The Good Old Days
how can we forget them
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Once in a while I like to take a step down memory lane . To remember when things were different, and being able to look back at my childhood with fondness. There weren't always rosy and happy times, but I do so remember the good times and those I will cherish forever!
Karma's article was spot on in that she reminisced on the good old days of a time that once was with happy memories of when life was much simpler and less complicated. Nothing wrong with that! Have you ever had those moments when just hearing a song, the lyrics or the music transported you back to a special time in your life?
I also remember the good old days of when I was an older teen where I spent many a days travelling and having a ball! Hanging with friends, partying til dawn, hiking up a hill or running into the ocean!
I remember the good old days of my childhood, spent watching the grown ups have a good old time, of garden parties and family gatherings. Running from my cousins who chased me with the lizards..the same lizards I disliked with such intensity...not a pleasant memory but one I still cherish because it brings me back to those sun-filled days!
I remember the day I graduated from high school, wondering if I'll ever see any of those friends again, alas time have passed and we have all lost touch, cest la vie! But I have pictures and memories and it's great to look back!
I remember the days when I got into trouble with my folks because I used to carry news as we called it, retelling what I heard to the person who didn't know, because it made me feel important and special. I didn't realised how wrong that was until my dad told me so. A lesson I never forgot!
I remember when I was active in my school community, singing, dancing, acting, participating, having fun. Playing tag in the school yard, hopscotch, skipping, dandy shandy (a game with three people, two throwing a hand made milk carton ball at each other, the person in the middle dodging and trying to stay in the game for as long as possible until they are out!).
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The game of tag which I have read in today's news that has now been banned from some schools. O what have we come to? It's sad when times are this bad that children are not allowed to have fun outside, learning to play and negotiate with each other. Learning rules that are fundamental such as getting along, being able to lose gracefully, or win with unabashed pleasure! The simplistic of it is that teachers need to supervise kids playing in the school yard more, and not just leave them to their antics. Children have to be taught how to get along. It's some times a natural process but it's very much a learned skill as well.
I remember the good old days of my family dressing up and going out on special holidays. Seeing movies for the first time at a movie theatre, although I had been going to the movies since the age of six months! (mom the avid movie goer!)
I remembered the good old days when friends stood up for friends and you could depend on family to be there for you no matter what the disagreements. When everyone rallied around each other in support. Some still do it, others don't.
_________________
That said, there's nothing wrong with living in the moment. Relishing in the now and what we do know now, learning from our past mistakes and growing from them. There's nothing wrong with the progress we have made in our society because it has made our lives better and it is making us do things in a different way and much better than we did in earlier times, especially when we did not know any better! I hear ya Tex!
There is however nothing wrong with allowing a child to develop in as a natural way as possible. Learning to negotiate, to stand up for themselves, to get a scratch on their knee and know that it's only going to bleed a little bit. I'm all for being protective of our children, but we can't keep them in a cocoon forever. I've learned that more today than any other time in my life.
I used to keep my son under wraps because of his asthma. He wasn't allowed to go outside and play because it would be too much for him. That was because it would be too much for me as well. Gradually as time passed, I let him venture outside, play with his friends. He learned to stand up for himself, and stop being the one to be picked on because he has a voice and can defend himself if necessary (not physical violence, rather the art of negotiation!) Now he's the one to remind me that he can take care of himself now when I get overly protective.
_________________________________
Children live what they learn and learn what they live. We are here to protect them and be there guide, but we have to let them venture outside sometimes. We have to let children be children. We can't not let them have fun and play and experience the joy of running around on a playfield. How else are they not going to be fat anymore. Those lunches being served to them in school is not helping them! They just have to be taught how to play together, how to be responsive to each other, and learn to develop a thick skin! And that's pretty much what we as adults need to remember. Do you hear that you school authorities out there?!
_______________________________
Karma's article and the comments here:
Link
Tex's article and the comments here:
Link
Article about Tag being banned in schools here:
Link
Karma's article was spot on in that she reminisced on the good old days of a time that once was with happy memories of when life was much simpler and less complicated. Nothing wrong with that! Have you ever had those moments when just hearing a song, the lyrics or the music transported you back to a special time in your life?
