This was sent to me by email. Man, it really made me remember things, and kind of bummed me out a little also. I'd love to hear if it does the same to any of you.
__________________________

I want you to think back...

Before the Internet or the PC
Before semi automatics and crack
Before SEGA or Super Nintendo...

Way back.......

I'm talkin' bout hide and go seek at dusk.
Red light, Green light. And dodgeball until your porch light came on.
Mother May I?
Red Rover
Hula Hoops
Running through the sprinkler

Wait......

Watchin' Saturday Morning cartoons
Catchin' lightning bugs in a jar
Christmas morning.......
Your first day of school
Bedtime Prayers and Goodnight Kisses
Climbing trees
Sittin on the curb
Getting an Ice Cream off the Ice Cream Truck
A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers
Jumpin down the steps
Jumpin on the bed.
Pillow fights
Running till you were out of breath
Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt
Being tired from playin'....
Your first crush......
Rainy days at school meant playing "Heads up 7Up" in the class room.

Remember that?
I'm not finished yet....

Kool-aid was the drink of summer
Toting your friends on your handle bars
Wearing your new shoes on the first day of school
Class Field Trips
When nearly everyone's mom was at home when the kids got there.
When a quarter seemed like a fair allowance, and another quarter a miracle.
When any parent could discipline any kid, feed him, or use him to carry groceries, and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.
When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home.
Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat!

Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say, "Yeah, I remember that!" There's nothing like the good old days! They were good then, and they're good now when we think about them.

I want to go back to the time when............

Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo"
Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "do over!"
"Race Issue"; meant arguing about who ran the fastest.
Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in "Monopoly"
Catching the fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening.
It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends.
Being old, referred to anyone over 20.
The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was cooties.

Nobody was prettier than Mom.
Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better.
It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the "big people" ride at the amusement park.
Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true.
Abilities were discovered because of a double-dog-dare
Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles.
The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.
Water balloons were the ultimate ultimate weapon.
Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but also the fiercest protectors.

If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED!!!!
Pass this on to anyone who may need a break from their "grown up" life...

I DOUBLE DOG DARE YA!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah, the good old days.....
I guess that officially identifies me as an old fart, eh?
LOL!

I can remember doing lots of those things. I especially remember catching lightning bugs in the front yard in the Summer. Those really were the good old days!:)

I'm talkin' bout hide and go seek at dusk.
And dodgeball until your porch light came on.
Running through the sprinkler

I remember doing these things with my best friend next door, Geoffrey. We even had "sprinkler parties" in the summers. Our houses were seperated only by a little garden gate, and it was always left open so that we could run freely house to house. Our houses were also connected and from one of the upstairs rooms, there was a door that led from one house to the other. Also always unlocked. You couldn't do that today, I think.

Catchin' lightning bugs in a jar
Catching the fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening.

I *loved* this!

When any parent could discipline any kid, feed him, or use him to carry groceries, and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.
When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home.
Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat!

There needs to be more of this in today's world. I think that is the biggest reason why some kids are "problem children" today. Parents have stopped *parenting*. And the laws have invaded too much as to what constitutes "abuse". (A spanking is abusive???)

Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but also the fiercest protectors.

This was my brother then, and it's my brother today. And in spite of his "torments", I wouldn't change a thing. :)

This made me smile, but it also made me a little sad - knowing that any children I might raise in the future probably won't have such a carefree childhood as I did. There are so many pressures on young people today, that were almost unheard of in our youth.

Thanks for posting this, Pagan. It took me back and made me remember some really happy times. :) *wonders if it would be too weird for her to call Geoffrey's mother and ask for his current phone number*

*Yosemitie Sam voice* Oooooh.... Eeeee..... Ooohhhh. I's a feeling mighty old....


:lol:

Ah yes... brings me back to my yoot! :D

I remember doing all of those things!!! I even still have a scar from becoming blood brother with my best friend!
Some things don't change though, my kids love doing a lot of these things still!! My son will be up at 5 am on most Saturdays. All the kids on the block gather together for the ice cream truck, then eat the ice cream together and play tag or chase then wish for more ice cream! Most of it is still there, just not us old foggies. :p

Oh Pagan.....I remember 'em all!!!! I still have 3 best friends!

We didn't just get mosquito bites though. We got chiggers too. :lol:

Awesome Pagan! Thank you for posting that... it put a smile on my face and a tear in my eye.. Those were the days!

