Thursday, August 13, 2020

Some Days I Don't Want to Adult

You ever get that way?  Just want to go back in time for a spell?  I think most of us do, from time to time.  I know that many didn't have a good childhood - I am so grateful I did.
I just think about the simpler days - fresh air, hard work, playing until dark, no worries, quiet neighborhoods - it was just nice.

Technology gets the best of me some days.  In ways I love it and in ways I hate it.
Technology started out as a means to make life easier - now it seems to have complicated life.
Refrigerators, furnaces, telephones, cars, electric/gas stoves, flushing toilets, etc. - sure made life easy for the world.  Life upgraded quite a bit.
Now instant sharing on computers, bombardment of FB, computer games that cause young people to only use their thumbs (LOL) not their bodies or minds, artificial intelligence that takes away having to think, etc.
I know technology has good uses as well (many) - but I sure would like to go back in time sometimes.

This is where I went to grade school - one block from home, and walked every day.  It no longer exists.  We played on monkey bars, drank from the water fountains (surrounded by yellow barrier), had swings that reached the stars (LOL) and a tall metal slide that could cook bacon in the summer.  Yet we played on all those things.  The merry go round had a wood slat bottom and metal bars to hang on to.  I remember getting in trouble for laying down on it, face down, as it was going pretty darn fast.  Basketball goals, dodgeball area, softball fields, and a big old hollow tree in the grassy part of the yard that made for lots of fun for decades of kids!!  At one time or another each of us went in the tree and we hid things there.  That tree was huge and it was only in recent years that it came down.

We neighborhood kids rode our bikes to the school in the summer and also down to the creek (crick as we said) and hunted for crawdads.  We had Kool-Aid on the front porch swing and played Riddly Riddly Ree, or counted cars.  Playing Jacks and Old Maid was normal.  We played house and make believe and played with dolls and Barbie's.
We used our imaginations and had a ball.  We had a brick rail around the porch and my friends and I use to make up stories about treasure being buried in the railing and columns.
We would sit out back and eat green apples or rob the grape arbor.
Picnics of bologna or tuna fish sandwiches and homemade cookies and Kool-Aid on the porch rails with my friends.

This is my childhood home.  It no longer exists either - it burned down several years back.  It was nice by the time I came along.  Mom and Daddy paid a total of $4,800 for it and from what I hear it was in pretty bad shape when they got it.  It was bought on contract, and had an affordable monthly payment.  Mom said it had no paint on it when they moved in and the yard was all over grown.  It had an outhouse for years.
They cleaned it up as they could - Daddy always said "neat" doesn't cost much - just a little effort!

There used to be the porch swing where you see the red chair.  There was a garage - never used for a car, a chicken 'house' (coop).  It had apple, cherry, and peach trees, a huge old grape arbor, we had 6 - 100' rows of black raspberries, a huge garden and flowers every where.
My parents at one time had goats, rabbits and chickens.  Those were all done when I came along.
It was a neighborhood for me, but was at one time kind of 'country'.
The house had a living room, dining room, kitchen, closed in back porch (utilities were there) and bath downstairs and 2 attic bedrooms up.  The dining room at one time was used as a bedroom instead of dining.  Mom and Dad raised 5 of us here.

I remember a big old coal stove in the dining room area - that was our heat for the whole house.  Of course we had no AC.  On hot nights, we made pallets on the living room floor in front of the old wooden screen door, so as to catch a breeze.  Daddy often slept out on the porch!
I remember having an inside toilet, but did use the outhouse when playing outside.  We got the first bathtub when I was 9.  I took a bath by the stove in a metal tub in the winter and by the backdoor in the tub in the summer.
Mom had a wringer washer (I wish I had that now), and line dried clothes outside until too cold - then she had lines she put up in the dining room.  It would get so humid and muggy in there!!  She ironed EVERYTHING - and I mean everything.  She sewed and mended for others to make extra money and worked night shift at a bakery up the road for a while.  She got off at midnight and walked home - just what you did.  My sister and Dad would watch me.

