
Yep. Hence the rest of my post.
Posted by: Flyboy at March 26, 2017 08:47 PM (TBXMD)
132
120 RondinellMamma- Great point. My grandparents had 10 kids and I had 40 cousins.
Posted by: Ben Had at March 26, 2017 08:45 PM (koJdH)
Betcha your holidays were awesome! Crazy, but awesome!
Posted by: Ben Had at March 26, 2017 08:45 PM (koJdH)
Betcha your holidays were awesome! Crazy, but awesome!
Posted by: RondinellaMamma at March 26, 2017 08:48 PM (oQQwD)
133
108 107 My daughter told me about another girl in school bullying her. I asked her what the girl did when she fought back. She replied that they were taught never to fight back, and to tell their teacher about it. She did this three times before she told me about it.
All this does is embolden and enable the bullies.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 08:40 PM (0mRoj)
It makes you wonder if the teachers do this on purpose. Years ago, I subbed at a middle school, and one girl was just harassed by the other girls in the class. I intervened, and was told off by the regular teachers, who said that the first girl was not nice, and deserved what she got.
I was flabbergasted.
But it makes me think that this is a common occurrence.
All this does is embolden and enable the bullies.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 08:40 PM (0mRoj)
It makes you wonder if the teachers do this on purpose. Years ago, I subbed at a middle school, and one girl was just harassed by the other girls in the class. I intervened, and was told off by the regular teachers, who said that the first girl was not nice, and deserved what she got.
I was flabbergasted.
But it makes me think that this is a common occurrence.
Posted by: moki at March 26, 2017 08:48 PM (wuzmq)
134
By the fourth grade I was walking to school about a half mile through the country because I couldn't stand waiting for the bus. I got there on time, and had a great time doing it. I cut across farms and filbert orchards and made up stories in my head the whole way.
I bet my parents would be arrested today for letting me do that.
I bet my parents would be arrested today for letting me do that.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at March 26, 2017 08:48 PM (39g3+)
135
I had DFACS called on me because my Daughter at FIFTEEN walked home in the evening (still light) from lees than a mile away.. in the country! She even had a neighbor kid with her that was ten..
I was gobsmacked.. and tell the truth so was the DFACS lady.. But she still had to come and interview us!
I was gobsmacked.. and tell the truth so was the DFACS lady.. But she still had to come and interview us!
Posted by: catman at March 26, 2017 08:49 PM (5H2BV)
136
also, in case no one has mentioned this, I'm sure there are more than a few places where your kids can be taken away from you if you let them out of your sight for an hour or two.
Posted by: mallfly suPreme at March 26, 2017 08:49 PM (b7fwp)
137
I never owned a scarf until my wife bought me one ten years ago. I remain baffled that anyone who doesn't work in life threateningly cold weather would think one a necessity.
I've never worn scarves - even when I worked in life threateningly cold weather. I consider them annoyances more than anything.
Although my mother did have us wear dickeys, which were about as retarded as clip-on ties (and yes, she had us wear those, too). But we were always spared the scourge of scarves.
I've never worn scarves - even when I worked in life threateningly cold weather. I consider them annoyances more than anything.
Although my mother did have us wear dickeys, which were about as retarded as clip-on ties (and yes, she had us wear those, too). But we were always spared the scourge of scarves.
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at March 26, 2017 08:49 PM (zc3Db)
138
"Don't forget to light a tire for Earf Day."
I'm planning on starting an underground coal mine fire. The gift that keeps on giving.
"Don't forget to light a tire for Earf Day."
I'm planning on starting an underground coal mine fire. The gift that keeps on giving.
Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at March 26, 2017 08:50 PM (K2ygU)
139
Speaking of parties apparently some parents won't let their child of ANY age go to parties without them, because pedos.
Posted by: Lauren at March 26, 2017 08:51 PM (Mbn3u)
140
RondinellaMama- 125+ for Christmas dinner.
Posted by: Ben Had at March 26, 2017 08:52 PM (koJdH)
141
I think I grew up at the tail end of the "childhood freedom" generation. In the early 90s my sister and I walked two blocks to school every day, and during summer we and the neighbor kids were given about a 3 block radius to run around and ride our bikes. Often we would only come home at mealtimes and run back outside until dark. We also had a strip of woods behind our backyard that was about 1/4 to 1/2 mile wide, and if you were feeling really adventurous you could walk through it to the road on the other side.
Good times. Nowadays there are some Millenials who never learned to ride a bike. Sad!
Good times. Nowadays there are some Millenials who never learned to ride a bike. Sad!
Posted by: Aunt Luna at March 26, 2017 08:52 PM (Zd2ZF)
142
This is a good thread, thank you everyone for sharing your stories.
Makes me feel a little less alone in this world. I look around and see things so different than what they were even 20 years ago, and wonder what's going to happen. Glad I'm apparently not the only one.
Makes me feel a little less alone in this world. I look around and see things so different than what they were even 20 years ago, and wonder what's going to happen. Glad I'm apparently not the only one.
Posted by: VA GOP Sucks at March 26, 2017 08:52 PM (2VN2E)
143
Warden, you should watch the documentary What Happened To Johnny Gosch. This will clarify why parents don't let their children out of their sights.
Spoiler: Human Trafficking & Pedophile networks allowing to operate and thrive.
It's on Netflix right now.
Spoiler: Human Trafficking & Pedophile networks allowing to operate and thrive.
It's on Netflix right now.
Posted by: Phone of Blake Lively's Racist Booty at March 26, 2017 08:53 PM (1ZlS3)
144
That it takes a Legal Threat to get action is bullshit.
I got my ass kicked on more than one occasion to "understand" the way the World works.
The Teacher's job was intervention and "Clean-Up", as you described, Flyboy.
I got my ass kicked on more than one occasion to "understand" the way the World works.
The Teacher's job was intervention and "Clean-Up", as you described, Flyboy.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 08:53 PM (6gk0M)
145
I got stitches every six months or so as a kid. Rode bike across 20 miles of town. Came home from school took shotgun or .22 and went hunting. Had a paper route at 10, worked night blue fishing on a party boat at 13.
I used to tell my son, go out and don't come back until you are filthy. He took me at my word, head to toe in mud. He's grown into a fine young man of whom I am extremely pround.
I used to tell my son, go out and don't come back until you are filthy. He took me at my word, head to toe in mud. He's grown into a fine young man of whom I am extremely pround.
Posted by: Jr at March 26, 2017 08:53 PM (v9gSJ)
146
Posted by: Mcgyver at March 26, 2017 08:46 PM (6hAG+)
Spot on. Those young men -- yours and mine -- learn to learn how to deal with life's issues abd how to get along with one another. Boy Scouts is one program which provides such opportunities.
I have had parents more than once question why a patrol is out and about on their own at our camping locations. "Because they are meant to be," is my answer, but it requires a more detailed explanation than that. Nobody has pulled out because their sons are exposed to too much liberty.
Posted by: Mcgyver at March 26, 2017 08:46 PM (6hAG+)
Spot on. Those young men -- yours and mine -- learn to learn how to deal with life's issues abd how to get along with one another. Boy Scouts is one program which provides such opportunities.
I have had parents more than once question why a patrol is out and about on their own at our camping locations. "Because they are meant to be," is my answer, but it requires a more detailed explanation than that. Nobody has pulled out because their sons are exposed to too much liberty.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 26, 2017 08:54 PM (v1g1+)
147
also, in case no one has mentioned this, I'm sure there are more than a few places where your kids can be taken away from you if you let them out of your sight for an hour or two.
Posted by: mallfly suPreme at March 26, 2017 08:49 PM (b7fwp)
Didn't a few stories make the news about a mother who had child defective services threaten her because she let her kid play alone in the playground or something? My mother used to drop us off at the playground and go do what she had to do.
But nowadays people are under the impression that child kidnappers and white slave traffickers are hiding behind every corner ...
Also, when I was a kid there was no bullshit with this 15 mph speed limit in front of a school. Let's be honest, no one who isn't riding a tricycle can go as slow as 15 mph for more than 20 yards. And the kids in the school aren't supposed to be on the road, to begin with, and they all live in the same neighborhood as the school where people are driving the regular speeds on those roads. Personally, I have never heard of any schoolchildren being hit by cars in my state. Never. I've heard of school bus drivers being drunk and running off the road, but never heard of someone slamming into a kid around a school because he was driving the regular speed limit.
Posted by: mallfly suPreme at March 26, 2017 08:49 PM (b7fwp)
Didn't a few stories make the news about a mother who had child defective services threaten her because she let her kid play alone in the playground or something? My mother used to drop us off at the playground and go do what she had to do.
But nowadays people are under the impression that child kidnappers and white slave traffickers are hiding behind every corner ...
Also, when I was a kid there was no bullshit with this 15 mph speed limit in front of a school. Let's be honest, no one who isn't riding a tricycle can go as slow as 15 mph for more than 20 yards. And the kids in the school aren't supposed to be on the road, to begin with, and they all live in the same neighborhood as the school where people are driving the regular speeds on those roads. Personally, I have never heard of any schoolchildren being hit by cars in my state. Never. I've heard of school bus drivers being drunk and running off the road, but never heard of someone slamming into a kid around a school because he was driving the regular speed limit.
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at March 26, 2017 08:54 PM (zc3Db)
148
Good times. Nowadays there are some Millenials who never learned to ride a bike. Sad!
Posted by: Aunt Luna
They're waiting for a self-driving UberBike.
Good times. Nowadays there are some Millenials who never learned to ride a bike. Sad!
Posted by: Aunt Luna
They're waiting for a self-driving UberBike.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 26, 2017 08:54 PM (IqV8l)
149
I had to jump in before reading all the posts because I'll be willowed otherwise.
I'm fifty-two. My, and my siblings' lives were much more unstructured than Warden's, which tells how much this change is happening. And we can project backwards (what is the antonym of project?) and it's always the same. No one wants our children to be feral but this cloistered childhood is not doing anyone any service.
I'm fifty-two. My, and my siblings' lives were much more unstructured than Warden's, which tells how much this change is happening. And we can project backwards (what is the antonym of project?) and it's always the same. No one wants our children to be feral but this cloistered childhood is not doing anyone any service.
Posted by: kalneva at March 26, 2017 08:55 PM (vhW1R)
150
Damn, what would they have done when me and my buddies played army all day? We had our moms pack us a lunch and we took our toy guns and divided up into two groups and went around the neighborhood hunting each others group down all day.
Posted by: TheQuietMan at March 26, 2017 08:44 PM (auHtY)
If they're realistic looking, you might get shot.
Posted by: TheQuietMan at March 26, 2017 08:44 PM (auHtY)
If they're realistic looking, you might get shot.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 08:55 PM (0mRoj)
151
steve and cold bear @ 112-
I'm a Presbyterian because after a lifetime of looking at all of them except islam (devil worship in my opinion), Presbyterian Church In America makes sense to me at age 68. And of course, Romans chapter 8 vs 28-30.
I'm a Presbyterian because after a lifetime of looking at all of them except islam (devil worship in my opinion), Presbyterian Church In America makes sense to me at age 68. And of course, Romans chapter 8 vs 28-30.
Posted by: Eromero at March 26, 2017 08:55 PM (zLDYs)
152
Here is the thing with my kids - they are not afraid of us. I am not saying they should live in fear or that we should be scary. But with my mom, I knew when the line was crossed, and I was afraid to do it. That kept my dumbassness within reason.
Posted by: blaster at March 26, 2017 08:56 PM (HV1LS)
153
I think 60 Minutes is doing a story about "fake news."
Kind of like watching Muldoon do an episode on puns. A master class.
Kind of like watching Muldoon do an episode on puns. A master class.
Posted by: t-bird at March 26, 2017 08:56 PM (eeTCA)
154
139 Speaking of parties apparently some parents won't let their child of ANY age go to parties without them, because pedos.
Posted by: Lauren at March 26, 2017 08:51 PM (Mbn
Yep. It started with Johnny Gosch being kidnapped in 1983. Then the Franklin Scandal and Boys Town.
There were open pedophile and human trafficking networks back then. All attempts to bring down these networks failed and now 33 years later, they have metastasized.
Posted by: Lauren at March 26, 2017 08:51 PM (Mbn
Yep. It started with Johnny Gosch being kidnapped in 1983. Then the Franklin Scandal and Boys Town.
There were open pedophile and human trafficking networks back then. All attempts to bring down these networks failed and now 33 years later, they have metastasized.
Posted by: Phone of Blake Lively's Racist Booty at March 26, 2017 08:57 PM (1ZlS3)
155
Those shots of the Xcel Pipeline being constructed again that Judge Jeanine just showed guve me the warm fuzzies.
Posted by: logprof, sports tard at March 26, 2017 08:57 PM (GsAUU)
156
I have dozens of childhood stories of adventure, mischief,
recklessness, foolishness and bravery---hours of planning, exploring,
competing, fighting, cooperating, exploring, failing and achieving-- all
outside the oversight of our parents. I wonder... what childhood
stories will my boys tell?
Wow - now there's food for thought.
Glad I don't have kids. I would be in jail for sure.
recklessness, foolishness and bravery---hours of planning, exploring,
competing, fighting, cooperating, exploring, failing and achieving-- all
outside the oversight of our parents. I wonder... what childhood
stories will my boys tell?
Wow - now there's food for thought.
Glad I don't have kids. I would be in jail for sure.
Posted by: Miley, the Duchess at March 26, 2017 08:58 PM (tHwdc)
157
I have a huge family, so I too am use to being around my aunts, uncles and cousins. My sil (youngest brother) is an only child and her father died when she was 10, so it has been just her and her mother for years. Now that her and my brother have a child, she has become so standoffish. She has said time and time again that she doesn't understand the need to have family get-togethers and expose my nephew to his extended family. She has been told to get f*cked quite a few times by our family members. Needless to say, my brother just brings my nephew to the family functions and she stays home.
Posted by: I Be That Chick at March 26, 2017 08:59 PM (S/qwI)
158
Here is the thing with my kids - they are not afraid
of us. I am not saying they should live in fear or that we should be
scary. But with my mom, I knew when the line was crossed, and I was
afraid to do it. That kept my dumbassness within reason.
Posted by: blaster at March 26, 2017 08:56 PM (HV1LS)
Heh, Dad traveled a lot for work when we were younger. Never let the count get to three, and dear Lord I hated the wooden spoon. I don't think I ever heard 'wait till your father gets home'.
of us. I am not saying they should live in fear or that we should be
scary. But with my mom, I knew when the line was crossed, and I was
afraid to do it. That kept my dumbassness within reason.
Posted by: blaster at March 26, 2017 08:56 PM (HV1LS)
Heh, Dad traveled a lot for work when we were younger. Never let the count get to three, and dear Lord I hated the wooden spoon. I don't think I ever heard 'wait till your father gets home'.