Someone mentioned sprinkler parties, water balloon fights, and we also had super-soaker fights and man did we wear out a ton of "slip and slides" !! Do you remember those?! We'd sneak in the house and steal mom's dish soap and lube the slip & slide up.. turn the water on and it was a blast!! You could NEVER get it slick enough.. soon after Mom's dish soap bottle was empty, we'd sneak back in and get the shampoo bottles... Mom would just scream her head off when she noticed all of the soap in the house was empty! LOL

Most kids nowadays sit inside the house playing computer games all day or hang out on the internet... I'm kinda glad that we didn't have all of this technology back when we were kids.. we sure had it better than we thought, huh?

Been there and done all of that stuff! Those were the best of times and then we had to grow up.:eek:

I haven't seen a lightning bug since I moved from Chicago to Florida!:(

Originally posted by jen*
Oh Pagan.....I remember 'em all!!!! I still have 3 best friends!

We didn't just get mosquito bites though. We got chiggers too. :lol:

Oh, chiggers were the absolute worst!! I had about 3or 4 episodes with chiggers and the itching is bad enough, but when you learn what those critters are doing while on your body.....eeeek!!!!! I was grossed out for years about that!

I remeber most of those, I was always outside playing games like that when I was little, I'm 15 now so those memeries are still fresh. I still love ice cream trucks, they come by my baseball games in the summer. I used catch these beetle things that come out in June up till a few years ago. I still remember lighting little bon fires with the ciggeretes we found. lol I had a wonderful childhood, thank God I was never home enough to play video games! I can't imagine a childhood without all those wonderful outdoor games. I'm so lucky I always had my mother picking me up from school and doing everything with me. I always had one best friend though. Now I have 3. I also still have my first BB gun. So many good memeries of going up to my grandfathers and shooting it by the pond, hearing stories and jokes. I still go up there a few times a year and shoot the old BB gun and sit by the fire place and listen to all his stories. I still do alot of things that I used to do. lol I'm still a kid. :D

That was very nice, Pagan, thanks for sharing!

I got that in an email a few months ago.....it was all so true!! *sigh* Sometimes, I really think that kids today, (by kids, I mean younger than 10), really don't appreciate pure imagination. Unless you are actively involved in their lives, and are an 80s child at heart!!

*sigh* :cry: For just one moment I remembered what it felt like to be a kid. Playing kickball on sunny afternoons, going to Saturday matinee's and slippy slides. :) Sure has been a good life. :)

Thanks, Pagan!

Originally posted by Pagan
The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.


Boy do I remember how awful this was. I had zero atheletic skills as a kid. I was always picked last for teams, and it was the absolute worst embarrassment. They'd run out of kids, and you'd be left standing there all alone and the guy who wound up with you would always say some variation of "*sigh, alright I guess you have to come join our team".

Unless there was some kid with some kind of physical handicap around, or if he was really fat, you can be sure I was always the last pick. That's the only way I escaped being the last pick, if there was a really fat kid around, or a kid who had some sort of physical handicap. I still remember one time suffering the worst indignity of this......being passed up in favor of...........girls! Awful, truly awful. Just when you think "Finally I won't be the last pick", they go ahead and pick some girl over you.

Okay, I did most of those in rural maine cuz there was nothin better to do. :lol:

I may not be that high up in years, but I've lived every damn one of 'em (except the catching lightning bugs and bedtime prayers....never did those ones), but everything else brought back some memories....nice to know I've lived :lol::cool:

Pagan!! Love this!! As soon as I get my printer hooked back up, I'm printing this out for my fridge!! :D

Not all kids have lost their imagination! Kids have to be allowed to explore the world around them to imagine what other stuff would be like....unfortunately, in today's world, you have to constantly be with your child and watch over them to allow this to happen.

Most parents today want to be Mommy and Daddy for the glory....the parenting work is for the babysitter, or the neighbors. Now, you can watch someone else's kid play all day, but don't you dare yell at them when they start trouble.

But I digress.....I could go on all day about poor parenting, but this thread is about the days when we were all better off....;)

I remember... :(

Brought back some great memories Pagaan. :) Thanks!!!!!! Those are cherished memories too. Life was so simple back then.

