Sat. afternoon in the 'hood

This is the first weekend where the neighbors left their houses and ventured outside to play in the early spring sunshine. There are a ton of kids all around our house so the nice quiet neighborhood came alive with the typical kid sounds. Next door on one side the kids were playing basketball and yelling at each other every time someone missed a basket.

Across the street the twins were out playing on their front steps with a bunch of bright plastic toys and no parent hovering all over them. Not even a patent in sight, jus mohawk dad working on the back yard. Nice to see some free range parenting.

On the other side the little girl was having a birthday party with a large group of friends wearing bright-colored cotton dresses. There must have been at least 20 girls in a rainbow sherbet of adorable fabrics screaming that shrill shout that only 10 year girls can make.

When the neighborhood comes alive I get nostalgic for when my own kiddos used to play outside with their friends, running up and down the streets, skate boarding or roller blading over the hills. I think back to the times when they seemed so worry free and happy just being a kid.

My kids aren't the free form kids of their youth. They brood, they worry, they panic, they have high anxiety. They are moving into adulthood where free time is at a minimum and hanging out with friends means drinking beer and smoking pot. It seems unfair that they got so little time to be a kid versus the long, dragged out amount of time they'll have being burdoned with adult worries and woes. People always that youth is wasted on the young, and now it is even more unfair because kids grow up so much faster than they used to. 

I miss birthday parties and playdates and summer camp. I miss sending the kids outside to play and then watching them as they did something crazy or creative just because. This getting older shit is a total crock and I don't like it one bit.

Where is Peabody's Wayback Machine when you need it?

Stumble It! JBlog Me