Posted by: Infidel at March 26, 2017 08:59 PM (uKRys)
159
Spot on. Those young men -- yours and mine -- learn to learn how to deal with life's issues abd how to get along with one another. Boy Scouts is one program which provides such opportunities.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 26, 2017 08:54 PM (v1g1+)
--Unfortunately, now that Teh Gheyz and Friends have trounced in, Boy Scouts is going to become just another Social Justice Engineering outfit.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 26, 2017 08:54 PM (v1g1+)
--Unfortunately, now that Teh Gheyz and Friends have trounced in, Boy Scouts is going to become just another Social Justice Engineering outfit.
Posted by: logprof, sports tard at March 26, 2017 09:00 PM (GsAUU)
160
i love threads like these.
great stuff everyone.
i am quite the nostalgic, so i'm keen to all these stories.
great stuff everyone.
i am quite the nostalgic, so i'm keen to all these stories.
Posted by: concrete girl at March 26, 2017 09:00 PM (fZXYQ)
161
There was a story a few days ago about four year old Hunter who was suspended from preschool for bringing an expended .22 bullet casing to school because he thought that being shiny, it was pretty.
When I was a kid, we put match heads into .22 casings, pinched the open end closed, and struck them with a hammer resulting in a fun bang. (I was interested in fun bangs even then.) Just an example of how times have changed.
When I was a kid, we put match heads into .22 casings, pinched the open end closed, and struck them with a hammer resulting in a fun bang. (I was interested in fun bangs even then.) Just an example of how times have changed.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at March 26, 2017 09:01 PM (Nwg0u)
162
Here is the thing with my kids - they are not afraid of us. I am not saying they should live in fear or that we should be scary. But with my mom, I knew when the line was crossed, and I was afraid to do it. That kept my dumbassness within reason.
Posted by: blaster at March 26, 2017 08:56 PM (HV1LS)
=======
My daughter had a "healthy respect" probably bordering on fear if she really screwed up or mouthed off. This is because she had gotten all of three somewhat light spankings in her entire life. This though let her know the threat was always there. Thankfully, she was and is a great, smart and pretty mellow kid.
Posted by: blaster at March 26, 2017 08:56 PM (HV1LS)
=======
My daughter had a "healthy respect" probably bordering on fear if she really screwed up or mouthed off. This is because she had gotten all of three somewhat light spankings in her entire life. This though let her know the threat was always there. Thankfully, she was and is a great, smart and pretty mellow kid.
Posted by: Flyboy at March 26, 2017 09:02 PM (TBXMD)
163
Part of the difference is the neighbors looked out for one and other, and all of the children in the neighborhood. The worst thing to happen would be a neighbor reporting to my parents about some transgression. My parents knew our neighbors, went to school with them, worked with them, went to church with them. People are so transitory and there are so many people from outside the country that it is impossible to know ones neighbors the way my parents did.
Posted by: Locke Common at March 26, 2017 09:02 PM (Gofnu)
164
These myths about pedo rings lend to the helicopter hysteria.
When I was a kid, we just had to steer clear of the gym teachers.
When I was a kid, we just had to steer clear of the gym teachers.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at March 26, 2017 09:03 PM (SEy7A)
165
steve and cold bear @ 112-
I'm a Presbyterian because after a lifetime of looking at all of them except islam (devil worship in my opinion), Presbyterian Church In America makes sense to me at age 68. And of course, Romans chapter 8 vs 28-30.
Posted by: Eromero
Yes, after studying the issue for many years, I really think the Calvinists have all of the texts on their side. And they have given this the most rigorous thought, IMHO. I think you've chosen wisely.
I'm a Presbyterian because after a lifetime of looking at all of them except islam (devil worship in my opinion), Presbyterian Church In America makes sense to me at age 68. And of course, Romans chapter 8 vs 28-30.
Posted by: Eromero
Yes, after studying the issue for many years, I really think the Calvinists have all of the texts on their side. And they have given this the most rigorous thought, IMHO. I think you've chosen wisely.
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at March 26, 2017 09:03 PM (vRcUp)
166
I got my learner's permit when I was 14 and my DL when I was 15. The advantages of living in a 'rural' State .
Posted by: Jack Sock at March 26, 2017 09:04 PM (IDPbH)
167
143 Warden, you should watch the documentary What Happened To Johnny Gosch. This will clarify why parents don't let their children out of their sights.
********
The odds of a stranger abducting your kid are astronomically low.
I don't even worry about it.
********
The odds of a stranger abducting your kid are astronomically low.
I don't even worry about it.
Posted by: Warden at March 26, 2017 09:04 PM (YOnlm)
168
Oh, yeah. coils of the red pop gun 'ammo' with a hammer on the sidewalk. Magnifying glass on ants in the summer. Playing with balls of mercury.
Posted by: Infidel at March 26, 2017 09:04 PM (uKRys)
169
because you reviewed the arguments for/against infant baptism and decided the Presbyterians were right?
? Are Presbyterians Anabaptists? I did not know that. Maybe I'll do a little research on them.
? Are Presbyterians Anabaptists? I did not know that. Maybe I'll do a little research on them.
Posted by: t-bird at March 26, 2017 09:04 PM (hBig8)
170
I was the "cool" mom when my daughter was small. Mostly because I wasn't interested in involving myself in the kids' squabbles when they were outside playing. If a certain volume was reached, I'd tell them to hold it down. No blood, no involvement from Mom. Too many parents try too hard to "fix" things so it's "fair".
Posted by: Rosasharn at March 26, 2017 09:04 PM (PzBTm)
171
152 Here is the thing with my kids - they are not afraid of us. I am not saying they should live in fear or that we should be scary. But with my mom, I knew when the line was crossed, and I was afraid to do it. That kept my dumbassness within reason.
Posted by: blaster at March 26, 2017 08:56 PM (HV1LS)
Kids should know the boundaries but shouldn't live in terror of their parents.
Posted by: blaster at March 26, 2017 08:56 PM (HV1LS)
Kids should know the boundaries but shouldn't live in terror of their parents.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 09:05 PM (0mRoj)
172
its crazy. I got dropped off at the stable and rode my pony and then my horse for miles and MILES. In California, I followed the Santa Ana riverbed, learned to dodge gangs. was aware of who MS13 was in the late 70s. i can barely fucking believe it. I knew how to take the bus in Oahu all the way to Honolulu. I only went to Ala Moana once with a sack lunch, but i tried it out. I walked miles, sister went to Longs Drugstore when mom and dad were in town and died her hair black before they got home, once, when she was 12. I played in the Jungle, and hiked into the mountains to explore the Tsunami shelters. went fishing, got beat up a few times, beat some kid up back a couple times. I had a boy who sexually harassed me as a young teen. My dads answer was "Kick him HARDER!"
so i did. It worked, too.
I knew my family did not like or want me much, i was a literal "Red headed stepchild," with braces and glasses, and a big crooked nose to boot. Most parents thought i was a boy till puberty hit in earnest.
But Grimmy says growin up in the stables taught me consequences. You fuck up too bad you hurt or kill your horse. I saw it happen, too. I got my pony hurt once being reckless. The shame of it nearly 37 years later still burns as fresh as when it happened. I have seen kids these days less aware of consequences and less careful because i do think they are so shielded. they think they are badasses because they have never been in a real fight. I know girls put themselves in bad positions because they dont think three steps ahead to what happens if it all goes sideways. I learned that hiking in the jungle, getting dumped by a pony that ran home a mile away from the stable, and turning my back on a big wave bodysurfing. No mom or dad to save me.
I think coddling does short circuit a kids ability to learn to think "Now what do i do?" and come up with a good plan. Also you learn to calm yourself the fuck down, because when you are out with your friends you dont wanna cry. and if you are alone, crying does fuckall and you learn that quick.
Damn i am glad i got that pony. I really think he saved my life. And as an adult though i wish i had a better relationship with my mom, i gotta admit i am better off than my very spoiled, sheltered, and deeply loved half-sister. Even my stepdad has said so.
so i did. It worked, too.
I knew my family did not like or want me much, i was a literal "Red headed stepchild," with braces and glasses, and a big crooked nose to boot. Most parents thought i was a boy till puberty hit in earnest.
But Grimmy says growin up in the stables taught me consequences. You fuck up too bad you hurt or kill your horse. I saw it happen, too. I got my pony hurt once being reckless. The shame of it nearly 37 years later still burns as fresh as when it happened. I have seen kids these days less aware of consequences and less careful because i do think they are so shielded. they think they are badasses because they have never been in a real fight. I know girls put themselves in bad positions because they dont think three steps ahead to what happens if it all goes sideways. I learned that hiking in the jungle, getting dumped by a pony that ran home a mile away from the stable, and turning my back on a big wave bodysurfing. No mom or dad to save me.
I think coddling does short circuit a kids ability to learn to think "Now what do i do?" and come up with a good plan. Also you learn to calm yourself the fuck down, because when you are out with your friends you dont wanna cry. and if you are alone, crying does fuckall and you learn that quick.
Damn i am glad i got that pony. I really think he saved my life. And as an adult though i wish i had a better relationship with my mom, i gotta admit i am better off than my very spoiled, sheltered, and deeply loved half-sister. Even my stepdad has said so.
Posted by: Gushka Can Has Kittehs what plays fetch! at March 26, 2017 09:05 PM (YhV5r)
173
These myths about pedo rings lend to the helicopter hysteria.
When I was a kid, we just had to steer clear of the gym teachers.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie
Okay. This is obligatory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp40GyiE_Zg
When I was a kid, we just had to steer clear of the gym teachers.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie
Okay. This is obligatory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp40GyiE_Zg
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at March 26, 2017 09:08 PM (vRcUp)
174
The odds of a stranger abducting your kid are astronomically low.
I don't even worry about it.
Posted by: Warden at March 26, 2017 09:04 PM (YOnlm)
+++
Many years ago the media would give out frightening statistics about child abductions, as if some nut was lurking on every corner. They omitted the fact that well over 90% of the abductions were done by one parent or another - custody cases.
The odds of a stranger abducting your kid are astronomically low.
I don't even worry about it.
Posted by: Warden at March 26, 2017 09:04 PM (YOnlm)
+++
Many years ago the media would give out frightening statistics about child abductions, as if some nut was lurking on every corner. They omitted the fact that well over 90% of the abductions were done by one parent or another - custody cases.
Posted by: washrivergal at March 26, 2017 09:08 PM (Ivjge)
175
56 Some of my cherished memories as a child was climbing the crabapple tree at my late grandmother's house.
Then picking the crabapples and raining them down on my brothers.
**************
I always found green pine cones to be perfect for putting my buddies' eyes out.
These days, only my Mormon neighbors let their kids climb trees , wallow in mud, play army and the like.
Myself, I lived in the coal country of Southwestern PA, where we climbed abandoned tipples, sneaked into old mines, and once hunkered down under a railroad bridge and let a slow train roll over us.
I was about eight years old.
Then I lived in rural Idaho, where we kids camped outside of town by ourselves over the weekend, roamed around the surrounding desert , and attempted to ride a couple of horses in a corral, by standing on the fence with a loop of bailing twine to use as reins and jumping on any horse that walked past. The horses mostly ignored us, but one bit a kid in the small of his back. Ouch!
A buddy had a practice hand grenade that his older brother, a Korean vet, had given him. It was the old-fashioned pineapple kind, with clip and pin but no explosive.
Once, we surprised a lady neighbor while holding the grenade. When she saw it my friend pulled the pin. She screamed and ran away.
I was about ten then.
Good times. Good times.
Then picking the crabapples and raining them down on my brothers.
**************
I always found green pine cones to be perfect for putting my buddies' eyes out.
These days, only my Mormon neighbors let their kids climb trees , wallow in mud, play army and the like.
Myself, I lived in the coal country of Southwestern PA, where we climbed abandoned tipples, sneaked into old mines, and once hunkered down under a railroad bridge and let a slow train roll over us.
I was about eight years old.
Then I lived in rural Idaho, where we kids camped outside of town by ourselves over the weekend, roamed around the surrounding desert , and attempted to ride a couple of horses in a corral, by standing on the fence with a loop of bailing twine to use as reins and jumping on any horse that walked past. The horses mostly ignored us, but one bit a kid in the small of his back. Ouch!
A buddy had a practice hand grenade that his older brother, a Korean vet, had given him. It was the old-fashioned pineapple kind, with clip and pin but no explosive.
Once, we surprised a lady neighbor while holding the grenade. When she saw it my friend pulled the pin. She screamed and ran away.
I was about ten then.
Good times. Good times.
Posted by: noam sayen at March 26, 2017 09:08 PM (611Lm)
176
I have seen kids these days less aware of consequences and less careful because i do think they are so shielded.
^^^^
This!
Consequences. Kids do not understand them.
^^^^
This!
Consequences. Kids do not understand them.
Posted by: blaster at March 26, 2017 09:08 PM (HV1LS)
177
164 These myths about pedo rings lend to the helicopter hysteria.
When I was a kid, we just had to steer clear of the gym teachers.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at March 26, 2017 09:03 PM (SEy7A
Watch the Documentary What Happened to Johnny Gosch, on Netflix, and Conspiracy of Silence, on YouTube, which Discovery wasforced to not air.
There is zero doubt that human trafficking rings and networks exist across the country. There is zero doubt that the powerful have less wealthy and less powerful get kids for them.
Don't call something as serious as child trafficking networks myths without looking at evidence on both sides.
When I was a kid, we just had to steer clear of the gym teachers.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at March 26, 2017 09:03 PM (SEy7A
Watch the Documentary What Happened to Johnny Gosch, on Netflix, and Conspiracy of Silence, on YouTube, which Discovery wasforced to not air.
There is zero doubt that human trafficking rings and networks exist across the country. There is zero doubt that the powerful have less wealthy and less powerful get kids for them.
Don't call something as serious as child trafficking networks myths without looking at evidence on both sides.
Posted by: Phone of Blake Lively's Racist Booty at March 26, 2017 09:08 PM (1ZlS3)
178
These myths about pedo rings lend to the helicopter hysteria.
When I was a kid, we just had to steer clear of the gym teachers.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at March 26, 2017 09:03 PM (SEy7A)
Yup.....we all knew who the weirdo 40 year old dude was who liked to try and hang with the kids and the teacher who was a little too friendly in school. We avoided them and laughed at them but kept a healthy fear lest they get their hands on ya.
Sex was not as big a thing then...it was there but wasn't front and center in everything like today. We played spin the bottle and doctor and learned how to give hickeys but anything more was a no-no.