Rainy days at school meant playing "Heads up 7Up" in the class room

AWWW..... memeories! Thanks for posting this Pagan! ;) THOSE were the days! *sigh*

We used to pull off the "lighters" off the lightning bugs and place them on our wrist or as a ring on our fingers. :eek:

Another memory, was using POP cans as shoes(high heels) It took a lot of imagination. :p

Like Val, I have to print this out. :)

*sigh*
I remember all of these. Good memories. Thanks, Pagan!:thumb:

So thats what we did before computers, video games, cable tv, might not sound fun, but I don't remember ever being bored. what i remember most was building ramps and jumping them with our bikes (which weren't some specialty BMX style) , catching bullfrogs at the swamp, managing to stay out after dark, and actually being afraid of older kids and showing respect to my elders. I guess what we have now is called progress, or at least thats what the 11 year next door neighbor with the ass of his pants rubbing the ground , ring through his nose giving me the finger tells me

I remember doing all of those. It seems so long ago:cry:
I would love to have those carefree days now.
I tell my boys to cherrish every minute of their young lives. As young kids we want to hurry and grow up. As adults we would do anything to go back and be a child again.
Now a days the kids don't play outside until the porch lights come on. They would rather sit and play their video games.
Life seemed so simple back then. I wonder what the kids will remember when they get my age?

I love that list. While reading it, I saw all of these wonderful flashbacks of my youth, when life was so beautiful and carefree and tomorrow would never come. I miss those amazing days...

So sad and so true! :( But there are so many happy memories from my childhood. You don't have to be "old" to reminisce about your youth. A lot of kids today don't have much imagination, which is pretty sad, but some of them do. There is still hope. :)

I remember, I remember!!! :D :D :D

Talk about memories... I'm going to print this out and make sure my kids get to experience every single thing on this list. Thanks Pagan.:)

You can't beat that! I remember all those things. One thing about the new shoes, they made you faster too.

Those were great! So many good memories! I loved the "Slip n' Slide" and yep the dishwashing soap was a good trick! I also remembered something called a "Water Wegee or Weanie" something like that. It was a yellow hose that hooked up to your garden hose it had a plastic bucket pink I think with a face kind of a goofy smiley face on it that would balance upside down on the end of the hose and dance aroung like a cobra snake! If you took the bucket off that thing it would thrash around like crazy getting everything and everybody wet!What a blast!

Below I've listed some more favorite memories some of you might have shared:

Each of your friends buying a dollars worth of candy then sitting down in a circle,dumping it out and dividing it up so everybody got a little of everything.

Playing "Marco Polo" & having "Chicken Fights" in a swimming pool
Building a fort or submarine out of the cardboard box the new refridgerator came in. Popping the bubble pop. Then after you flatten it your dad dragging you around on it in the yard trying not to fall off.

Your mom talking your dad into not punishing you for something bad you did.

Mud football games in the rain! Grass,mud and water in your mouth nose ears..etc.Wet socks & tennis shoes!!!

Swinging so high on the playground swingset you swear your feet were touching the sky!

(GUYS)The first treefort you built with your dad.The smell of a wet
Playboy you stole from your dad's collection and hide in there.

(GIRLS) Your first crush on your one of your sister's boyfriends

The first time you went to the fair:The sounds,the smells,the rides,the food!

Going off the high dive the first time and realizing it's a little scary but it's also a lot of fun so you go again and again.

You and your friends watching Saturday afternoon "Creature Features "eating PB & Js and Charles Chips out of the big can.

Being cool and ordering a "Suicide" snowcone(all the flavors mixed) at the little league concession stand.

Your first pony ride, a little scary at first but then having the time of your life!

Popping balloons at a birthday party,blowing noise makers till your out of breath and eating cake and ice cream til your sick.

(GUYS)Camping out with your friends in the backyard, telling ghost stories by flashlight and making wild animal noises until your dad yells out the window for you to "Cut it out!"
Waiting for the first guy to fall asleelp and drawing a smiley face on his butt with a marker.

(GIRLS)Having a slumber party with your girlfriends,pillow fights,doing each others hair and talking about boys.

You and your friends playing "Hope to See the Ghost Tonight" around your house at night and scaring the crap out of each other!

Going "Trick or Treating" for the first time without your parents, you and your friends get the nerve to ring the doorbell or knock on the door of the "Crazy Man" or "Witches" house the running away.Coming back home and dumping your "loot" out on to a huge pile on the floor.

Being treated to ice cream after your first doctors visit were you had to get a shot seemed to help make the pain go away.

Your first trip to the beach, the feeling of sand between your toes,building a sandcastle,swimming, feeding the seagulls french fries.

The first time you weren't afraid to hop on your bike without training wheels and ride by yourself. Riding and riding and riding!


Having so much fun with your friends you stop for a second and think "It just doesn't get any better than this!"

Hope these helped trigger some plesant memories!:D

COOL BREEZE

I remember them all! :D

*sigh* the good ol' dayz. :(

"I just wanna go back to a simpler time, when nothin' really mattered at all"~`poison~:thumb:

Wow! Days gone by.......Thanks Pagan :) Really bought back some memories. :)

Originally posted by COOL BREEZE
(GUYS)Camping out with your friends in the backyard, telling ghost stories by flashlight and making wild animal noises until your dad yells out the window for you to "Cut it out!"
Waiting for the first guy to fall asleelp and drawing a smiley face on his butt with a marker.


