But seriously, things have change a lot since I was a kid. I used to ride my bike alone all over the place. Around the neighborhood, to the movies - anywhere. Now I'm so terrified of kid snatchers that I hate letting my kids even play in the backyard by themselves. We used to play flashlight tag with the neighborhood kids at night. These days kids seem too busy playing video games and watching TV to go outside at all. Parents don't pay any attention to their kids. The only time I see kids around in the neighborhood, they're playing in the middle of the street.
One time I went to leave my neighborhood and two of the neighborhood kids - maybe around two and five years old - were playing with their toys in the middle of the main street. When we went the their house and told told their mother about it, she acted annoyed and took her sweet time going out to bring her kids in. I can't even fathom what goes through some people's heads. I can't decide if I'm a neurotic mom or it these moms are just not at all interested in parenting. Maybe it's a little bit of both, I guess.
I caught this picture of my oldest while we were in line at the grocery store. I remember thinking, "Oh good grief - please tell me it's not starting already!"
You can imagine my relief when moments later he giggled and said, "Ewww...she's in her underwear!" Whew. That was a close call. I'm not ready for my boys to grow up.
My youngest son is already talking about getting married. We had this conversation not too long ago:
Youngest son: "Mommy, I'm going to get married when I get older!"
Me: "I'm glad to hear that. You're older brother doesn't want to get married because he thinks girls are icky."
Youngest son: "Yeah, and I'm going to wear a dress!!!!!"
Well, that certainly took an unexpected turn. But hey, whatever - if he wants to wear a dress to his wedding, more power to him.
Of course, I'm starting to realize that I tend to my childhood years with rose colored glasses sometimes. Really, I think I was just too naive to see things for what they were back then. I mean, for heaven's sake, I remember my friends jamming and singing along with the radio to songs like "I Touch Myself" and "Let's Talk About Sex." I'm sure our parents were mortified. We were too naive to know how mortifying it was...or at least I was.
It's official, though - I've turned into my parents. Going around, grumbling about how things were "when I was a kid...", the good ol' days. The funny thing is that they weren't really very good. I know they weren't. I guess I just hold onto the good memories and try my best to let the not-so-great ones slip away. I guess that's how it goes with anything - ultimately there's a choice to make. You either let the bad stuff slip and fall away into the distance so you can make room for new stuff - hopefully good stuff - or you can hold on to the bad stuff and that's all you'll ever have room for.
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