When I was a kid, we just had to steer clear of the gym teachers.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at March 26, 2017 09:03 PM (SEy7A)
Yup.....we all knew who the weirdo 40 year old dude was who liked to try and hang with the kids and the teacher who was a little too friendly in school. We avoided them and laughed at them but kept a healthy fear lest they get their hands on ya.
Sex was not as big a thing then...it was there but wasn't front and center in everything like today. We played spin the bottle and doctor and learned how to give hickeys but anything more was a no-no.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at March 26, 2017 09:08 PM (5VlCp)
179
Our parents are more like drones than helicopters ...
Posted by: The Obama Girls at March 26, 2017 09:09 PM (ZcAbN)
180
I'm both saddened and chagrined at the paragraph that begins with, "I'm both saddened and chagrined at." Sorry, no can reedy prose being so needy.
Posted by: Marooned at March 26, 2017 09:09 PM (KdYVH)
181
Part of the difference is the neighbors looked out for one and other, and all of the children in the neighborhood. The worst thing to happen would be a neighbor reporting to my parents about some transgression. My parents knew our neighbors, went to school with them, worked with them, went to church with them. People are so transitory and there are so many people from outside the country that it is impossible to know ones neighbors the way my parents did.
Posted by: Locke Common at March 26, 2017 09:02 PM (Gofnu)
========
I think this is important in a different way. The town I grew up in that bordered Chicago is called Park Ridge. The whole town, population about 40k back then, was blocks, not neighborhoods. Subdivisions did not exist until I was 16 or so, and they were on the outskirts of town as most of the land was long ago spoken for. You could get across the whole town walking or by bike by crossing 3-4 roads with a 35-45 mph speed limit.
Suburbs are not built that way anymore.
Posted by: Locke Common at March 26, 2017 09:02 PM (Gofnu)
========
I think this is important in a different way. The town I grew up in that bordered Chicago is called Park Ridge. The whole town, population about 40k back then, was blocks, not neighborhoods. Subdivisions did not exist until I was 16 or so, and they were on the outskirts of town as most of the land was long ago spoken for. You could get across the whole town walking or by bike by crossing 3-4 roads with a 35-45 mph speed limit.
Suburbs are not built that way anymore.
Posted by: Flyboy at March 26, 2017 09:10 PM (TBXMD)
182
I didn't get to use a firearm until I was thirrteen.
...and my father stacked wood in my Grandma's basement until I was able to hit a crayon from ten yards.
...and it went through the seven inches of wood, and ninety-year-old bricks and landed in Grandma's front yard.
-With a .22 Winchester, Bolt-Action, spring-loader, (action?).
That's what he called it. I barely remember it.
Then we ate "hamburgs" and baked beans.
...and my father stacked wood in my Grandma's basement until I was able to hit a crayon from ten yards.
...and it went through the seven inches of wood, and ninety-year-old bricks and landed in Grandma's front yard.
-With a .22 Winchester, Bolt-Action, spring-loader, (action?).
That's what he called it. I barely remember it.
Then we ate "hamburgs" and baked beans.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 09:11 PM (6gk0M)
183
There were 3 or 4 of us back in the teens who used to "explore" the developing Spokane area....
...Once, we bicycled out to a few under-construction houses where the floor trusses typical of the era were barely completed and temporarily nailed stringers covered the concrete-framed, basement below.
During that mischief, one of my long-time friends decided [for whatever reason] to crawl out on one of the floor trusses, and about 5 feet out, one of the nailed end sections gave. He fell the typical 8' distance to the concrete basement floor, and I can still see in my mind a fast-forward video of how we'd all be arrested and put on trial for his negligent homicide...
But the first concern was for my "old" friend. How could he survive an 8' fall to concrete while hanging on to a truss?
A few minutes later after we'd rushed to climb down into the "basement" to see how he was, he'd fully recovered and only wondered, "What happened?".
-Just one of a dozen or more "incidents" that young people go through - if allowed - in becoming "adults". It is unfortunate, BUT if we wish to legislate every cut, bruise and bad experience [mental or physical] associated with the [often idiotic] behavior of "growing up", then we will ALSO legislate out EVERY bit of growth associated with the very painful process of become adults in a universe that is DEMONSTRABLY designed NOT to cotter to our every whim...
By the way, two of those friends - including the one who "fell" - have become successful architects....
...Once, we bicycled out to a few under-construction houses where the floor trusses typical of the era were barely completed and temporarily nailed stringers covered the concrete-framed, basement below.
During that mischief, one of my long-time friends decided [for whatever reason] to crawl out on one of the floor trusses, and about 5 feet out, one of the nailed end sections gave. He fell the typical 8' distance to the concrete basement floor, and I can still see in my mind a fast-forward video of how we'd all be arrested and put on trial for his negligent homicide...
But the first concern was for my "old" friend. How could he survive an 8' fall to concrete while hanging on to a truss?
A few minutes later after we'd rushed to climb down into the "basement" to see how he was, he'd fully recovered and only wondered, "What happened?".
-Just one of a dozen or more "incidents" that young people go through - if allowed - in becoming "adults". It is unfortunate, BUT if we wish to legislate every cut, bruise and bad experience [mental or physical] associated with the [often idiotic] behavior of "growing up", then we will ALSO legislate out EVERY bit of growth associated with the very painful process of become adults in a universe that is DEMONSTRABLY designed NOT to cotter to our every whim...
By the way, two of those friends - including the one who "fell" - have become successful architects....
Posted by: RhS at March 26, 2017 09:12 PM (ylb28)
184
Up till I was 9 we lived just a few blocks from Wrigley Field. I remember my mom packing me a lunch and off I'd go to watch a game. And my parents were very protective overall, but not obsessively so, as the above vignette about freedom indicates.
That was a different world. A more wholesome one in my opinion.
That was a different world. A more wholesome one in my opinion.
Posted by: LGoPs at March 26, 2017 09:13 PM (FoTxO)
185
167 143 Warden, you should watch the documentary What Happened To Johnny Gosch. This will clarify why parents don't let their children out of their sights.
********
The odds of a stranger abducting your kid are astronomically low.
I don't even worry about it.
Posted by: Warden at March 26, 2017 09:04 PM (YOnlm
This is true. But that does not mean the networks don't exist and thrive today. Because the odds are low does not mean society should tolerate it because it does happen to 1000's of parents a year.
I didn't mean you. I was making a point that the trend started 33 years ago with the national news of Johnny Gosch. That was my point.
********
The odds of a stranger abducting your kid are astronomically low.
I don't even worry about it.
Posted by: Warden at March 26, 2017 09:04 PM (YOnlm
This is true. But that does not mean the networks don't exist and thrive today. Because the odds are low does not mean society should tolerate it because it does happen to 1000's of parents a year.
I didn't mean you. I was making a point that the trend started 33 years ago with the national news of Johnny Gosch. That was my point.
Posted by: Phone of Blake Lively's Racist Booty at March 26, 2017 09:14 PM (1ZlS3)
186
Don't call something as serious as child trafficking networks myths without looking at evidence on both sides.
Posted by: Phone of Blake Lively's Racist Booty at March 26, 2017 09:08 PM (1ZlS3)
--and I think in many ways the world (by which I mean America) is a more dangerous place. An 18 year old should-have-been-a-deportee ninth grader in a suburban school? I had not even conceived that such a phenomenon existed until he and his 17 year old freshman friend got rapey and made the news.
Posted by: Phone of Blake Lively's Racist Booty at March 26, 2017 09:08 PM (1ZlS3)
--and I think in many ways the world (by which I mean America) is a more dangerous place. An 18 year old should-have-been-a-deportee ninth grader in a suburban school? I had not even conceived that such a phenomenon existed until he and his 17 year old freshman friend got rapey and made the news.
Posted by: logprof, sports tard at March 26, 2017 09:15 PM (GsAUU)
187
Are Presbyterians Anabaptists? I did not know that. Maybe I'll do a little research on them.
Posted by: t-bird
NO! Presbyterians believe that a Christian baby is born into a covenant relationship with God, and is hence eligible to be baptized.
Baptists on the other hand believe that in order to be baptized, you must give a credible profession of faith.
Then there is the sprinkling vs. immersion issue which is of less importance.
There are texts on both sides, in Acts about "households" getting baptized, suggesting the Presbyterian covenant theory, and then there are passages suggesting that you need to be able to be able to make a profession of faith before being baptized. It's one of those areas, like eschatology that is a mess. Personally, as an outsider, I don't think this should be a really big deal, as with eschatology, because it is so messy and there isn't that much emphasis placed on it. I think the emphasis lies more with justification, ethics and soteriology than with baptism or eschatology, although lots of people (like Jehovah's Witnesses and Harold Camping) stumble and fall into becoming too obsessed with eschatology.
Posted by: t-bird
NO! Presbyterians believe that a Christian baby is born into a covenant relationship with God, and is hence eligible to be baptized.
Baptists on the other hand believe that in order to be baptized, you must give a credible profession of faith.
Then there is the sprinkling vs. immersion issue which is of less importance.
There are texts on both sides, in Acts about "households" getting baptized, suggesting the Presbyterian covenant theory, and then there are passages suggesting that you need to be able to be able to make a profession of faith before being baptized. It's one of those areas, like eschatology that is a mess. Personally, as an outsider, I don't think this should be a really big deal, as with eschatology, because it is so messy and there isn't that much emphasis placed on it. I think the emphasis lies more with justification, ethics and soteriology than with baptism or eschatology, although lots of people (like Jehovah's Witnesses and Harold Camping) stumble and fall into becoming too obsessed with eschatology.
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at March 26, 2017 09:17 PM (vRcUp)
188
I got all that beat, I grew up in the Bronx in the 70s and 80s.
We used to play manhunt on the roofs of the connected tenanment houses on our block.
This is unheard of now
We used to play manhunt on the roofs of the connected tenanment houses on our block.
This is unheard of now
Posted by: Kreplach at March 26, 2017 09:17 PM (+lv+r)
189
--and I think in many ways the world (by which I mean America) is a more dangerous place. An 18 year old should-have-been-a-deportee ninth grader in a suburban school? I had not even conceived that such a phenomenon existed until he and his 17 year old freshman friend got rapey and made the news.
Posted by: logprof, sports tard at March 26, 2017 09:15 PM (GsAUU)
I wasn't surprised by that, in the least. There had already been a bunch of reports of little girls being sexually molested at public schools - IN CLASS!!
So they have the drivers slowing down to 15 mph outside, for no real reason, while the teachers let the little boys sexually molest the little girls under their school desks. That's typical in the world of the leftist.
Posted by: logprof, sports tard at March 26, 2017 09:15 PM (GsAUU)
I wasn't surprised by that, in the least. There had already been a bunch of reports of little girls being sexually molested at public schools - IN CLASS!!
So they have the drivers slowing down to 15 mph outside, for no real reason, while the teachers let the little boys sexually molest the little girls under their school desks. That's typical in the world of the leftist.
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at March 26, 2017 09:18 PM (zc3Db)
190
I think i see parents more adverse to kids getting hurt too.
I was yelled at for not making my girls wear helmets riding when they were 20!!! Holy fucking shit! they are grown women!
i keep seeing friends freak when the kids get hurt, like stitches. my sister and i were such frequent flyers at the clinic in Hauula, that we ended up personal friends with the dr. She just shook her head and muttered "horsegirls." Mom rolled her eyes when we split our chins on ATCs. or the pool or the rocks bodysurfing where we shouldnt. But even mom has changed these days. she looked at my medical records about a year ago and started to cry because I have broken both ankles, all my toes and fingers my forearm on one arm, and my Humerus on the other. Busted my back twice. Now she doesnt want me riding. Begged me not to. tries to make me miserable over it. Even complains to Bebes Boobs Destroy about it!
PFFFFFT. damage done. what are going to do? Im grown. i like what i do, i hate the pain, but cant imagine changing my life now. it would feel like a cage.
I was yelled at for not making my girls wear helmets riding when they were 20!!! Holy fucking shit! they are grown women!
i keep seeing friends freak when the kids get hurt, like stitches. my sister and i were such frequent flyers at the clinic in Hauula, that we ended up personal friends with the dr. She just shook her head and muttered "horsegirls." Mom rolled her eyes when we split our chins on ATCs. or the pool or the rocks bodysurfing where we shouldnt. But even mom has changed these days. she looked at my medical records about a year ago and started to cry because I have broken both ankles, all my toes and fingers my forearm on one arm, and my Humerus on the other. Busted my back twice. Now she doesnt want me riding. Begged me not to. tries to make me miserable over it. Even complains to Bebes Boobs Destroy about it!
PFFFFFT. damage done. what are going to do? Im grown. i like what i do, i hate the pain, but cant imagine changing my life now. it would feel like a cage.
Posted by: Gushka Can Has Kittehs what plays fetch! at March 26, 2017 09:18 PM (YhV5r)
191
The main thing is that these kiddy porn guys are city folks, you don't see that kind of thing in a rural area because its too hard to hide it and there are fewer vulnerable kids. And, like people said above: other parents looked out for other peope's kids too
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at March 26, 2017 09:18 PM (39g3+)
192
Meanwhile, CNN wonders if Trump is already a "lame-duck."
Posted by: JoeF. at March 26, 2017 09:19 PM (8HGb7)
193
BB Gun wars.
Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at March 26, 2017 09:19 PM (89T5c)
194
I was a kid in Ireland till i wa eight,we plyed outside UNSUPERVISED till dark EVERY night.
When we moved to America my brothers and i got our first bikes ,we rode 4/5 miles to school and back every day.
We three had a paper route of 300 papers every morning 7 days a week ,52 weeks a year no days of not Christmas ,not summer,up at 4 am.
I miss the hell out of it.
This was all back in the 50s'
When we moved to America my brothers and i got our first bikes ,we rode 4/5 miles to school and back every day.
We three had a paper route of 300 papers every morning 7 days a week ,52 weeks a year no days of not Christmas ,not summer,up at 4 am.
I miss the hell out of it.
This was all back in the 50s'
Posted by: jonjo at March 26, 2017 09:19 PM (nIGPZ)
195
Dad talked about a "spring" in a bolt-action LR, but I thought that had to do with a magazine.
As you can tell, I have no idea what I'm talking about.
I don't mind that, as long as I can learn from The Horde.
As you can tell, I have no idea what I'm talking about.
I don't mind that, as long as I can learn from The Horde.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 09:19 PM (6gk0M)
196
I think part of the rise of over-protectionism is the rise in pedophilia.
A couple of decades ago, a pedophile did what he did but perhaps felt ashamed of his urges.
Now, there are entire websites out there devoted to his hunger. And he knows he can agitate democrats until they declare his lifestyle "the new normal." (You know Hollywood is pushing for this.)
A decade or two ago, a 14 year old raped by two older teens would be headline news across the county. Outrage would soar.
Now, the story is buried because it doesn't fit the narrative. If the story got out, outrage would soar. And outrage only goes one way for them.
So yeah, I blame the internet.
A couple of decades ago, a pedophile did what he did but perhaps felt ashamed of his urges.
Now, there are entire websites out there devoted to his hunger. And he knows he can agitate democrats until they declare his lifestyle "the new normal." (You know Hollywood is pushing for this.)
A decade or two ago, a 14 year old raped by two older teens would be headline news across the county. Outrage would soar.
Now, the story is buried because it doesn't fit the narrative. If the story got out, outrage would soar. And outrage only goes one way for them.
So yeah, I blame the internet.
Posted by: BeckoningChasm at March 26, 2017 09:19 PM (MZcWR)
Posted by: Chris M at March 26, 2017 09:19 PM (6RZos)
198
When I was real little, my dad would sometimes let me lower the bulldozer blade or backhoe bucket at the end of his day. Somehow I don't think letting my kid move the mouse to the corner to put my computer to sleep would provide as lasting of a memory...
Posted by: t-bird at March 26, 2017 09:20 PM (29QcC)
199
I read this when it came out and fully agreed with it's premise. Only problem is it was written by Hanna rosin, a big govt. Lib tha never misses a chance to advocate for yet another program and bash those that oppose them. Screw her.
Posted by: Ripley at March 26, 2017 09:20 PM (NbRJx)
200
The worst for me at 8 was having a friend stuck in quicksand and not being able to get him out or go for help for fear he would sink deeper. Suddenly an adult showed up and was able to straddle the hole and pull him out. Yeah, we were free range kids back then.
Posted by: Puddin Head at March 26, 2017 09:21 PM (vV/gB)
201
My wife grew up in Detroit. Not in the suburbs. The hood. She rode city buses to school at single digit ages.
But again - no way with our kids.
Posted by: blaster at March 26, 2017 08:12
My wife grew up in the south Chicago suburbs, Chicago Hts. She and her friends were allowed to take the train downtown ca. 1970 at age 14.
Times have changed, and not for the better.
But again - no way with our kids.
Posted by: blaster at March 26, 2017 08:12
My wife grew up in the south Chicago suburbs, Chicago Hts. She and her friends were allowed to take the train downtown ca. 1970 at age 14.
Times have changed, and not for the better.
Posted by: Farmer at March 26, 2017 09:22 PM (o/90i)
202
Another memory. Both of my Grandmothers were the typical and sweet, indulgent old ladies that are a typical Grandma is when we saw them every couple of weeks. They baked cakes, pies and cookies and gave the 4 of us candy.
That is, UNTIL, my parents had to go to a Convention in Orlando for a week. They both came to look after the 4 of us for that week. OMG! I had not seen two white haired, old, female drill sargeants before. That's when I understood why my 60s parents were the way they were.
That is, UNTIL, my parents had to go to a Convention in Orlando for a week. They both came to look after the 4 of us for that week. OMG! I had not seen two white haired, old, female drill sargeants before. That's when I understood why my 60s parents were the way they were.
Posted by: Flyboy at March 26, 2017 09:22 PM (TBXMD)
203
Posted by: Gushka Can Has Kittehs what plays fetch! at March 26, 2017 09:18 PM (YhV5r)
I remember many trips to the emergency room for myself or my brother (mostly him, as he had a way of doing the most fucked-up things). Nowadays, when you take a kid into an emergency room for a broken bone or bad scrapes for falling off a bike the parent/guardian gets interrogated like a known terrorist with the assumption that they have beaten the kid. It's crazy. And these shithead doctors are the same ones who refuse to report illegals who come in ... but they really love treating American parents as if they are the worst scum on Earth.
I remember many trips to the emergency room for myself or my brother (mostly him, as he had a way of doing the most fucked-up things). Nowadays, when you take a kid into an emergency room for a broken bone or bad scrapes for falling off a bike the parent/guardian gets interrogated like a known terrorist with the assumption that they have beaten the kid. It's crazy. And these shithead doctors are the same ones who refuse to report illegals who come in ... but they really love treating American parents as if they are the worst scum on Earth.
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at March 26, 2017 09:22 PM (zc3Db)
204
Love reading all the Moron childhood memories. They are reminiscent of my own...riding bikes or horses all over town, building model plastic cars and then rolling them down the sidewalk with a lit cherry bomb on board to watch them explode.
When I was five, Dad built me a motorized go-cart re-working and welding a repurposed tricycle frame; used lawn-mower engine and wheels, an old kitchen chair for a "bucket seat." It was actually a contest between him and his uncle to see who could build the fastest one.
My first solo ride ended in a head-on collision with a big oak tree. But I learned pretty quick and never wrecked it again. So, yeah, learning to "drive" at age 5 was pretty cool. Never tired of riding that cart. It's still down in the barn at my parents' house.
When I was five, Dad built me a motorized go-cart re-working and welding a repurposed tricycle frame; used lawn-mower engine and wheels, an old kitchen chair for a "bucket seat." It was actually a contest between him and his uncle to see who could build the fastest one.
My first solo ride ended in a head-on collision with a big oak tree. But I learned pretty quick and never wrecked it again. So, yeah, learning to "drive" at age 5 was pretty cool. Never tired of riding that cart. It's still down in the barn at my parents' house.
Posted by: EyeTest at March 26, 2017 09:22 PM (5x9My)
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 09:24 PM (6gk0M)
206
Sigh! Grew up on a farm (see nic). Two streams, woods, pastures, 2 barns, 3 families, piles of out-buildings, tool rooms including a smithy, roofs to climb on, blackberries to pick, dogs, cats, cows, pigs, and all the rest. A wet sneaker was so common they got a nickname: a soaker. And when it rained, there was a 60' long attic with a train layout.
Mom would call us home with a bell.
I felt sad that I could not give the same gift to my kids. Although, I let them be pretty free-range, too. Not as much as me, but they wandered all over the small town we live in. So there is that.
Mom would call us home with a bell.
I felt sad that I could not give the same gift to my kids. Although, I let them be pretty free-range, too. Not as much as me, but they wandered all over the small town we live in. So there is that.
Posted by: LochLomondFarms at March 26, 2017 09:24 PM (E3khY)
Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 26, 2017 09:25 PM (pGvPP)
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 09:27 PM (6gk0M)
209
I think one of the things that has caused hyper protectiveness is that people are having fewer kids so a couple that might have had 3-5 kids is having one kid so that child is more valuable.
Hence the extreme overprotectedness.
Hence the extreme overprotectedness.
Posted by: Kreplach at March 26, 2017 09:27 PM (+lv+r)
210
191
The main thing is that these kiddy porn guys are city folks, you don't
see that kind of thing in a rural area because its too hard to hide it
and there are fewer vulnerable kids. And, like people said above: other
parents looked out for other peope's kids too
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at March 26, 2017 09:18 PM (39g3+)
Not true.My best pal as a teen is still close to me. We both knew there were some cowboys you didnt wanna get alone with, always wanted a pal nearby and still stuff happened. This is Clovis County and so cal when it was all farms. Kern to some extent. Every horse show we went to we knew which Judges were horndogs and AVOID THEM. yeah they didnt care if you were 12, if you looked 14.dont tell me it only happened in the city.
and out in the santa ana riverbed we used to know if you saw MS 13 graffitti you make your pony run like HELL, if you saw a mexican man, much less more than one. This was when it was all bean fields and strawberries and tomatoes.
The main thing is that these kiddy porn guys are city folks, you don't
see that kind of thing in a rural area because its too hard to hide it
and there are fewer vulnerable kids. And, like people said above: other
parents looked out for other peope's kids too
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at March 26, 2017 09:18 PM (39g3+)
Not true.My best pal as a teen is still close to me. We both knew there were some cowboys you didnt wanna get alone with, always wanted a pal nearby and still stuff happened. This is Clovis County and so cal when it was all farms. Kern to some extent. Every horse show we went to we knew which Judges were horndogs and AVOID THEM. yeah they didnt care if you were 12, if you looked 14.dont tell me it only happened in the city.
and out in the santa ana riverbed we used to know if you saw MS 13 graffitti you make your pony run like HELL, if you saw a mexican man, much less more than one. This was when it was all bean fields and strawberries and tomatoes.
Posted by: Gushka Can Has Kittehs what plays fetch! at March 26, 2017 09:27 PM (YhV5r)
211
We rode our bikes all day and tromped through the woods, outdoors all day except for Bugs Bunny on Saturday mornings. One reason we could do that was the cultural cohesiveness, the shared ethos of grown-ups. Today, many of them are confused about who belongs in the womens' showers, not to mention the Rockville restrooms.
Posted by: The Gipper Lives at March 26, 2017 09:27 PM (Ndje9)
212
And it should be noted that a lot of what propels this helicopter parent madness isn't just the scare stories that people eat up but the lawyers and the courts. They are ready to slap lawsuits (and the idiot judges ready to let them run amok in the courts) over anything. You can't have people sledding anymore because if someone gets hurt then the landowner is liable. Etc., etc.
This constitutes a great deal of the tightening of the leash around children. It's killed diving boards in pools. It's killed lots of fun stuff ... because the courts have no common sense and are happy to totally screw over society just to get their own jollies, and a few bucks.
This constitutes a great deal of the tightening of the leash around children. It's killed diving boards in pools. It's killed lots of fun stuff ... because the courts have no common sense and are happy to totally screw over society just to get their own jollies, and a few bucks.
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at March 26, 2017 09:28 PM (zc3Db)
213
It's already all been said by now, probably, but I've marveled and despaired - mostly quietly - about the near-total disappearance of freedom and childhood from, well, childhood.
No kids myself but my peers' kids were really more programmed then sheltered, plus their circumstances were different. We were lucky to grow up in the pre-sheltered era, in a place with lots of canyons to explore and build forts and find dead coyotes and try to kill yourself in using various methods (bike jumps, etc.).
Boys: you'll be home, like animals, when you're hungry, so between school and dinner, please disappear and return without major injuries or the police. That was it.
Girls: not so sure. They generally didn't do the same outdoor stuff, so I don't know where they went or what they did.
Anyway, no amount of chin-pulling over pedo kidnapping rings or anything else will ever make me do anything but shake my head and feel sorry for today's unfree kids.
No kids myself but my peers' kids were really more programmed then sheltered, plus their circumstances were different. We were lucky to grow up in the pre-sheltered era, in a place with lots of canyons to explore and build forts and find dead coyotes and try to kill yourself in using various methods (bike jumps, etc.).
Boys: you'll be home, like animals, when you're hungry, so between school and dinner, please disappear and return without major injuries or the police. That was it.
Girls: not so sure. They generally didn't do the same outdoor stuff, so I don't know where they went or what they did.
Anyway, no amount of chin-pulling over pedo kidnapping rings or anything else will ever make me do anything but shake my head and feel sorry for today's unfree kids.
Posted by: rhomboid at March 26, 2017 09:28 PM (QDnY+)
214
My childhood was in the 50's ... so maybe a little different than today. When I was 6yo, I was taking the bus downtown alone in December (Edmonton Alberta, at that time city of 1/4 mil.) on weekends to visit all the Santa's a nd score candidates and coloring books. At 10yo, I was riding my bike 15 miles out the hiway to visit grandparents. S summers were all outdoors and check, the winters were as well. Skating rinks in every neighborhood and all crowded with us kids. Scout camp was 2 weeks out in the Rockies after we spent the winter meetings building kayaks. Way out in the Rockies ... 30 to 40 miles of logging road.
No tv. Indoors reading or outdoors playing. Eating carrots out of the garden, stealing crabapples out of neighboring yards. Drinking from garden hoses. Playing in the snow at 30 below.
Good times.
Gone forever except for memories.
No tv. Indoors reading or outdoors playing. Eating carrots out of the garden, stealing crabapples out of neighboring yards. Drinking from garden hoses. Playing in the snow at 30 below.
Good times.
Gone forever except for memories.
Posted by: WingNut at March 26, 2017 09:28 PM (H2A/5)
215
197 It's truly a horrible world filled with horrible people.
Posted by: Chris M at March 26, 2017 09:19 PM (6RZos)
The sooner it all burns in cleansing fire the better.
Posted by: Chris M at March 26, 2017 09:19 PM (6RZos)
The sooner it all burns in cleansing fire the better.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 09:29 PM (0mRoj)
216
6 So why isn't the Horde discussing the NCAA women's tournament, huh? Haters!!1!
Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at March 26, 2017 08:00 PM (8fypK)
___
Not really interested what "student" athletes who can't spell their names do. This goes for football too.
Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at March 26, 2017 08:00 PM (8fypK)
___
Not really interested what "student" athletes who can't spell their names do. This goes for football too.
Posted by: #neverskankles at March 26, 2017 09:29 PM (vsYKI)
217
Not true.My best pal as a teen is still close to me. We both knew there were some cowboys you didnt wanna get alone with, always wanted a pal nearby and still stuff happened.
Sure, but I was referring to big rings of essentially slavery, with kids being taken and used by an organization, not just some assorted scumbags. They're everywhere, but that's not what Phone of Blake Lively was talking about and what I was responding to.
I am of the opinion that the number of girls that grew up without at least one molestation incident or attempt are in the single digits. But that's a far cry from a pedo ring.
Sure, but I was referring to big rings of essentially slavery, with kids being taken and used by an organization, not just some assorted scumbags. They're everywhere, but that's not what Phone of Blake Lively was talking about and what I was responding to.
I am of the opinion that the number of girls that grew up without at least one molestation incident or attempt are in the single digits. But that's a far cry from a pedo ring.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at March 26, 2017 09:30 PM (39g3+)
218
Nice post Warren, very similar to one I wrote a couple of years ago called " a love letter to childhood". Same kind of responses too. It's sad and not good for our kids.
Posted by: Weirddave at March 26, 2017 09:30 PM (QGamW)
219
"Hence the overprotectedness"
True. Because there are fewer or no older siblings to look after them, and act as a sort of buffer....thus easing a parent's piece of mind....
True. Because there are fewer or no older siblings to look after them, and act as a sort of buffer....thus easing a parent's piece of mind....
Posted by: JoeF. at March 26, 2017 09:31 PM (8HGb7)
Posted by: t-bird at March 26, 2017 09:31 PM (/wWB4)
221
TPOP for the win.
The suffocation of freedom, spontaneity, excitement, adventure, charity, and life by liability and a judicially-degraded society are behind much of this.
But of course this wet blanket of Stupid and Ridiculous suffocates freedom for adults, not just kids.
I remain astonished that adult pick-up ice hockey can still be played in the US. For a time in the 70s it was just about shut down in SoCal (along with most rinks) because of a liability onslaught, but somehow it survived and continued.