Ah ok........ :lol: Can't say I ever had a desire to do that to any of my friends!! :vibrator:

Hey Pagan, good post, all though some of those things never applied to me because I live in New Zealand and the climate and culture is a little different, bit I could identify with most of them. Ah the memories.

Boy the fun we had as kids. :)

Kids these days just don't have the imagination that we did. Back then we created our own fun and entertainment. These days kids expect someone or something else to entertain them!

I loved that!!!! Thanks for sharing it Pagan :D

Jen* .. I got chiggers too!!! :lol:
and I LOVED "Heads up 7up" and Field Trips ... yes, those definitely were the days.. and I don't really consider myself all that old (22) .. but I remember most of those. I remember how much I hated it when the time changed and it got darker earlier.. that meant I had to come inside and my tramping through the woods and making forts out of the old tire piles ended earlier. I hated going inside!!!

I gotta say I really loved those memories you came up with COOL BREEZE. I remember waking up one morning, getting out of bed.. going out and getting on my sister's 10 speed..(never road a bike until then.. without training wheels) and riding it on my own and then jumping off.. running back into the house, screaming at the top of my lungs.. "I DID IT!!!" and waking my sister and mother up to watch me do it again :D :D

That post brought back a lot of good memories! Thanks. :D I wish I could half those things now!

Before semi-automatic firearms?! But, but...they came out in the 1800s I think. I guess I shouldn't start trouble. Thats what got me kicked out of the Shriners. That, and because I exposed their control of the margarine industry ):
I remember the game "Eclaire!" Although I'm not sure if thats how its spelt. I know how to spell spelt though.

I also recall a lot of times my neighborhood smelling like someone spilled canned "Lipton iced tea" all over the sidewalks. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Maybe its the scent of a brand of clothes detergent or something.

I thought of another thing last night: Getting into an old tractor tire and having your friends push you down the biggest hill in your neighborhood.

Wait, wait another thing: Taking cardboard and sliding down hills.


How about this: The whole gang pulling their money together so you can all go to Straw Hat Pizza(SanPedro, CA) and everyone can eat.

Great post bro.

Great, now I'm sad. :( I remember every single one of those things.

My brothers and I used to camp out in the backyard in an old army tent during the summers. We'd lay there with our heads sticking out so we could look at the stars and my brother would point out constellations. :)

My dad worked all night one time to build our treehouse as a surprise. We spent TONS of time up there, playing house or using it as our fort and headquarters.

We played with all the neighborhood kids - army, tag, Dukes of Hazzard, A-Team, Star Wars. We'd take off on our bikes all day and come home just in time for dinner.

I remember summers at Grandma's house - we'd spend all day at the beach and then ride bikes after dinner and catch fireflies after dark. Remember when it was okay to spend all day in your bathing suit?

My brothers and I had the world's biggest sandbox. :lol: It used to be a round in-ground swimming pool. I remember the day my mom had the sand delivered: a dump truck pulled into our back yard, dumped a ton of sand, and then it was our job to spread it out. We'd take the garden hose back there and make rivers and then get in trouble for wasting water. :lol: My mom turned it into a flower garden years later and found all kinds of artifacts from our childhood...little green army men, Matchbox cars, spoons we stole from the kitchen to dig with. :)

I miss those days. I wish I could go back!!

I used to do alot of those things. I loved catching fireflies. My grandparents had a trailer by the lake, and it was always jam packed with fireflies. Ah, the good ol' days

WOW talk about memories!!! I did almost everything on that list. I remember getting together with all the boys in the neighbourhood and playing war, kick the can and football. We used to dirtbike on the hills behind our house, and pack up food, hike up the mountain overlooking our neighbourhood and play caveman hahaha

My kids don't get to do these things that often, I am so scared to let them go anywhere on their own *sighhhhhhh*
I try and take them hiking, camping, sledding and out to the lake when i can :)

That was a great post. It used to be great being a kid. I swear that if I showed that post to my nieces and nephews today they would not get it at all :thumb:

*sigh* I remember :yesnod:

Awwww Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan :( I sooooooooo wish I was a kid again!! That brought back some GREAT memories!! :D

*I dont wanna grow up, Im a Toys R Us kid....*

Sigh......I remember all that stuff....

I think it would be fun to have a giant world-wide Xchange meet where we do all of those things!!!! :yesnod: