Remember when

yeah we did that too when we lived in Texas. We figured out some of the drainage tunnels would connect us to streets that friends lived on and we'd sometimes take those to get to their houses. I remember hearing years later that a couple of kids in CA were killed doing that when a bunch of water came flowing through and drowned them.

Growing up back then was great but I also question how I made it into adulthood sometimes, lol. We just had to be home by the time the street lights came on and that was about the only rule (other than the implied "no getting into trouble"...which of course just meant don't get caught). We had miles of undeveloped land behind our neighborhood that we'd get lost in during the day. That was back in the early/mid 90s for me (born in '85). Things have definitely changed

 

When someone says "born in '85. Things have definitely changed"... I feel really old...

 

haha, it's all relative I suppose. For me, there's a stark difference in the freedom I had as a kid to play outside and roam the neighborhood versus kids these days that are constantly overshadowed by helicopter parents tracking their every move (literally, with GPS), if they even go outside unsupervised at all. I blame the internet.

 

Sometimes parents in our neighborhood would just open the front door and scream "insert name, Suppertime". Then everyone else would laugh at them and say "you better go home before your mom gets pissed".

 

When I was in 2nd grade my parents moved and wanted me to stay in the same school to finish the year out. For 4 months I took a city bus 40 minutes each way to and from school.....and not one adult with knowledge of my commute thought twice about it.....lol


When my son was around the same age, I sent him on his own about four blocks from our house to the corner market for a gallon of milk....I suspect a few neighbors wanted to call child protective services when they found out what I did.....yeah, we really screwed the pooch as a society imo....

 

10 years ago, I was letting my daughter walk 3 blocks from our house to her school, by herself. I had several people in the area question me about it. Today she is about as confident as can be and just finished Boot Camp for the Navy. There is something to letting them do it, IMHO.

 

It's so different now. My mom would tell us to leave the house and don't come back till it was almost dark. Me and my brother were not a good combination around the house. Or "underfoot".

 

My son got a Congress Bundestag scholarship and did his Senior year of high school in Germany.

The day before he started school, his host mom drove him to the next town showing him the train station and bus he needed to get to his school. The next morning he woke up alone- both host parents had already left for work, took a train and bus and made it to his new school. At that time, he had never studied German, didn't speak the language, and was still a few weeks shy of his 17th birthday.

I still am in awe of him on that day, since I remember what I was like at his age.

My dad and uncle were on their way to Germany in their teens also, but that was in the early 1940's, doing Uncle Sam's bidding.

 

Independent kids now amaze me. I live in a small town and have no desire to leave. My son moved to Philadelphia for college . I don't get it, but I am truly proud of him. I'm sure you feel the same way about yours. As lazy as kids now are made out to be, there are still some with goals and dreams. I never really had that. And congrats to your son!

 

I dont helicopter my kid.... it's called free range parenting now.

 

LOL free range or "cage free"....organic parenting

 

My kid is going to chase the Wall Street money. I said I hope you get a big handful of that shit.

 

Needs to be a CEO so no matter how shiity you are at your job.... you get that golden parachute.

 

Love the multi million dollar parachute. I want one.

 

Uhh, how about not going after hearing the 'call' and then having mom come down the street with the wooden spoon or slipper... Took forever to live that one down in the neighborhood!

 

Lucky for my brothers and I our Mom worked graveyard and slept during the day and my Dad worked a normal day shift and was asleep at night. We had free rein most of the time except for around dinner time.

 

Weeble wobbles
https://youtu.be/dFzhjnjXc2o