The suffocation of freedom, spontaneity, excitement, adventure, charity, and life by liability and a judicially-degraded society are behind much of this.
But of course this wet blanket of Stupid and Ridiculous suffocates freedom for adults, not just kids.
I remain astonished that adult pick-up ice hockey can still be played in the US. For a time in the 70s it was just about shut down in SoCal (along with most rinks) because of a liability onslaught, but somehow it survived and continued.
Posted by: rhomboid at March 26, 2017 09:31 PM (QDnY+)
222
And these shithead doctors are the same ones who
refuse to report illegals who come in ... but they really love treating
American parents as if they are the worst scum on Earth.
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at March 26, 2017 09:22 PM (zc3Db)
for a while my mom was a parole officer for child abusers. Not to excuse officious prickiness but some people really are the scum of the earth and hide it well. Both of my husbands were ACTUALLY neglected enough as kids that one had a broken arm for 10 days and nobody noticed. Grimmy ran cross country on a broken leg for two months because his mom called him a complainer and didnt have time to take him to the dr.
refuse to report illegals who come in ... but they really love treating
American parents as if they are the worst scum on Earth.
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at March 26, 2017 09:22 PM (zc3Db)
for a while my mom was a parole officer for child abusers. Not to excuse officious prickiness but some people really are the scum of the earth and hide it well. Both of my husbands were ACTUALLY neglected enough as kids that one had a broken arm for 10 days and nobody noticed. Grimmy ran cross country on a broken leg for two months because his mom called him a complainer and didnt have time to take him to the dr.
Posted by: Gushka Can Has Kittehs what plays fetch! at March 26, 2017 09:31 PM (YhV5r)
223
@207
The insane things we used to do.
We used to play in the train layups and run onto the tracks between the trains.
We used to ride our bikes clear across the boro from one burned down neighborhood to the next.
Fun times
The insane things we used to do.
We used to play in the train layups and run onto the tracks between the trains.
We used to ride our bikes clear across the boro from one burned down neighborhood to the next.
Fun times
Posted by: Kreplach at March 26, 2017 09:31 PM (+lv+r)
224
Where is FenelonSpoke when you really need her? She's a theologian - she could back me up.
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at March 26, 2017 09:32 PM (vRcUp)
225
When I was in high school, getting good grades and SATs was all you needed to get into a good college. Today, everyone has good grades due to grade inflation. So instead of spending time outside doing stuff, kids today need to spend hours and hours on SAT tutotrs and extra curricular activities that look good for college applications. Simply saying " I rode my bike a lot and enjoyed the outdoors" doesn't get many points.
Posted by: #neverskankles at March 26, 2017 09:32 PM (vsYKI)
226
I wish I had good childhood nostalgia stories. I hated most of my childhood and wish I could have it somehow removed from my long-term memory.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 09:32 PM (0mRoj)
227
Now at "Oceanside", The Walking Dead have barnacles.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 09:33 PM (6gk0M)
228
Thanks, Warden. Great piece. Something has indeed been lost. Can it possibly be unconnected to the new proliferation of young males who are not men, and who are unlikely to ever be men?
Posted by: Splunge at March 26, 2017 09:33 PM (iMxBJ)
229
True. Because there are fewer or no older siblings to look after them, and act as a sort of buffer....thus easing a parent's piece of mind....
Posted by: JoeF. at March 26, 2017 09:31 PM (8HGb7)
========
True. I am the oldest of 4 within 6 years. Many I knew were the same. If you screw with my brother or sisters, assuming they did not truly do something to deserve it, you would also be dealing with me.
Posted by: JoeF. at March 26, 2017 09:31 PM (8HGb7)
========
True. I am the oldest of 4 within 6 years. Many I knew were the same. If you screw with my brother or sisters, assuming they did not truly do something to deserve it, you would also be dealing with me.
Posted by: Flyboy at March 26, 2017 09:34 PM (B0O0w)
230
Or Fen would give me a smackdown, but I don't think so. I've never been to seminary, but I'm pretty sure I'm right. Even though I'm tight, like Hillary on election night.
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at March 26, 2017 09:35 PM (vRcUp)
231
@226 ... I hated being a kid. I remember disliking the lack of freedom and hypocritical adults.
I prefer being a hypocritical adult.
I prefer being a hypocritical adult.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at March 26, 2017 09:35 PM (SEy7A)
232
I live in an older negborhood with relatively little traffic and so me very nice parks. And they are empty. I encourage my kids to go out on their own but most of the other parents keep their kids under lock and key, or at least a very short leash. There are a few kids I never see but I know exist but their parents won't even let them play with the our small group we havebecause, I don't know, too dangerous? I absolutely can't imagine the kids putting b together a pick up game of baseball or football without the adults to run it, even if we had enough kids, which we don't . What is wrong with people?
A neighborhood like this ought to be filled with kids playing in
the park, riding bikes, playing hide and seek, cutting across people lawns, etc... Instead just the occasional parent, mostly Mexicans, escorting their kids to the playground, then back home. It is beyond sad and tragic. It is watching the death of the nation.
A neighborhood like this ought to be filled with kids playing in
the park, riding bikes, playing hide and seek, cutting across people lawns, etc... Instead just the occasional parent, mostly Mexicans, escorting their kids to the playground, then back home. It is beyond sad and tragic. It is watching the death of the nation.
Posted by: Ripley at March 26, 2017 09:35 PM (NbRJx)
233
228 Thanks, Warden. Great piece. Something has indeed been lost. Can it possibly be unconnected to the new proliferation of young males who are not men, and who are unlikely to ever be men?
Posted by: Splunge at March 26, 2017 09:33 PM (iMxBJ)
The younger generation of males has had masculinity drugged, shamed, beaten, pathologized and criminalized out of them. The product of a feminist and feminized society.
Posted by: Splunge at March 26, 2017 09:33 PM (iMxBJ)
The younger generation of males has had masculinity drugged, shamed, beaten, pathologized and criminalized out of them. The product of a feminist and feminized society.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 09:35 PM (0mRoj)
234
So they have the drivers slowing down to 15 mph outside, for no real reason, while the teachers let the little boys sexually molest the little girls under their school desks. That's typical in the world of the leftist.
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at March 26, 2017 09:18 PM (zc3Db)
--and of course leftoids shrug it off as The Price of Diversity.
They'll never get around to informing us of the concrete Benefits of Diversity.
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at March 26, 2017 09:18 PM (zc3Db)
--and of course leftoids shrug it off as The Price of Diversity.
They'll never get around to informing us of the concrete Benefits of Diversity.
Posted by: logprof, sports tard at March 26, 2017 09:36 PM (GsAUU)
235
230 Or Fen would give me a smackdown, but I don't think so. I've never been to seminary, but I'm pretty sure I'm right. Even though I'm tight, like Hillary on election night.
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at March 26, 2017 09:35 PM (vRcUp)
I'm a lapsed Presbyterian (PCA) of many many years and you are correct.
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at March 26, 2017 09:35 PM (vRcUp)
I'm a lapsed Presbyterian (PCA) of many many years and you are correct.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 09:37 PM (0mRoj)
236
Good point about only-children and fewer siblings around. Actually that effect multiplies - fewer kids around period, fewer eyes and ears, fewer people to report on things or correct or fix them.
But a possible chicken/egg dynamic here, too.
I frequently lament the disappearance of Americans from America, meaning of course mindset (not ethnicity or birthplace).
Hard to see today's "helicopter parents" or their poor unfree kids *ever* contributing to a resurgence of a freedom-loving, common sensical and fair-minded American mindset. Control, dependence, regulation, lack of freedom, excessive fear - these are the things that have largely supplanted American freedom (at least in urban/suburban areas where most people live).
And just as much as freedom and accountability were part of growing up for people my age, these dreary and awful things are the norm for today's kids, and apparently their parents.
But a possible chicken/egg dynamic here, too.
I frequently lament the disappearance of Americans from America, meaning of course mindset (not ethnicity or birthplace).
Hard to see today's "helicopter parents" or their poor unfree kids *ever* contributing to a resurgence of a freedom-loving, common sensical and fair-minded American mindset. Control, dependence, regulation, lack of freedom, excessive fear - these are the things that have largely supplanted American freedom (at least in urban/suburban areas where most people live).
And just as much as freedom and accountability were part of growing up for people my age, these dreary and awful things are the norm for today's kids, and apparently their parents.
Posted by: rhomboid at March 26, 2017 09:37 PM (QDnY+)
237
Have to pipe up on the allergies thing. Mr. BTEG played in the dirt plenty as a boy; he's now got about six autoimmune disorders. I did play outside as a kid, including the neighborhood creek, but was relatively a lot cleaner. Outgrew a pollen allergy; no other allergies or disorders yet.
Posted by: Barb the Evil Genius at March 26, 2017 09:38 PM (FQKBL)
238
If anyone screwed with my Brother, he'd have to face me. Not many wanted to because I was "Bad News".
Then I learned that a pair of Brothers I always[i/] screwed with robbed a liquor store and one went to jail.
I wasn't that bad-ass.
But then-again, they never played Backyard Sports with us again and I never had to shove them around... lol.
Then I learned that a pair of Brothers I always[i/] screwed with robbed a liquor store and one went to jail.
I wasn't that bad-ass.
But then-again, they never played Backyard Sports with us again and I never had to shove them around... lol.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 09:38 PM (6gk0M)
239
Posted by: Gushka Can Has Kittehs what plays fetch! at March 26, 2017 09:31 PM (YhV5r)
The vast, vast majority of parents are not child abusers. Not only is it wrong to assume guilt in a parent just because a child has a broken arm but the doctors are also not cops and have no business doing anything but their pay-for-fee services - except that they certainly should reporting those who cannot pay their fee because they're illegals.
To turn doctors into cops because "it's for the children!!!" and interrogate and waterboard parents for every broken wrist that comes into a hospital is insane and un-Constitutional, I would venture.
On top of this, the doctors (psychiatrists and psychologists, mostly) have been responsible for more bullshit coming out of kids' mouths being accepted and ruing people's lives than anything. They love to ask kids leading questions and trick them into saying bad shit about their parents or other adults ... for some twisted reason. But those people are rarely ever held responsible and even less so criminally liable.
The vast, vast majority of parents are not child abusers. Not only is it wrong to assume guilt in a parent just because a child has a broken arm but the doctors are also not cops and have no business doing anything but their pay-for-fee services - except that they certainly should reporting those who cannot pay their fee because they're illegals.
To turn doctors into cops because "it's for the children!!!" and interrogate and waterboard parents for every broken wrist that comes into a hospital is insane and un-Constitutional, I would venture.
On top of this, the doctors (psychiatrists and psychologists, mostly) have been responsible for more bullshit coming out of kids' mouths being accepted and ruing people's lives than anything. They love to ask kids leading questions and trick them into saying bad shit about their parents or other adults ... for some twisted reason. But those people are rarely ever held responsible and even less so criminally liable.
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at March 26, 2017 09:38 PM (zc3Db)
240
The younger generation of males has had masculinity drugged, shamed, beaten, pathologized and criminalized out of them. The product of a feminist and feminized society.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 09:35 PM (0mRoj)
======
My 20 year old daughter is dating a 27 year old guy for this reason. When I asked her why the disparity, she said " have you seen the man bunned pussies thst are my age?".
Well played, kiddo.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 09:35 PM (0mRoj)
======
My 20 year old daughter is dating a 27 year old guy for this reason. When I asked her why the disparity, she said " have you seen the man bunned pussies thst are my age?".
Well played, kiddo.
Posted by: Flyboy at March 26, 2017 09:39 PM (B0O0w)
241
Nice close-tag, Slapweasel.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 09:39 PM (6gk0M)
242
My older brother, who is now deceased, and I were detailed by old Pappy Eromero to tear down some tenant houses on our place. They were about 3/4 mile from our house. I had a brick fall from the top of a chimney, bounce off the floor, then go up and hit me on top my 6 year old punkin head. Knocked a hold about the size of a quarter in my skull. I walked alone 2 miles to my Aunt Pat's house and she took me to the doctor. No sweat.
Posted by: Eromero at March 26, 2017 09:39 PM (zLDYs)
243
231 @226 ... I hated being a kid. I remember disliking the lack of freedom and hypocritical adults.
I prefer being a hypocritical adult.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at March 26, 2017 09:35 PM (SEy7A)
I try not to be a hypocritical adult, even though I suck at life overall. I learned pretty quickly that a great many of the people around me were nasty little shits, the grown ups in positions of authority being the nastiest little shits of all.
I prefer being a hypocritical adult.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at March 26, 2017 09:35 PM (SEy7A)
I try not to be a hypocritical adult, even though I suck at life overall. I learned pretty quickly that a great many of the people around me were nasty little shits, the grown ups in positions of authority being the nastiest little shits of all.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 09:39 PM (0mRoj)
244
In high school I was in marksmanship class and walked to school with a Marlin .22lr single shot bolt action rifle slung over my shoulder.
I was 13 or 14.
I was 13 or 14.
Posted by: navybrat at March 26, 2017 09:40 PM (rnOcr)
245
neverskankles with a very good point about the hyper-competition for college admission these days (to "better" schools, at least) driving some of the scheduled drone lives of high schoolers, in any case.
Posted by: rhomboid at March 26, 2017 09:41 PM (QDnY+)
246
Thanks, Warden. Great piece. Something has indeed been lost. Can it possibly be unconnected to the new proliferation of young males who are not men, and who are unlikely to ever be men?
Posted by: Splunge at March 26, 2017 09:33 PM (iMxBJ)
Good point Splunge. We were taught literally by osmosis from family and friends to treat each other with respect, treat women with respect and try and be a man in all things. We failed a lot but we tried. We would never think of taking advantage of a lady, even if we thought we could get "away" with it. No one is teaching young boys today how to become men and what it entails to be a man.
Posted by: Splunge at March 26, 2017 09:33 PM (iMxBJ)
Good point Splunge. We were taught literally by osmosis from family and friends to treat each other with respect, treat women with respect and try and be a man in all things. We failed a lot but we tried. We would never think of taking advantage of a lady, even if we thought we could get "away" with it. No one is teaching young boys today how to become men and what it entails to be a man.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at March 26, 2017 09:41 PM (5VlCp)
247
Grandson, who is now 16 still reminisces about the road rash G'ma got while playing catch football with him in the street. You just had to catch that ball, huh?
Posted by: Infidel at March 26, 2017 09:43 PM (uKRys)
248
The old, better world has passed away. It slipped from our grasp and torments us as an apparition of a loved one that can no longer be embraced.
The old, better world has passed away. It slipped from our grasp and torments us as an apparition of a loved one that can no longer be embraced.
Posted by: otho at March 26, 2017 09:44 PM (lmIoG)
249
Good point Splunge. We were taught literally by osmosis from family and friends to treat each other with respect, treat women with respect and try and be a man in all things
Eh. I don't believe anyone is automatically due respect or deference because they possess a certain type of genitalia. Respect is earned.
Eh. I don't believe anyone is automatically due respect or deference because they possess a certain type of genitalia. Respect is earned.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 09:44 PM (0mRoj)
250
When I was a kid, I got to watch PBS all day and look how special I turned out!
Posted by: Barack Hussein Obama at March 26, 2017 09:45 PM (ysprU)
251
Good point Splunge. We were taught literally by osmosis from family and friends to treat each other with respect, treat women with respect and try and be a man in all things. We failed a lot but we tried. We would never think of taking advantage of a lady, even if we thought we could get "away" with it. No one is teaching young boys today how to become men and what it entails to be a man.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at March 26, 2017 09:41 PM (5VlCp)
========
I was taught by my parents to treat all women like I would like guys to treat my sisters or Mom. Problem solved.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at March 26, 2017 09:41 PM (5VlCp)
========
I was taught by my parents to treat all women like I would like guys to treat my sisters or Mom. Problem solved.
Posted by: Flyboy at March 26, 2017 09:45 PM (B0O0w)
252
I'm a lapsed Presbyterian (PCA) of many many years and you are correct.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor
Thank you sir. PCA is a good denomination (R.C. Sproul). As I've said, I'm not religious so I cannot pray for you, but I wish you good luck, and if you're ever in NYC or Lawn Guyland, I will be happy to buy you a drink.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor
Thank you sir. PCA is a good denomination (R.C. Sproul). As I've said, I'm not religious so I cannot pray for you, but I wish you good luck, and if you're ever in NYC or Lawn Guyland, I will be happy to buy you a drink.
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at March 26, 2017 09:46 PM (vRcUp)
253
I learned from watching Trading Places that when you in the join, you shouldn't talk like no jive turkey...so close to Thanksgiving.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at March 26, 2017 09:47 PM (SEy7A)
254
"The old, better world has passed away. It slipped from our grasp and torments us as an apparition of a loved one that can no longer be embraced."
-Posted by: otho at March 26, 2017 09:44 PM (lmIoG)
Holy Shit, Dude. If I ever see you, I'm going to punch you for that haunting statement.
...in the shoulder because of your past goodness.
...but really, really hard.
-Posted by: otho at March 26, 2017 09:44 PM (lmIoG)
Holy Shit, Dude. If I ever see you, I'm going to punch you for that haunting statement.
...in the shoulder because of your past goodness.
...but really, really hard.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 09:48 PM (6gk0M)
255
Early good evening all.
Worked one graveyard shift and already I'm starting to lose track of what day it is. Stopped by to see what was on ace's mind, forgetting that it's still Sunday.
Worked one graveyard shift and already I'm starting to lose track of what day it is. Stopped by to see what was on ace's mind, forgetting that it's still Sunday.
Posted by: Country Boy at March 26, 2017 09:49 PM (Jcg9Q)
256
Thank you sir. PCA is a good denomination (R.C. Sproul). As I've said, I'm not religious so I cannot pray for you, but I wish you good luck, and if you're ever in NYC or Lawn Guyland, I will be happy to buy you a drink.
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at March 26, 2017 09:46 PM (vRcUp)
Thanks. If I'm ever out that way, I'd be most pleased to hoist a libation with you. Unfortunately I don't get out much.
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at March 26, 2017 09:46 PM (vRcUp)
Thanks. If I'm ever out that way, I'd be most pleased to hoist a libation with you. Unfortunately I don't get out much.
Posted by: Insomniac - sin valor at March 26, 2017 09:49 PM (0mRoj)
257
Depressing thread. Kids growing up with no experience or expectation of freedom does not bode well for the future. At all.
Posted by: rickl at March 26, 2017 09:49 PM (sdi6R)
258
On top of this, the doctors (psychiatrists and
psychologists, mostly) have been responsible for more bullshit coming
out of kids' mouths being accepted and ruing people's lives than
anything. They love to ask kids leading questions and trick them into
saying bad shit about their parents or other adults ... for some twisted
reason. But those people are rarely ever held responsible and even
less so criminally liable.
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at March 26, 2017 09:38 PM (zc3Db)
eh. im not really arguing with you. i think i agree with you to simply a lesser degree because i got my daughters by having them taken from people who couldnt give them stable home. One went back to the birth family as a mentally handicapped adult (as is her legal right after 20) the fucked up result was not unexpected. She tried and tried to tell people when she lived with them, someone, ANYONE. Drs, teachers, nobody believed her when she was being molested. so its a wash. i often wonder if the really officious pricks are people who missed one and it went real BAD and they are making up for their guilt by treating everyone as guilty now.
Guilt does strange things to people. Just like fear. Also i think its a class thing. Upper middle class families tend to have fewer kids and coddle them more as a sort of virtue signalling. a kind of "I love my kids more than you do" game. I see it all the time around the horse girls today. BTW i never like those people to ride horses on my property and even asked one person to leave because God help me if precious gets hurt. They would sue me for everything i got.
psychologists, mostly) have been responsible for more bullshit coming
out of kids' mouths being accepted and ruing people's lives than
anything. They love to ask kids leading questions and trick them into
saying bad shit about their parents or other adults ... for some twisted
reason. But those people are rarely ever held responsible and even
less so criminally liable.
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at March 26, 2017 09:38 PM (zc3Db)
eh. im not really arguing with you. i think i agree with you to simply a lesser degree because i got my daughters by having them taken from people who couldnt give them stable home. One went back to the birth family as a mentally handicapped adult (as is her legal right after 20) the fucked up result was not unexpected. She tried and tried to tell people when she lived with them, someone, ANYONE. Drs, teachers, nobody believed her when she was being molested. so its a wash. i often wonder if the really officious pricks are people who missed one and it went real BAD and they are making up for their guilt by treating everyone as guilty now.
Guilt does strange things to people. Just like fear. Also i think its a class thing. Upper middle class families tend to have fewer kids and coddle them more as a sort of virtue signalling. a kind of "I love my kids more than you do" game. I see it all the time around the horse girls today. BTW i never like those people to ride horses on my property and even asked one person to leave because God help me if precious gets hurt. They would sue me for everything i got.
Posted by: Gushka Can Has Kittehs what plays fetch! at March 26, 2017 09:50 PM (YhV5r)
259
The old, better world has passed away. It slipped from our grasp and torments us as an apparition of a loved one that can no longer be embraced.
Posted by: otho at March 26, 2017 09:44 PM (lmIoG)
Damn...that's heavy. I'm afraid you're right though.
Posted by: otho at March 26, 2017 09:44 PM (lmIoG)
Damn...that's heavy. I'm afraid you're right though.
Posted by: Berserker- Dragonheads Division at March 26, 2017 09:50 PM (aMlLZ)
260
I learned from watching Trading Places that when you in the join, you shouldn't talk like no jive turkey...so close to Thanksgiving.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at March 26, 2017 09:47 PM (SEy7A)
Especially if your a big Barry White looking mofo.....in cell number 9.....on the ninth floor.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at March 26, 2017 09:47 PM (SEy7A)
Especially if your a big Barry White looking mofo.....in cell number 9.....on the ninth floor.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at March 26, 2017 09:51 PM (5VlCp)
261
254
"The old, better world has passed away. It slipped from our grasp and
torments us as an apparition of a loved one that can no longer be
embraced."
-Posted by: otho at March 26, 2017 09:44 PM (lmIoG)
Holy Shit, Dude. If I ever see you, I'm going to punch you for that haunting statement.
...in the shoulder because of your past goodness.
...but really, really hard.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 09:48 PM (6gk0M)
This. SO MUCH THIS. i am calling dibs on the other shoulder. Grimmy says there are times i even LOOK haunted when i see whats going on now. Or maybe like i am going to cry at the simple WRONGNESS of what our world has become.
"The old, better world has passed away. It slipped from our grasp and
torments us as an apparition of a loved one that can no longer be
embraced."
-Posted by: otho at March 26, 2017 09:44 PM (lmIoG)
Holy Shit, Dude. If I ever see you, I'm going to punch you for that haunting statement.
...in the shoulder because of your past goodness.
...but really, really hard.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 09:48 PM (6gk0M)
This. SO MUCH THIS. i am calling dibs on the other shoulder. Grimmy says there are times i even LOOK haunted when i see whats going on now. Or maybe like i am going to cry at the simple WRONGNESS of what our world has become.
Posted by: Gushka Can Has Kittehs what plays fetch! at March 26, 2017 09:53 PM (YhV5r)
262
*Calls Upon IronGrampa*
This WILL get better. We will find our way through the darkness because We Are Americans. Period.
Underneath the filth that the left heaps upon our children, we Survive!
Beneath that filth, we clean the surface to find the Truth.
We are Americans!
Head is held HIGH!
This WILL get better. We will find our way through the darkness because We Are Americans. Period.
Underneath the filth that the left heaps upon our children, we Survive!
Beneath that filth, we clean the surface to find the Truth.
We are Americans!
Head is held HIGH!
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 09:53 PM (6gk0M)
263
@MyOtherFriend: OMG, did U C what @SoAndSo texted!?
Posted by: Kids Today at March 26, 2017 09:53 PM (TqmC9)
264
In plain English, kids today are fucked. Really don't know what else to say.
Posted by: Berserker- Dragonheads Division at March 26, 2017 09:54 PM (aMlLZ)
265
ont
Posted by: concrete girl at March 26, 2017 09:55 PM (fZXYQ)
266
re 265: rats again
Posted by: mallfly suPreme at March 26, 2017 09:56 PM (b7fwp)
267
Kid carried out groceries to car Saturday. Told Mrs. E and me that selfdriving cars would be the best thing that ever happened, but only if everybody had to use one. Didn't ask the little dude what would happen if I didn't want to be controlled that way.
Posted by: Eromero at March 26, 2017 09:58 PM (zLDYs)
268
264
In plain English, kids today are fucked. Really don't know what else to say.
Posted by: Berserker- Dragonheads Division at March 26, 2017 09:54 PM (aMlLZ)
Bers, i successfully deprogrammed two girls and one will have kids. My hopes are high that she will have many children and raise them all to be fine people. you do what you can. I steal other peoples kids and fix them, when i need extra hands to help me with the horses and i am lonely.
they hated it when i pointed out the communist messages in the cartoons they loved. but they listened. And they were MAD.
In plain English, kids today are fucked. Really don't know what else to say.
Posted by: Berserker- Dragonheads Division at March 26, 2017 09:54 PM (aMlLZ)
Bers, i successfully deprogrammed two girls and one will have kids. My hopes are high that she will have many children and raise them all to be fine people. you do what you can. I steal other peoples kids and fix them, when i need extra hands to help me with the horses and i am lonely.
they hated it when i pointed out the communist messages in the cartoons they loved. but they listened. And they were MAD.
Posted by: Gushka Can Has Kittehs what plays fetch! at March 26, 2017 09:58 PM (YhV5r)
269
Upper middle class families tend to have fewer kids and coddle them more as a sort of virtue signalling. a kind of "I love my kids more than you do" game.
Posted by: Gushka Can Has Kittehs what plays fetch! at March 26, 2017 09:50 PM (YhV5r)
I wouldn't write it all off on virtue signalling. Someone above talked about the fact that people have less kids, now. When I grew up an only child was pretty rare. These days an only child is fairly common. And families with only one child (or even just two) have different feelings about them because of the scarcity. Certainly families with one child have everything riding on that one kid. It makes them do funny things. Not always, of course, but generally.
In Israel they have been having larger families - averaging almost 3 kids per. My Israeli friends used to tell me that they liked to joke about what was happening - this was back during all the suicide bombings all over the place. They used to say, "Well, you have two kids for replacement ... and one more ... just in case." It was only partly a joke, really.
Posted by: Gushka Can Has Kittehs what plays fetch! at March 26, 2017 09:50 PM (YhV5r)
I wouldn't write it all off on virtue signalling. Someone above talked about the fact that people have less kids, now. When I grew up an only child was pretty rare. These days an only child is fairly common. And families with only one child (or even just two) have different feelings about them because of the scarcity. Certainly families with one child have everything riding on that one kid. It makes them do funny things. Not always, of course, but generally.
In Israel they have been having larger families - averaging almost 3 kids per. My Israeli friends used to tell me that they liked to joke about what was happening - this was back during all the suicide bombings all over the place. They used to say, "Well, you have two kids for replacement ... and one more ... just in case." It was only partly a joke, really.
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at March 26, 2017 09:59 PM (zc3Db)
270
Anyway, no amount of chin-pulling over pedo kidnapping rings or anything else will ever make me do anything but shake my head and feel sorry for today's unfree kids.
Posted by: rhomboid at March 26, 2017 09:28 PM
------------------
Amen, brother.
+++++++++
Girls: not so sure. They generally didn't do the same outdoor stuff, so I don't know where they went or what they did.
-----------------
Can't speak for anyone else, but I was pretty much a tomboy and up for anything the guys were doing---I was as much at home playing with Tonka trucks on dirt piles, the bike jumps, team fights with hedge-apples (those SOBs HURT when they hit you!), as playing with Barbie dolls. I recall being ridiculed and feeling hurt and shut out by the guys on more than a few occasions. And I could only stand in awe when the contest involved seeing who could shoot their pee the furthest...that was before I learned---oh, nevermind.
Posted by: rhomboid at March 26, 2017 09:28 PM
------------------
Amen, brother.
+++++++++
Girls: not so sure. They generally didn't do the same outdoor stuff, so I don't know where they went or what they did.
-----------------
Can't speak for anyone else, but I was pretty much a tomboy and up for anything the guys were doing---I was as much at home playing with Tonka trucks on dirt piles, the bike jumps, team fights with hedge-apples (those SOBs HURT when they hit you!), as playing with Barbie dolls. I recall being ridiculed and feeling hurt and shut out by the guys on more than a few occasions. And I could only stand in awe when the contest involved seeing who could shoot their pee the furthest...that was before I learned---oh, nevermind.
Posted by: EyeTest at March 26, 2017 10:01 PM (5x9My)
271
"Damn...that's heavy. I'm afraid you're right though."
-Posted by: Berserker- Dragonheads Division at March 26, 2017 09:50 PM (aMlLZ)
He ain't right. He turns off lights behind himself. It is a bit poetic, possibly sane, quite status-quo but it is foolhardy.
I choose to relight the lamp where darkness falls and LOVE the part of me that makes me a Rebel.
I choose to hold the torch and Find Our Light, rather than allow our children to fall under darkness.
Stand with me, Brave Patriots.
Light darkness afire with our passion.
-Posted by: Berserker- Dragonheads Division at March 26, 2017 09:50 PM (aMlLZ)
He ain't right. He turns off lights behind himself. It is a bit poetic, possibly sane, quite status-quo but it is foolhardy.
I choose to relight the lamp where darkness falls and LOVE the part of me that makes me a Rebel.
I choose to hold the torch and Find Our Light, rather than allow our children to fall under darkness.
Stand with me, Brave Patriots.
Light darkness afire with our passion.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 10:03 PM (6gk0M)
272
I was born in 1962 in coastal Alabama, so I guess things were different for me. You didn't hang around inside unless the weather was gloomy or excessively cold and even then, we'd just put on some jackets.
I lived in the mud. Broke bones. Caught crayfish and tadpoles in creeks and ponds. Stayed out until dark, only returning home for lunch and supper. We played backyard football without pads, rode our bikes without dorky helmets and beat the stew out of each other sometimes.
We played with toy guns, shooting each other dead with glee. We played basketball and baseball to obsession and every game had a score.
We went fishing and swimming in the bayou near where I grew up. We shot squirrels with pellet guns and .22 Marlins. We blew up mailboxes with fireworks and shot bottle rockets at each other. We threw red clay dirt clods at each other. We kissed girls on the lips and some liked it. And some cried.
I'd love to have one day again as a 10 year old, with the right combination of independence and lack of responsibility.
My boys did a lot of the same things I did and my daughter did some non-traditional things like fishing and hunting, but I think I got some odd looks from other parents when they noticed my children had some freedom at the playground, where I watched from a distance while I read or just reveled in the beauty of a sunny day.
"Aren't you worried about them getting kidnapped?" their disapproving expressions told me. No. The chances of that happening are slim to none and Papa Bear was never a quick sprint away.
I pity this modern generation who is so hermetically sealed in a cocoon of overindulgence and worry. How will they learn critical life lessons by spending the golden days of their childhood in front of a computer or video game console safe from physical danger?
I lived in the mud. Broke bones. Caught crayfish and tadpoles in creeks and ponds. Stayed out until dark, only returning home for lunch and supper. We played backyard football without pads, rode our bikes without dorky helmets and beat the stew out of each other sometimes.
We played with toy guns, shooting each other dead with glee. We played basketball and baseball to obsession and every game had a score.
We went fishing and swimming in the bayou near where I grew up. We shot squirrels with pellet guns and .22 Marlins. We blew up mailboxes with fireworks and shot bottle rockets at each other. We threw red clay dirt clods at each other. We kissed girls on the lips and some liked it. And some cried.
I'd love to have one day again as a 10 year old, with the right combination of independence and lack of responsibility.
My boys did a lot of the same things I did and my daughter did some non-traditional things like fishing and hunting, but I think I got some odd looks from other parents when they noticed my children had some freedom at the playground, where I watched from a distance while I read or just reveled in the beauty of a sunny day.
"Aren't you worried about them getting kidnapped?" their disapproving expressions told me. No. The chances of that happening are slim to none and Papa Bear was never a quick sprint away.
I pity this modern generation who is so hermetically sealed in a cocoon of overindulgence and worry. How will they learn critical life lessons by spending the golden days of their childhood in front of a computer or video game console safe from physical danger?
Posted by: grizzledcoastie at March 26, 2017 10:03 PM (GV08/)
273
Posted by: grizzledcoastie at March 26, 2017 10:03 PM (GV08/)
Bless you, Brother. I did the same thing in NorthEast Ohio.
Bless you, Brother. I did the same thing in NorthEast Ohio.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at March 26, 2017 10:10 PM (6gk0M)
274
I know I spoil my kids rotten. I probably shouldn't. But fuck it, I can afford it and I'm going to give them everything I wish I could have had. They may not have the freedom I had, but damn they'll have a VERY comfortable prison. 
Posted by: #neverskankles at March 26, 2017 10:13 PM (vsYKI)
275
In one city where I lived from age 4 to 7 we were right on the outskirts bordered on two sides by forest. We'd play there all year round including winter days. About half a mile in it was like the movie Jeremiah Johnson.
There was no expectation my mom would see us more than twice a day.
There was no expectation my mom would see us more than twice a day.
Posted by: bobbymike at March 26, 2017 10:15 PM (qfMYw)
276
There was no expectation my mom would see us more than twice a day.
Posted by: bobbymike at March 26, 2017 10:15 PM (qfMYw)
"Just make sure you're home for dinner."
Posted by: bobbymike at March 26, 2017 10:15 PM (qfMYw)
"Just make sure you're home for dinner."
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at March 26, 2017 10:16 PM (zc3Db)
277
Lady bulldogs won. Big.
That would be the Mississippi State women's basketball team-- most of whose members had childhoods more closely resembling those everyone is being nostalgic about. Because they grew up in fucking rural Mississippi. And learned how to play b'ball.
I like reading the comments here, but those about women's college basketball pissed me off.
My dad-- the one who played king of the hill with us and the neighbor kids-- had a saying: If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.
So you either say something nice about the Lady Bulldogs, or ... .
That would be the Mississippi State women's basketball team-- most of whose members had childhoods more closely resembling those everyone is being nostalgic about. Because they grew up in fucking rural Mississippi. And learned how to play b'ball.
I like reading the comments here, but those about women's college basketball pissed me off.
My dad-- the one who played king of the hill with us and the neighbor kids-- had a saying: If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.
So you either say something nice about the Lady Bulldogs, or ... .
Posted by: Marica at March 26, 2017 10:17 PM (nlXDo)
278
Yes... my children have no concept of the freedom that I enjoyed when I was young.
But I'm to blame, also.
I let my daughter walk somewhere by herself for the first time (Walgreens) when she was twelve, and I trailed after her, hiding behind trees all the way. I was babysitting other people's infants into the wee hours of the morning when I was eleven.
But I'm to blame, also.
I let my daughter walk somewhere by herself for the first time (Walgreens) when she was twelve, and I trailed after her, hiding behind trees all the way. I was babysitting other people's infants into the wee hours of the morning when I was eleven.
Posted by: Gem at March 26, 2017 10:17 PM (uaHyk)
279
Can't speak for anyone else, but I was pretty much a tomboy and up for anything the guys were doing---I was as much at home playing with Tonka trucks on dirt piles, the bike jumps, team fights with hedge-apples (those SOBs HURT when they hit you!), as playing with Barbie dolls. I recall being ridiculed and feeling hurt and shut out by the guys on more than a few occasions. And I could only stand in awe when the contest involved seeing who could shoot their pee the furthest...that was before I learned---oh, nevermind.
Posted by: EyeTest at March 26, 2017 10:01 PM (5x9My)
---
*fistbump*
Posted by: EyeTest at March 26, 2017 10:01 PM (5x9My)
---
*fistbump*
Posted by: SMFH at March 26, 2017 10:18 PM (sB1y1)
280
Other posts have mentioned the adults but helicopter parents are mostly those who have not exited childhood themselves.
In their minds and in their statements they may want to protect their kids but it's really about protecting themselves.
Snowflakes on campus are a plague but their indulgent parents are equally to blame for sheltering them to the point where mere dissent sends them into a panic.
In their minds and in their statements they may want to protect their kids but it's really about protecting themselves.
Snowflakes on campus are a plague but their indulgent parents are equally to blame for sheltering them to the point where mere dissent sends them into a panic.
Posted by: Patchy at March 26, 2017 10:19 PM (U40VA)
281
Here's a blast from the past: when is the last time you saw kids playing touch football in the street?
I spent my whole boyhood doing that (during football season). During baseball season when we weren't actually playing the game we'd put down the garage door and hit while one of us pitched.
I've played baseball all my life, but the game I most enjoyed was when I was 12, and playing in the Little League All-Star tournament. We'd been eliminated in a squeaker, and felt we'd been robbed. The next day the doorbell rang, and the guys from the ill-fated All-Star team were outside on their bikes, and were rounding up the guys to play.
We went to an asphalt-covered church parking lot and played with a rubber-coated ball (one of those Korean jobs), and called our own balls and strikes and outs, not an adult in sight.
It was the most fun game I've ever played.
I spent my whole boyhood doing that (during football season). During baseball season when we weren't actually playing the game we'd put down the garage door and hit while one of us pitched.
I've played baseball all my life, but the game I most enjoyed was when I was 12, and playing in the Little League All-Star tournament. We'd been eliminated in a squeaker, and felt we'd been robbed. The next day the doorbell rang, and the guys from the ill-fated All-Star team were outside on their bikes, and were rounding up the guys to play.
We went to an asphalt-covered church parking lot and played with a rubber-coated ball (one of those Korean jobs), and called our own balls and strikes and outs, not an adult in sight.
It was the most fun game I've ever played.
Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 26, 2017 10:34 PM (SRKgf)
282
I let my daughter walk somewhere by herself for the
first time (Walgreens) when she was twelve, and I trailed after her,
hiding behind trees all the way. I was babysitting other people's
infants into the wee hours of the morning when I was eleven.
Posted by: Gem at March 26, 2017 10:17 PM (uaHyk)
I walked alone a half mile to elementary school, crossing a major thoroughfare in the process - at age six. My wife couldn't believe it. We now live a few miles away, so I took her there so she could trace the route for herself.In fairness, I wouldn't have let either of my kids do that at six, but back then, I thought nothing of it.
first time (Walgreens) when she was twelve, and I trailed after her,
hiding behind trees all the way. I was babysitting other people's
infants into the wee hours of the morning when I was eleven.
Posted by: Gem at March 26, 2017 10:17 PM (uaHyk)
I walked alone a half mile to elementary school, crossing a major thoroughfare in the process - at age six. My wife couldn't believe it. We now live a few miles away, so I took her there so she could trace the route for herself.In fairness, I wouldn't have let either of my kids do that at six, but back then, I thought nothing of it.
Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 26, 2017 10:37 PM (SRKgf)
283
Sorry I am always late for Warden's posts. would like to see more. Many of the same childhood memories.
Posted by: RM at March 26, 2017 10:45 PM (trBqh)
284
I walked alone a half mile to elementary school, crossing a major thoroughfare in the process - at age six. My wife couldn't believe it. We now live a few miles away, so I took her there so she could trace the route for herself.In fairness, I wouldn't have let either of my kids do that at six, but back then, I thought nothing of it.
Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 26, 2017 10:37 PM (SRKgf)
Oh, yes. Six-years old was get with the program age. We only had a three block walk to school, but I was ironing my own uniform blouses, making grilled cheese for lunch, and scrubbing out toilets with ammonia when I was in first grade.
Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 26, 2017 10:37 PM (SRKgf)
Oh, yes. Six-years old was get with the program age. We only had a three block walk to school, but I was ironing my own uniform blouses, making grilled cheese for lunch, and scrubbing out toilets with ammonia when I was in first grade.
Posted by: Gem at March 26, 2017 10:49 PM (uaHyk)
285
As grade school kids in the early '60s in PA we'd play in the strip mines. We'd kill rats with slingshots and lay them on the tracks for the coal train to decapitate.
Posted by: Cosda at March 26, 2017 11:19 PM (Fg+KS)
286
What I notice about these reminiscences is the word "we." I envy you people.
Former farm boy here. SE Kansas. 13 miles from nearest town of consequence. Five miles from two villages, one of which was unexplored territory. Fat, didn't like the outdoors, only rode my bike a half-mile to the corner and back again. One younger sister.
Lonely.
Bookworm that I was, I still would climb one tree (the only one I could handle -- never did learn to shin them), play with my Major Matt Mason gear in the empty loft of one barn, climb the hay bales in the other barn, and climb into the hopper of the combine, my getaway spot. Oh yeah -- I also played in the sand in a former water trough. That thing was concrete, and I would skin my knuckles digging in the sand. Also would frequently find balls of black gunk in there. Would throw them out and keep on digging. Learned many years later that they were cat turds.
I like board games, and I had a lot, but they mostly sat on shelves. My sister would play with me, but -- sister. Sometimes I could get the folks to play. (That continues to this day -- the kids aren't into board games.)
On top of that, I was Frank Burns. I really think I would not have wanted to play with most of you; you come across as having been too rough and mischievous for me. If that makes me a prig, so be it. I am much more crude now at 55. Still try to be respectful and helpful. And I think vandals should be shot.
Don't think the wife and I were helicopter parents. We would take the kids to parks rather than make them walk. Too far and too much traffic to do otherwise. Besides, Dad was needed to push the swings.
Both boys achieved Eagle Scout, and the daughter is a Girl Scout, but none of them is an outdoors type.
But I do agree with you: Something has been lost, and it will be difficult to regain it.
Former farm boy here. SE Kansas. 13 miles from nearest town of consequence. Five miles from two villages, one of which was unexplored territory. Fat, didn't like the outdoors, only rode my bike a half-mile to the corner and back again. One younger sister.
Lonely.
Bookworm that I was, I still would climb one tree (the only one I could handle -- never did learn to shin them), play with my Major Matt Mason gear in the empty loft of one barn, climb the hay bales in the other barn, and climb into the hopper of the combine, my getaway spot. Oh yeah -- I also played in the sand in a former water trough. That thing was concrete, and I would skin my knuckles digging in the sand. Also would frequently find balls of black gunk in there. Would throw them out and keep on digging. Learned many years later that they were cat turds.
I like board games, and I had a lot, but they mostly sat on shelves. My sister would play with me, but -- sister. Sometimes I could get the folks to play. (That continues to this day -- the kids aren't into board games.)
On top of that, I was Frank Burns. I really think I would not have wanted to play with most of you; you come across as having been too rough and mischievous for me. If that makes me a prig, so be it. I am much more crude now at 55. Still try to be respectful and helpful. And I think vandals should be shot.
Don't think the wife and I were helicopter parents. We would take the kids to parks rather than make them walk. Too far and too much traffic to do otherwise. Besides, Dad was needed to push the swings.
Both boys achieved Eagle Scout, and the daughter is a Girl Scout, but none of them is an outdoors type.
But I do agree with you: Something has been lost, and it will be difficult to regain it.
Posted by: Weak Geek at March 26, 2017 11:39 PM (83Ufd)
287
This is a great post.
I grew up in a very rural area in the 70s and 80s. We had three TV channels that came in clear without having to turn the antenna. We were pretty isolated.
My dad was a lineman for the local utility and my mom worked in the public school system so she was home on snow days and vacations. We raised livestock and grew much of our own food so that meant a lot of time spent dealing with that. Summer mornings were spent picking strawberries or weeding the beans. Sometimes we would play in the pasture with the new calves (Dad wasn't pleased) or we would swing from our tree swings in the woods for hours. As the veggies started to come in we would be on duty to shell peas or snap beans or other garden related chores.