All meals were homemade, as were snacks and goodies.  I was a teenager before I ever had restaurant food or store bought cookies.  Water, tea, Kool-Aid or milk were our drinks.
Family meals every Sunday were at noon.  It was hardly ever just us - extended family and often neighbors were there much of the time.  We had some family that always just 'dropped by' at noon.  Of course they ate.  I remember so many times that Mom just wasn't hungry - when they all appeared.  That was what Moms did!
Christmas morning coming down the stairs to all the wonderment.  Horseshoes and croquet in the back yard on Sunday afternoons.  Coming home from school and smelling homemade cookie smells coming out the window.  Huge homemade cookies and popcorn balls on Halloween.
Neighbors watching out for each other.

Those were the days!!!
Kids today just don't know these things (most don't).  Many people don't know their neighbors.  I only know  a few and I have been here for 34 years.  People are distant.

Technology has helped in some aspects, but I think it has raised the levels of stress, chaos, and anguish today.  We are hit with so much so often, that we just can't cope.  I believe this is why so many are depressed.
I think we all need to TURN OFF more often.  Sit in the yard or a park or the woods, watch nature, listen to the sounds, pet the animals and go back in time for a spell.  Calm your spirit and your mind and drift away to a simpler time.
We all need that!

Thanks for coming along on my visit of my youth.  I sure do miss those times and all those people.  Thanking God for the ability to have a memory.

Keep calm and keep the faith.  Never stray from your core beliefs - those are yours and no one can take them from you.  Have faith in your higher power.
Love life and make wonderful memories with someone today.
Blessings to all.

50 comments:

  1. We had monkey bars, swings that reached the stars and that tall metal slide that could cook bacon in the summer, boy that thing could get hot! LOL

    My grandmother in Kentucky had an outdoor toilet we would use when we visit. They never did have a bathtub. They heated water on the stove and used a washtub. My Mom still prefers that way to take a bath. Good memories for sure.

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    1. They sure are good memories and you know what - we survived!!!!
      Isn't that amazing??!!

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  2. You definitely brought back lots of memories with this post. I host a new Throwback Thursday link up if you'd like to link up with us, it's perfect. One good things about technology, I'm sure glad we have had it through the pandemic! Have a great day :)

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    1. Thank you for the invite. Some days a trip down memory lane is just the medicine we need.
      Some days I am glad we had technology through all of this stuff and other days not so much.
      Have a good one

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  3. What wonderful memories! Thanks for taking us along. Thankfully I experienced many of those things too. I remember that slide that could fry bacon, funny now, but wasn't too funny when you were going down it. I remember Daddy tilling up a huge garden and Mom putting up everything to feed us all winter. She was the best cook and could cook anything. Daddy could fix anything from cars to motors to my broken toys. We had family reunions to celebrate Granny's birthdays, she lived to be 99. Holidays were always spent with family around. Looking back now, I realize that they didn't have a lot of money, but I didn't know that at the time, and I had a happy childhood. Daddy would take us camping, and I loved sitting around the fire making smores and listening to the whipporwills. I haven't heard a whipporwill in a long time, but we still go camping.

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    1. I am so glad we had those experiences and the lives we did. I think it made us stronger.
      My daddy did a big garden as well and mom canned and froze everything she could. That is what kept us going.
      I remember helping dad in the garden and we would always stop and eat a tomato together straight from the garden.

      Reunions were always fun.
      You know, it sounds like our parents surely showed us wealth came in more ways than money!!!!

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    2. Oh I love that..."wealth came in more ways than money!"
      Thank you!

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  4. Thank you Cheryl for writing and visiting your past (and I remember those days too) as well as all that that you share about living frugally in our lives today. I read each post you write. Hugs. Joy

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    1. Thank you for being here and taking the journey with me. I love that we all have so much in common even across miles.
      Blessings

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  5. I grew up in a very small town & have such fond memories of my childhood. I work in tech & have so many concerns about how much access & time spent the kids have - particularly with the move to online schools. In some ways, I'm grateful we have the option of teaching them via technology, but it makes it really hard to detach.

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    1. Oh my, I guess you don't get much of a chance to disconnect yourself. I too, am glad gives children have an option - but it bothers me. They need to socialize and have fun with REAL people!

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  6. A lovely post full of your memories, bring back several of my own. Especially the family who showed up for Sunday dinner. How my mom managed to extend that meal to feed so many is still a mystery to me.

    I find I can get lost in technology and it takes away from some of the better things in my life. It's why I take a day off every so often, or leave my phone at home.

    Take care and stay well!

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    1. Wasn't it amazing? Mom would open another jar or add some more bread to the table and of course she wasn't 'hungry 'any more'.
      It is wise to unplug and just enjoy life and all that was created on this earth for us.
      Have a good day

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  7. What wonderful childhood memories and that wonderful fruit in your garden. Your mum must have been busy bottling stuff all summer and autumn. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Mom worked all the time. She froze and canned everything you could think of. She always made homemade goodies as well.
      I still remember being too little to help, and sitting at the table watching her. I cherish those times.

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  8. My elementary school looked very much like yours and my Dad walked to it from the same house I did since my grandparents house became our house when they retired to Florida in 1962. I have been walking down nostalgia lane for the last 2 1/2 months since my Dad passed away. So many good memories have been brought to mind and enjoyed.

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    1. I think so many of the older schools looked similar. How nice to have shared the same family home.
      I am so sorry for your loss - out times go too fast. Memories are gifts from God - and I cherish them all, as I am sure you do.
      Hugs

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  9. Delightful childhood memories! Delightful post!!! Thank you!

    Yes, especially now, with the Wuhan Virus Pandemic, and the looting and burning in city streets, and even protests in smaller places, who doesn't want to go back in time? To a place, our Grands will never know.

    I am 83, so our children did have many of the freedoms, from "before." But their children don't. It is so sad, that so much, is gone forever. At least in our Beloved Country. In Europe, I think there is more childhood safe play.

    Enjoy the memories...

    'Miss BB'🐝🐝
    "Beside a babbling brook" blog

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    1. Hello Miss BB, thank you. Things are so different today. It is sad that young people will not have those experiences because they were so much fun.
      I think there are places that are probably much better than others for safety.
      Please come again!

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  10. You had a lovely childhood. I like to walk in thee evening when its quiet and just sit by the river watching the ducks, coots and moorhens. Listening to the birds and smelling the flowers. It is very calming.

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    1. Those things are so calming and relaxing. That is what we need - to just appreciate the life all around us.

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  11. I am just in from a long (3hr) walk with a friend - but we did stop for coffee and a long chat as well and one of the things we spoke of was our childhoods - and how we all survived it! :-)
    My friend lived in a very small town up north and I lived at what is now a northern suburb of Toronto but at the time was almost country. 4 apartments were built to accommodate all the new immigrants to Canada and the rest of the housing in the neighbourhood was for the air force base personnel. We backed on to a ravine that is now a large conservation area and the hills down to the ravine where we tobogganed in the Winter are truly scary - and we were on metal "flying saucers" or sleds with metal runners & no brakes. We used to tie a rope to a tree branch, make a loop for our foot and swing out over the ravine - we must have been 40 feet in the air!
    We could collect wild strawberries and raspberries and stuff our faces with crab apples (even though our mothers warned us that we'd regret it) and we all played together. I think that made a big difference, I am the eldest of 5 and we weren't the largest family by any means so it's not as though a child was ever really on their own.
    Oh and that metal slide - one of my brothers fell off it and broke his arm. His cast was a badge of honour and my parents would never have thought of suing anyone - cuts & scrapes, a few stitches and the occasional broken bone was just a part of childhood.
    We have frightened children to death these days - in fact stranger abduction or molestation is a tiny, tiny threat in the greater scheme of things. It is to the detriment of all as children don't have the chance to problem solve on their own, take a few risks or even police each other. I remember bullies - but they were usually only allowed to go so far - then an older child or sibling would step in and take care of the bully - and yes, sometimes that meant a black eye or a bloody nose - but it usually solved the problem and parents didn't get involved unless it was a last resort. I feel very sorry for children these days - they seem to have so few coping skills and everything seems to cause stress. No one liked writing an exam but we learned how to manage our time, how to study independently, how to make a coherent argument, in writing, and sometimes, how to accept defeat and move on.
    As for technology - yes, it is a double-edged sword but - parents buy the equipment and pay for the internet connections & the cell phone data and it is up to them to limit access - that's what parents are supposed to do - occasionally be the bad guy!
    An interesting look back.

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    1. That big hill sounds a bit scary! But I bet you had a ball.
      It all sounds fun.
      It is true - when we were young you never heard of bad guys (I am sure they existed), but it wasn't spoken of. We played outside till dark and then went home. All parents kept an eye open to watch kids. We just ran and explored.
      Adults as well as children are molly coddled today. Everything is hurtful it seems. I just shake my head. You are so correct - there are no coping skills today.

      I remember even in high school - kids had fights - then life went on. It was pretty much over the next day. No one suing or screaming lawyers. Things just took care of themselves.

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  12. This is At Rivercrest Cottage. Can't get my name to show on comments. working on it ! Loved your post. I just did one on the past too and was happy to see you're on the same page as I am today. Remembering the way things used to be. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Sugar.

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    1. Your name shows up!!!! Glad to see you.
      Some days memory lane is the place to be. Looking back helps us move forward.
      Thanks

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  13. a e had the best childhoods I think. Your post was so good and I loved reading all the comments.

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    1. I love seeing everyone else's memories. It is fun. Yep, life was pretty darn good.

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  14. I remember chasing fireflies in the dark and ducking the bats flying around. We climbed trees and made forts. Hot summer days were for eating popsicles that we also wiped on our faces to cool off not realizing that we were going around with red, orange, yellow or chocolate faces! We rode our bikes everywhere and we felt safe enough to be away from home all day till dinner time. We did a lot of book reading, swimming, tags, hide and seek, etc. We had a baseball diamond in our back yard so many games were played with many kids in the area. Neighbors looked out for each other and pretty well everyone knew who was who. We had no trouble sleeping after an exhaustive day of play. We had only 1 dial phone, so no one person was on it all day. I don't see kids out anymore enjoying the outdoors, they seem to be all cooped up in the house on phones or computers. When I was raising my kids, we made sure to keep them active outdoors whether going to a park, riding bikes, or my husband getting a ballgame together for neighbor kids. I would feed the kid gang watermelon and lemonade on our lawn. The kids started coming to the door asking if he could come out to play! None of their fathers ever joined in and that's when I started to see a change in society, one that has got worse as years progress. I'm glad I had a chance to be a kid, playing with dolls, colouring, skipping rope etc. Kids now are growing up way too fast - they can program a computer before they can talk!!

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    1. Oh what wonderful memories. It sounds like you had a great childhood. I am so glad you did the same for your children. What wonderful memories for them as well. I had to laugh - when you said kids come to the door to see if hubs could come out and play. How sweet is that! Kind of sad too, that their dads didn't join in.
      I have a couple of nieces that are making sure their kids are outside and active all the time - and I love it. It just isn't common today.
      Thanks for sharing your memories.

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  15. Two of my favorite childhood smells are opening a new box of Crayola and the other is when the cold sprinklers hit the hot pavement. Couldn't describe it but if you experienced it, you know what I mean. I remember this funny episode of The Middle when Frankie is trying to show her kids the joys of running through sprinklers. They didn't get it!! So sad!

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    1. I forgot about sprinklers - they were such fun. My goodness we would spend hours running back and forth getting wet.
      My neighbors were talking about getting little Charlotte a pool and couldn't find one - so I mentioned a sprinkler. Needless to say that idea didn't spark any imagination in them.
      I still like the smell of crayons!
      Thanks!

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  16. What a great post Cheryl! Your descriptions are so vivid. Sounds wonderful. Hardworking, loving parents! Just thinking of your mom walking to the bakery to make sure there is enough to eat and then some for Christmas... That is what Moms do indeed! Lovely! Thanks for the post and the message.

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    1. Thank you. It was wonderful. My parents always provided. Hard work was not something either was afraid of. My poor Mom worked so hard, and I truly believe that is why she had such bad back problems when she got older.
      I just hope we all try to make some of these memories with young ones today.

