FORT Koffee Klatch

[ArchieComic Fan]

We practically lived outside when I was growing up. If you've ever listened to the lyrics of the song "Life in a Northern Town" it really sums up the essence of my childhood. We had bikes, skateboards, roller skates, slip n slide, hula hoops, played red rover and chased lightning bugs. It seems like a lifetime ago from many of today's kids. But I didn't practice on my own son the kind of childhood I had, which I regret. He was totally a computer/nintendo child but he's 22 now and realizes that years of sitting idle have crept up on his weight and he's doing something about it now.

[MRD]

To this day I wonder- Why always the vacuum cleaner? - I'm going to call my Mom, hang on here.... My Mom said it was always the vacuum cleaner because it was easiest to have us do and the carpeting always could use vacuuming.

Mine didn't want me dusting or washing dishes because I was a very clumsy kid and I broked a lot of stuff.

I too stayed outside, roamed the neigborhood, the cemetary and basically all over town. i didn't let my daughter do that. i would be gone all day on my bike with my friends and my mom would know the general area i was in, but never exactly. My dad had an office downtown (all 3 blocks of it) and I would go there and hit him up for money if i hadn't been able to find any coke bottles to cash in for a refund so I could go to the drugstore and get a coke and some penny candy or a comic book.

[Newfherder]

I didn't dare tell my mother that I was bored. Do you have any idea of how fruitless it is to dust a cave?

[Margaritaville]

I didn't dare tell my mother that I was bored. Do you have any idea of how fruitless it is to dust a cave?

May I inquire as to how many times it took you to realize this?

[Newfherder]

No, you most certainly may NOT

[Lil Bit]

I don't remember ever being bored when I was a kid. I suppose I was but my mom worked full time and we were home alone, with a neighbor lady around for lunches and emergencies. I had chores to do every day like dishes, dusting, vacuuming, etc. And all summer there was the garden to take care of. All the neighborhood kids played outside all day long, but they all had jobs to do during the day too. We kept ourselves busy without cable or satellite tv, video games, cell phones, computers and all the modern toys that today's kids have.

[famita]

Oh, I'm sure his mom knew all along!

We used to "play" war, using dirt clods for grenades, the older boys would give the commentary, and the little girls would end up being nurses.

In my teens, I would either walk into town or ride my bike all over. I just had to be home in time for dinner. When I asked for something to do, I was "happy" to discover that I could weed my dad's garden (1 acre of assorted veggies) or mow the grass (a small 5 acres). One frigid fall we helped dad plant rosa multiflora around the property line. Apparently, you can't do that anymore. The plants grew wildly and grew up into the roof. They eventually got a backhoe to take it all out! I learned to read a lot!!

[prhoshay]

We did the outdoor roller skating, bike riding, building extensive tunnels out of cardboard boxes, exploring different routes to and from school, I got the girls to dress up in my dance recital costumes (Why? I don't know, but a few pictures remain! ) climbing up and down the laundry line poles that were sunk into the ground, playing the games like "1-2-3-Redlight!", and "Rock School", "Frozen Statues".

In middle school, high school years we were usually on the move...on bike or on foot...going almost who knows where, usually to somebody else's house, or to the park. I had this one really great guy friend who I hung out with who would take me all over the place on the handlebars of his bike. And we had parties!

And I loved books!

[buglover]

I loved playing games outside as a kid. We played all of the games you've mentioned Shay, Statues was my all time favorite game to play! We climbed trees, jumped off the roof (which probably wasn't a good idea!), rode our bikes all over the neighborhood, good times! I wish my kid had the opportunity to be outside the way we were growing up. It just isn't safe anymore here for them to roam so freely.

[MRD]

I LOVED Frozen Statues! That and Mother, May I?

And we played in the cemetary a lot. It was just a few blocks from my house and could provide endless entertaiment and a GREAT place to play hide and seek.