I also remember the good old days of when I was an older teen where I spent many a days travelling and having a ball! Hanging with friends, partying til dawn, hiking up a hill or running into the ocean!
I remember the good old days of my childhood, spent watching the grown ups have a good old time, of garden parties and family gatherings. Running from my cousins who chased me with the lizards..the same lizards I disliked with such intensity...not a pleasant memory but one I still cherish because it brings me back to those sun-filled days!
I remember the day I graduated from high school, wondering if I'll ever see any of those friends again, alas time have passed and we have all lost touch, cest la vie! But I have pictures and memories and it's great to look back!
I remember the days when I got into trouble with my folks because I used to carry news as we called it, retelling what I heard to the person who didn't know, because it made me feel important and special. I didn't realised how wrong that was until my dad told me so. A lesson I never forgot!
I remember when I was active in my school community, singing, dancing, acting, participating, having fun. Playing tag in the school yard, hopscotch, skipping, dandy shandy (a game with three people, two throwing a hand made milk carton ball at each other, the person in the middle dodging and trying to stay in the game for as long as possible until they are out!).
________________________________-
The game of tag which I have read in today's news that has now been banned from some schools. O what have we come to? It's sad when times are this bad that children are not allowed to have fun outside, learning to play and negotiate with each other. Learning rules that are fundamental such as getting along, being able to lose gracefully, or win with unabashed pleasure! The simplistic of it is that teachers need to supervise kids playing in the school yard more, and not just leave them to their antics. Children have to be taught how to get along. It's some times a natural process but it's very much a learned skill as well.
I remember the good old days of my family dressing up and going out on special holidays. Seeing movies for the first time at a movie theatre, although I had been going to the movies since the age of six months! (mom the avid movie goer!)
I remembered the good old days when friends stood up for friends and you could depend on family to be there for you no matter what the disagreements. When everyone rallied around each other in support. Some still do it, others don't.
_________________
That said, there's nothing wrong with living in the moment. Relishing in the now and what we do know now, learning from our past mistakes and growing from them. There's nothing wrong with the progress we have made in our society because it has made our lives better and it is making us do things in a different way and much better than we did in earlier times, especially when we did not know any better! I hear ya Tex!
There is however nothing wrong with allowing a child to develop in as a natural way as possible. Learning to negotiate, to stand up for themselves, to get a scratch on their knee and know that it's only going to bleed a little bit. I'm all for being protective of our children, but we can't keep them in a cocoon forever. I've learned that more today than any other time in my life.
I used to keep my son under wraps because of his asthma. He wasn't allowed to go outside and play because it would be too much for him. That was because it would be too much for me as well. Gradually as time passed, I let him venture outside, play with his friends. He learned to stand up for himself, and stop being the one to be picked on because he has a voice and can defend himself if necessary (not physical violence, rather the art of negotiation!) Now he's the one to remind me that he can take care of himself now when I get overly protective.
_________________________________
Children live what they learn and learn what they live. We are here to protect them and be there guide, but we have to let them venture outside sometimes. We have to let children be children. We can't not let them have fun and play and experience the joy of running around on a playfield. How else are they not going to be fat anymore. Those lunches being served to them in school is not helping them! They just have to be taught how to play together, how to be responsive to each other, and learn to develop a thick skin! And that's pretty much what we as adults need to remember. Do you hear that you school authorities out there?!
_______________________________
Karma's article and the comments here:
Link
Tex's article and the comments here:
Link
Article about Tag being banned in schools here:
Link
! I tell them to my kids a lot! Like the time we had a swing in my grandma's backyard that was on the tallest tree and over hanging a small valley filled with bushes, what we call here, overgrowth of plants. We all took turns, swinging high, giggling and having fun, pushing each other the farthest and the highest! It was my cousin's turn, well she overdid it, suddenly our other cousin was out there, over the valley and off the swing, we all stood frightened, then she landed on the bed of bushes and we all fell hysterical with laughter because she was covered with it and she was laughing too!