About once a week or so I would bike the three miles to and from the library to feed my book fix. I'd check out 5-6 books at a time to keep me. Occasionally I would bike down to the village to hang with friends. I had a childhood friend who was #3 of five kids, and their house was the hub of kid activity. With that many kids there was always a gang available for softball or kickball. Arrangements for play dates happened only because we lived so far away from each other.
Last week DH and I were across the street hanging with the neighbors when they brought out a foosball like NHL table hockey game. Our friend's two little boys were fascinated with the whole thing; how you had to strategically move the levers to flip the puck up and down the ice. We all had a blast competing against each other. It was so low tech but we got caught up in it. Just a simple game but so much fun.
I grew up in a very rural area in the 70s and 80s. We had three TV channels that came in clear without having to turn the antenna. We were pretty isolated.
My dad was a lineman for the local utility and my mom worked in the public school system so she was home on snow days and vacations. We raised livestock and grew much of our own food so that meant a lot of time spent dealing with that. Summer mornings were spent picking strawberries or weeding the beans. Sometimes we would play in the pasture with the new calves (Dad wasn't pleased) or we would swing from our tree swings in the woods for hours. As the veggies started to come in we would be on duty to shell peas or snap beans or other garden related chores.
About once a week or so I would bike the three miles to and from the library to feed my book fix. I'd check out 5-6 books at a time to keep me. Occasionally I would bike down to the village to hang with friends. I had a childhood friend who was #3 of five kids, and their house was the hub of kid activity. With that many kids there was always a gang available for softball or kickball. Arrangements for play dates happened only because we lived so far away from each other.
Last week DH and I were across the street hanging with the neighbors when they brought out a foosball like NHL table hockey game. Our friend's two little boys were fascinated with the whole thing; how you had to strategically move the levers to flip the puck up and down the ice. We all had a blast competing against each other. It was so low tech but we got caught up in it. Just a simple game but so much fun.
Posted by: Pickleweasel (longtime lurker turned poster) at March 26, 2017 11:46 PM (GF2c6)
288
Too bad this is abandoned thread about children, I am 65 the things I have seen as a child, like tears in the rain.
Posted by: drunkineastmesa at March 26, 2017 11:52 PM (2N9Ov)
289
Thell end up with behavioral disorders, It the in thing if you've been watching. Or on drugs, or in jail, or just barely functional sociopaths unable to uphold a simple social contract like working a job.
Posted by: pawn at March 26, 2017 11:53 PM (CQzD3)
290
"But I do agree with you: Something has been lost, and it will be difficult to regain it."
No! No! All is not lost. It's right here. It's right where you are.
Nothing has been lost.
Oh man. I din't think about this possibility. ARE YOU A MEMBER OF CONGRESS???
No! No! All is not lost. It's right here. It's right where you are.
Nothing has been lost.
Oh man. I din't think about this possibility. ARE YOU A MEMBER OF CONGRESS???
Posted by: Marica at March 26, 2017 11:55 PM (nlXDo)
291
My Mom, Cica 1963, "Don't come home unless your bleading!!!!"
Posted by: pawn at March 26, 2017 11:58 PM (CQzD3)
292
"Tears in the rain", indead. All mankind's end.
Posted by: pawn at March 26, 2017 11:59 PM (CQzD3)
293
Another scouter (and former Boy Scout) here. Despite the policies passed recently, the organization is still turning out great young men (and women in the Venturing side). In 10 years, our troop has turned out 38 Eagle Scouts and I am proud of every single one not only for his accomplishments in scouts, but his accomplishments out of scouts. Last summer we took 12 boys canoeing in the boundary waters for 10 days, covering over 100 miles without any communication other than from fellow canoeists. This year, 8 boys are backpacking 12 days in the mountains of New Mexico (Philmont). Based on my vantage point, there is plenty to be optimistic about.
Posted by: Tickedoff at March 27, 2017 12:17 AM (NxG7K)
294
Thank you. Well said.
Once I started school, I'd hang out at my friends houses after school and weekends. All within about 3 blocks of my house. When my mom wanted me home, she'd ring this great bell that our uncle gave us that was mounted on the back porch. CLANG, CLANG, CLANG. You could hear that sucker in tacoma, I bet.
When I changed schools in 4th grade, i read the city bus the 3 miles to and from. Until I found if I left 30 minutes earlier, I could walk and keep the 20 cents fare (This was the 60s) .All my parents said was 'DON'T BE LATE FOR SCHOOL'.
Starting about 6th grade, saturdays and school holidays would find me riding my bike to my cousins' house then we'd all walk down to check out the St Vinnie's, Veteran's Thrift Shop, surplus places along south Lake Union (now Amazonville) and north of the Market. All my parents said was, "If you are late for dinner, you're on your own for dinner."
Once I started school, I'd hang out at my friends houses after school and weekends. All within about 3 blocks of my house. When my mom wanted me home, she'd ring this great bell that our uncle gave us that was mounted on the back porch. CLANG, CLANG, CLANG. You could hear that sucker in tacoma, I bet.
When I changed schools in 4th grade, i read the city bus the 3 miles to and from. Until I found if I left 30 minutes earlier, I could walk and keep the 20 cents fare (This was the 60s) .All my parents said was 'DON'T BE LATE FOR SCHOOL'.
Starting about 6th grade, saturdays and school holidays would find me riding my bike to my cousins' house then we'd all walk down to check out the St Vinnie's, Veteran's Thrift Shop, surplus places along south Lake Union (now Amazonville) and north of the Market. All my parents said was, "If you are late for dinner, you're on your own for dinner."
Posted by: Just John at March 27, 2017 12:30 AM (1yGmM)
295
284 Six-years old was get with the program age. We only had a three block walk to school, but I was ironing my own uniform blouses, making grilled cheese for lunch, and scrubbing out toilets with ammonia when I was in first grade.
I truly believe that perhaps the most important words my other ever spoke to my twin and me were "you boys are in second grade, you're old enough to make your own lunches for school."
I don't think either of my parents ever saw any of us get on or off a school bus. "What are you doing inside??!? Go out and play!"
I truly believe that perhaps the most important words my other ever spoke to my twin and me were "you boys are in second grade, you're old enough to make your own lunches for school."
I don't think either of my parents ever saw any of us get on or off a school bus. "What are you doing inside??!? Go out and play!"
Posted by: LibertyDefender at March 27, 2017 12:43 AM (sKJ3P)
296
I have to send my kids to Russia to run around as freely as I did when I was a kid. Think about that one for a minute.
Posted by: Eddie Baby at March 27, 2017 12:44 AM (W7701)
297
My mother, not my other.
Posted by: LibertyDefender at March 27, 2017 12:44 AM (sKJ3P)
298
Is it REALLY "a different world now"? Seriously? has human nature changed, or something?
Bull-oney.
We just allow ourselves to get stampeded by the constant MEDIA drumbeat, "Dangerous World! Dangerous World! Dangerous World!"
The better to tame us. The better to make compliant slaves of us all. It's up to us, no one else, to make sure our kids have the freedom we had.
Bull-oney.
We just allow ourselves to get stampeded by the constant MEDIA drumbeat, "Dangerous World! Dangerous World! Dangerous World!"
The better to tame us. The better to make compliant slaves of us all. It's up to us, no one else, to make sure our kids have the freedom we had.
Posted by: Beverly at March 27, 2017 01:02 AM (Bxx8Q)
299
I lived largely in what would be called suburbia for the first 17 years I had kids. And my kids wandered around much more freely then other kids. Pre-cell phone days, too. They just had to let us know where they were going. As they got older, they realized they were being allowed to go by themselves to friend's homes that were blocks and blocks away. But that if the friend was invited to out place, mom or dad had to drive.
My youngest was born in ruralville. There's this misperception that ruralville roads are safer for kids on bicycles. They're not; they're far more dangerous. His friends live literally miles away. He's always been driven to their homes. He's always been free to wander around the yard or neighborhood. But hasn't- he had videogames. His older siblings didn't. Now that he can drive- he's got more freedom then most of his friends to drive around. But that's because we trust him. And he let's us know which of his friends aren't trustworthy out of their parent's sight. He just banned two of them from ever staying overnight at our place again because they don't know how to behave. He did- not us. We slept through the misbehavior.
My youngest was born in ruralville. There's this misperception that ruralville roads are safer for kids on bicycles. They're not; they're far more dangerous. His friends live literally miles away. He's always been driven to their homes. He's always been free to wander around the yard or neighborhood. But hasn't- he had videogames. His older siblings didn't. Now that he can drive- he's got more freedom then most of his friends to drive around. But that's because we trust him. And he let's us know which of his friends aren't trustworthy out of their parent's sight. He just banned two of them from ever staying overnight at our place again because they don't know how to behave. He did- not us. We slept through the misbehavior.
Posted by: gospace at March 27, 2017 01:48 AM (mkqcx)
300
"I'm both saddened and chagrined at the fact that neither of my boys, ages 5 and 10, have every climbed a tree, went creek walking or ran the neighborhood past dark. They've never played kick the can, toilet papered a house or swam in a pond."
That is horrible and all your fault and you know it.
That is horrible and all your fault and you know it.
Posted by: SciVo at March 27, 2017 03:26 AM (PlJlM)
301
"A couple of years back we camped at Prince Gallitzin State Park in PA.
"We took the chirruns, and we gave them their bikes and when to return if they wanted to eat, and to return when it was dark. We were able to let them go, completely. Other campers were doing the same.
"It was fantastic. It should always be thus."
That sounds awesome.
"We took the chirruns, and we gave them their bikes and when to return if they wanted to eat, and to return when it was dark. We were able to let them go, completely. Other campers were doing the same.
"It was fantastic. It should always be thus."
That sounds awesome.
Posted by: SciVo at March 27, 2017 04:08 AM (PlJlM)
302
Well, we knew not to go out to Stinkeye Pete's place. It wasn't a place so much as a ditch under a bridge.
He'd twitch suddenly and shout 'motherfucker' and swim in the muddy spillway down there when it stormed.
One day he was gone.
He'd twitch suddenly and shout 'motherfucker' and swim in the muddy spillway down there when it stormed.
One day he was gone.
Posted by: Rick at March 27, 2017 04:59 AM (0w6rb)
303
A week camping in the mountains, woodlands or by a lake would do your kids the world of good. Lots to explore, minimal nosy neighbors, other kids to share the experiences of creeks, ponds, hiking trails, swimming hole. Lots of possibilities.
Posted by: KathyP at March 27, 2017 07:25 AM (UjUKz)
304
"I'm both saddened and chagrined at the fact that neither of my boys, ages 5 and 10, have every climbed a tree, went creek walking or ran the neighborhood past dark. They've never played kick the can, toilet papered a house or swam in a pond."
It isn't too late! 10-13 is a great age to be a boy. Vacation is a great time for kids to become more independent. Camping with a couple of other families would be great. Backpacking for a weekend even better.
It isn't too late! 10-13 is a great age to be a boy. Vacation is a great time for kids to become more independent. Camping with a couple of other families would be great. Backpacking for a weekend even better.
Posted by: DM at March 27, 2017 09:09 AM (EDWuJ)
305
Other than the wonderful In Focus pictorials, I gave up on the Atlantic years ago. This article is a perfect example of why their articles are nearly worthless. 'Helicopter parents' are an extension of the 'helicopter society' they wish to propagate, one where the few dictate an ever larger portion of societal behavior which is 'acceptable.' It should not be a surprise that the two go hand in hand, just as it should not be a surprise that the Atlantic fails to see the elephant in the room.
Posted by: Phantom77069 at March 27, 2017 09:12 AM (nnZoh)
306
Except for the part about winter clothing, what the article describes is absolutely typical of boyhood in the 50s and 60s. I know; I was there. One thing was that there were so many of us, and all our parents knew one another, that we could play constantly. Hell, we could challenge a nearby neighborhood (about 3 blocks away) to games with full rosters for baseball and football.
But that was suburbia; my wife confirms the difference in growing up in the country.
I certainly don't envy the kids today.
But that was suburbia; my wife confirms the difference in growing up in the country.
I certainly don't envy the kids today.
Posted by: George LeS at March 27, 2017 09:26 AM (+TcCF)
307
Couple differences in society today vs "back in the day":
Middle America was at the height of its monoculture. All your neighbors in the suburbs were either middle class families with kids or retired grandparents. All of whom probably owned their homes, or were paying 15% on their way to owning it soon. Intact families and responsible people were generally the rule and you could count on a phone call from your neighbor if they spotted any trouble with your kid.
Middle America was at the height of its monoculture. All your neighbors in the suburbs were either middle class families with kids or retired grandparents. All of whom probably owned their homes, or were paying 15% on their way to owning it soon. Intact families and responsible people were generally the rule and you could count on a phone call from your neighbor if they spotted any trouble with your kid.
Posted by: Dave at March 27, 2017 10:50 AM (YczbB)
308
I have been arguing about the "childification" of our society. Forget about the kids, look at what adults are doing:
1) People speak in childish ways (adults using the word "tummy", or nummy").
2) Coffee - when did it go from a adult drink to a dessert?
3) Gummi vitamins - for adults. Because it is too much to expect adults to swallow a damn pill.
People just don't understand doing hard stuff anymore.
1) People speak in childish ways (adults using the word "tummy", or nummy").
2) Coffee - when did it go from a adult drink to a dessert?
3) Gummi vitamins - for adults. Because it is too much to expect adults to swallow a damn pill.
People just don't understand doing hard stuff anymore.
Posted by: George Orwell's Ghost at March 27, 2017 02:48 PM (UgF8H)
309
I lived on Buffalo Bayou in Houston in the 50s and 60s- I would take my .22 and hunt snakes and turtles- after all, where I was was the city limits at that time.
I would seine crawfish from ponds and we would cook and eat them. A bunch of us dug a 2- story hole, built a floor and a roof in it, and had a hidden fort near the rope swing on the bayou.
I had fun, even with being bitten by a copperhead, and other dings and scars.
I used to collect poisonous snakes to sell to the Houston Toxicology Labs for .50 cents a pound- good money for a kid only 12-13 years old. I had fun and if I could go back to that time I would in a heartbeat.
Life isn't lived without some risk.
I would seine crawfish from ponds and we would cook and eat them. A bunch of us dug a 2- story hole, built a floor and a roof in it, and had a hidden fort near the rope swing on the bayou.
I had fun, even with being bitten by a copperhead, and other dings and scars.
I used to collect poisonous snakes to sell to the Houston Toxicology Labs for .50 cents a pound- good money for a kid only 12-13 years old. I had fun and if I could go back to that time I would in a heartbeat.
Life isn't lived without some risk.
Posted by: Blake at March 28, 2017 12:25 PM (IPzoI)
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