One thing I would love to give my daughter is the freedom I had as a child.
I roamed all over our many neighborhoods. Despite all of our relocations as a military family, we usually lived in fairly similar areas: suburban environments with fringes of woods or wasteland.
We were explorers. We caught insects and tadpoles in ditches. We found treasures of the natural world and brought them home to admire them at our leisure. Our games of pretend took place among trees, far from our parents, who seldom even knew where we were.
As a young rider, I went on horseback through fields and woods, sometimes with my sister, but often by myself.
When I think of the way our children live now, penned up in planned communities and under constant surveillance, it makes me want to move into the countryside and let my daughter experience a more natural life. I would get her a dog to protect her and a pony to take her where she wanted to go. Within reason. :-)
Did you grow up free to roam outdoors?
8 comments:
Yes, I did. We lived outside the city limits but in a neighborhood. We slept out in backyards at night and wandered everywhere during the day (and sometimes at night.) My friend and I walked about a mile to a cemetery that had a bridge over a pond to a small island. We took our lunch and spent the day. We rode bikes everywhere, rode the bus to town and even walked the 5 miles home sometimes. We caught tadpoles and watched them change into frogs, had snail races wherever we found ponds, had backyard musical shows--costumes and all--had weiner roasts with friends and no parents around. Like you, my parents didn't usually know where I was and weren't worried. But we don't live in that time any more. Even if you lived in the country you'd have to be cautious with your child. Maybe less than in the city, but knowing what we know today, how could we not?
You've seen our back yard, and one of the reasons we bought our house is because we rounded the side of a pretty normal, small house and came upon a medium-sized wilderness wonderland. Because there is a stream (when we aren't experiencing a drought) and even a natural spring in our wooded backyard, I hope it will give Lola and her friends the experience of the outdoors, especially in those in-between years of 6-10 years old. Your daughter will have to come visit again before she hits 10! But I know we are overdue to visit you first. Love, K
I've had been blessed with a childhood escape, too. It was in the heart of the Allegheny National Forest in PA.
It was a beautifully wooded land filled with small treasures. I loved to run and feel the ferns brush against my knees, build forts with sticks and brush, climb the "Big Rocks" (As we affectionately called these massive stones ranging anywhere from five to thirty feet high.)
The sweet smell of oil from the rigs would permeate the air by day and faint aroma of campfire smoke by night.
Us kids would jump in delight when we'd find a newt (a little orange creature) or spot a rusted railroad spike from the old track used at the turn of the nineteenth century.
We had fun to say the least! I actually use a picture from the swimming hole we used to splash around in as my profile pic.
I would love to give that "freedom" to my children as well as provide them with fun memories of their own!
Yes and no! I grew up across an undeveloped field from our very small church, and across the street from our pastor's family who were obviously close family friends! I had freedom in that most of my outdoor childhood memories were in the tall weeds in the field - we had the illusion of being alone, although I'm sure our parents could see us! I could roam into our friends' house basically at will and check to see if what they were having for dinner was more appealing than the option at home! ;)
From there we moved to SA, and to make a long story short, after what we think was a near-abduction, I was pretty terrified to be outside by myself. Even taking the trash out at night by myself was a gripping fear.
So, this is a life-long struggle. Now living in somewhat of an urban area, it's hard for me to imagine letting my kids roam. My husband is also a psychologist and much of his case-load are people court-ordered for treatment as sex offenders... needless to say, we're pretty paranoid because of the reality of what he sees every day. My husband grew up much as you did - with horses and everything! He would love for us to live like that some day... I love that thought and then still battle with my own inner fears.
I'm looking forward to the "new earth" where we won't be fearful parents watching for shady characters who might roam by our yard... ;)
My absolute favorite place was my grandparents' farm. I would wander out in the pastures and orchards all day long and play "Little House on the Prairie meets Gunsmoke meets Dukes of Hazard" with my cousins all day.
My aunt and uncle now live on that farm. I asked my aunt this past weekend if it would be OK for my hubby and I to shoot part of our music video for the latest song we wrote out there. She thought it was a cool idea. So, I'm excited about going back.
Thanks for sending me on a trip down memory lane. It was fun!
When I was younger, I would get on my horse and I would be gone for hours. My parents never knew where I was. If they needed me, my dad would get into his pickup and drive around. When I saw him, I'd ride over and find out what he needed.
Different days, indeed!
Barb - Oh yes, I loved watching the tadpoles turn into frogs! After reading my post, my friend sent me this great link from the author of a book titled Free Range Kids. Sometimes it's hard to know whether we need to be quite as protective as we are these days.
http://freerangekids.wordpress.com
Kathryn - That is a great feature of your house!
Rachel - I really enjoyed both your childhood memories and your skill in describing them. This is one of the perks of having writer-friends. :-) Those vestiges of railroad track sound awesome.
Kristi - Yikes - a near-abduction. That's enough to make anyone struggle with safety issues for the rest of one's life. I also know that other members of the helping professions--doctors, nurses, cops, EMTs--are anxious about their children because they've seen too much of the dark side of humanity. Let's hope the new earth gets here ASAP.
Kat - LOL about Little House meets Dukes of Hazzard! The mind boggles. I'd rather picture Daisy Duke in a prairie dress than Nellie Olsen in Daisy Dukes.
Travis - That sounds heavenly. You must have had a lot of land to ride on. .
Oh yeah! Despite living in the city, we still roamed around. To look back, I can't believe how much I probably shouldn't have roamed around that suburb. LOL But, things are a bit different nowadays....
Great post!
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