Once again I saw a posting today that listed all of the things that kids did back when I was growing up. As with most of these postings, it made fun of the fact that we survived all of these “bad” things such as drinking from a hose. Quite often while reading these items, I wonder how in fact we did survive. I guess Darwin was correct, only the fittest made it into adulthood. While reading tonight, I realized that in fact we are lucky that we did grow up today – actually my parents are the lucky ones. They would have most likely been arrested today.
My parents disciplined us like other parents of the day. We did feel the end of a belt, hand, and, thanks to my grandfather, cork insulation – it didn’t leave marks. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE – they did not abuse us. However, we did learn early on right from wrong, what was acceptable and not, and the proper way to behave. Just the same, my parents are lucky that with four boys that DCSF didn’t visit us.
The first issue that I can remember is the time I almost lost an eye. We lived in what is called a split level house. Our playroom was the level under the bedrooms, the living room was a few steps up (in-between the other floors). The playroom opened into the backyard which made it nice for kids. We could get muddy and not worry about dragging dirt through the living room or kitchen. During the summer, this room became a through fare outside and to the above ground pool. It also housed my mom’s baby grand piano.
On the given day, a contractor was visiting the house to receive final payment for some remodeling that had just been completed. I believe we were supposed to go out for dinner after the transaction. My mom sent me to go tell everyone to get out of the pool (I hope that there was a parent around). I went tearing down the stairs and into the playroom making a straight shot for the back door. There in the center of the room was a blanket – yep, mom always told us to pick up, but we never listened. I took a leap hoping to get over the obstacle not realizing that it held a secret underneath. Unbeknownst to me, the hose to the shop vac was hidden underneath. My foot hit is and that is the last thing I remember. I am told that my scream was so loud and piercing that the contractor left before receiving his payment. My face hit the corner of the piano bench just off the edge of my eye. A few stitches later and I had a scar for life.
I was the lucky one. That is the only visit to the hospital that I remember other than my tonsils. My brothers, however, found other more creative ways to see the inside of the emergency room. I can think of one day in particular. As I mentioned, we had an above ground pool. The pool even had a nice deck that had room to stretch out and chill. Of course Mom and Dad had rules for the pool. No diving and jump only from the deck. Much like the Brady Bunch, we never listened to our parents.
The edge of the pool had a flat top to it. As kids, you could shimmy around the rail and stand up on it. My oldest brother had a habit of doing just this in order to jump from the edge of the pool. Mom always said don’t jump from the side of the pool. My brother stood on the edge as he was told not to. I am not sure why or how, but instead of going forward he went backwards. Unlike today pools back then did not cover up all the nuts and bolts. Down the outside of the pool was a row of nuts and bolts. My brother’s leg and the bolt found each other. The bolt traveled up his leg ripping it open.
Now the advantage to having the mom we do is the fact that she was a nurse prior to having children. She took my brother inside and patched him up. Since my dad was working, she got the blood stopped and sent him on his way. Being that it was the 70s, outside he went. The only problem was that having a bum leg there wasn’t much to do. So….. when bored, you hit golf balls. My brother and his friend decided to hit balls over Meadow Drive into our neighbor’s yard. They used my other brother and his friend to retrieve the balls and toss them back. It seems like a good way to pass the time. The rules were simple, hit the ball, wait for it to stop, and toss it back. To this day, both brothers swear that the ball in question was dead in the grass. Somehow when my retrieving brother went to retrieve the ball, it jumped, seriously the dead ball jumped on its own, right up into my brother’s face. Blood started spurting everywhere. Since it was a head wound, my mom asked our neighbor to take her to the hospital. She then decided that if she was taking one, she must as well take the other.
The story that came back from the hospital was that our neighbor drove her to the entrance of the ER and dropped all of them off and went to find parking. A nice young police officer held the door as my mom got the two patients inside. Once everybody was checked in, the officer actually approached my mom to start talking to her about abuse. I have been told that the nurse interceded and explained that it wasn’t my parents just the way my brothers were.
The above only is about two different days. I could fill so many more pages with what my brothers did as they were growing up. So yes, the days of our childhood were filled with being outside all day. They were filled with daredevil stunts that would make parents of today cringe (funny since those kids are the parents). We drank from a hose, and dared each other to do stupid things. And….we left the house in the morning and did not return until dark unless we were hungry, thirsty, needed a bathroom (and not always) or needed stitches. So we were lucky that we were survived. Our parents were lucky that they were not arrested.
So go ahead. Kick your kids out and make them play all day. Just make sure that you have good health insurance and an alibi.
Thank you for meandering with me through the old road of childhood.