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  17. As always, a wonderful post. My childhood was similar to yours,but I was the oldest of 4 and rarely had anyone my own age to play with! My mom died in June of last year and my Dad in January of this year---I am just now beginning to have fond memories of them....their last years in assisted living and memory care were so depressing to me. I wondered if I would ever forget those sad times and remember "when". Your post is helping me do that... Blessings to you. Jane

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    1. I was the opposite - the youngest of all. I am so sorry for your losses and so close together. I know I did the same, both really were very ill and in bad shape when they passed and for ages I couldn't get those last days out of my head. I did the same when my sweety passed.
      FINALLY - you slowly get past those days and remember the good. Those are what we should be celebrating.
      HUGS

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  18. This is a wonderful description of your childhood! It may sound silly but I read posts more than once, comments too. This will be one of the posts I will read again. I can relate to the wringer washer. An old Maytag that would pop the buttons off if you weren't careful. I still have my mom's sprinkler bottle for dampening clothes for ironing. No steam irons in those days! Her laundry basket was a bushel basket with an oilcloth liner. When you look back, things seemed more real than they do today. Too many artificial ingredients in foods, too many electronics for entertainment. Enjoy your day...it's going to be a hot one again.

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    1. I do that too when something really hits me. You said that well - "things seemed more real than they do today". Yes they did. Real work, real food, real joy, real playing and entertainment, we used our minds and imaginations, YES MAM you are right.
      Went out this morning and did a bunch of yard work and I am in now. Got too hot by about 11AM.

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  19. Oh man...I so hear ya. I've been thinking the same thing lately. I remember those popcorn balls. My first experience was from an elderly neighbor in our old, old neighborhood. I lived in a 30s house, my family on both sides were town dinosaurs so to speak. I remember going to Mr. Wilson's home, he was an old WWI vet and he and his wife would give me that popcorn ball they made, Mr. Wilson had a full head of silver wavy curly hair and corduroy house shoes on. He would make me jig saw plaques and his wife would knit me slippers...Mr. Wilson even wrote a Christmas poem for me with colored pencils and a drawing. Yes, those were the days. People seemed much more thoughtful then.

    A hug! Please come by and visit my blog sometimes! : ) I have a link to some old pics.

    I enjoyed your thoughts, wish I had a neighbor like you! *big smile*

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    1. What a wonderful memory of your neighbors. You know I bet they had no idea they would ever leave an impression on someone like that. They were just being neighborly. How cool.
      I will surely stop by for a visit. Thanks.

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  20. I remember all of these things as tho it was yesterday. The school with the monkey bars, fire escape metal tube on the side of the building, where in the summer we kids would crawl up, and then use it for a slide. The wooden slat Merry Go Round, where half the time we would fall off. No broken bones tho, just got scuffed up, a little, with a dirty knee or elbow,no crying, we would just carry on. Paper dolls and coloring books passed a lot of time, even outside in the summer time, sitting under a shade tree. We didn't own car, we walked everywhere.Got a bike when I was 9 years old, before that it was roller skates trying to keep up with a friend that already had a bike. Christmas was the only time we got toys,we took care of the toys we received, because there was not money to buy new. If we broke something, it was fixed, not put in the trash. I remember a sweet neighbor lady crocheted a pin and white cross book mark for me to put in my prayer book.I was 7 years old, and I still have that book mark, from 75 years ago.Little things like that were very special, and as you wrote above, made a big impression on me. I still have several small dolls,and a teddy bear,that I received for Christmas from an Aunt who lived in the far away ... " Twin Cities"and a Grimms Fairy Tale book. It was so exciting to get gifts in the mail. Playing outside, making up our own games, it certainly was a softer time. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Nice to know so many of us still remember the "GOOD" old days.

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    1. Bonnie how sweet. I had color books and paper dolls too. Forgot about paper dolls. How sweet that you still have the cross for the prayer book.
      I got my first bike at 9 and I still have it. I also have my very first teddy beat (sans fur). I got that as a baby I was told. A few of the old childhood books are in my bookshelves.

      I am glad to know so many of us remember as well. They were good old days - weren't they? I think so.
      Thank you so much for sharing.

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  21. Oh, I remember how hot those slides got, and trying to make each other dizzy on the merry-go-round.

    My grade schools (I had two as they changed the school boundaries after my grade 3) are thousands of kilometers away, but I remember both with fondness.

    Thank you so much for all the memories.

    God bless.

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    1. It sounds like we all survived the slide from 'hell'. It shows we are more durable than people today seem to think.
      I was lucky to have all 6 grades in this one school - then on to junior high.
      Thanks for coming along.

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  22. I enjoyed your memories...read this the other day but never did comment. Your childhood home...it is a style I just love.

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