There is a bunch of press about that book "The Dangerous Book for Boys". It is about things boys do in the course of growing up. The dangerous part I guess is for risky games like mumbly peg where you could easily lose a finger.

Funny, in one neighborhood I spent several of my boyhood years, there was a trip to the emergency room for some kid every week. I don't remember it ever being a girl. I went four times.

If I were to write that book the danger part would be way too much. I would never ever suggest a kid grow up like I did with disaster just a heartbeat away at every turn. Thinking back on the junk we did and got away with (most of the time) I shutter to think if I had a son he would do such things. I was so glad when my only child was a girl!

I probably did everything in the book, but the things I did that I'm sure are not in that book were due to lack of supervision. We were like a wild tribe of near animal, roaming barbarians living off the land and conquering anything before us as if it were our destiny. One thing we never did though...disrespect an adult. Adults were like these god like creatures of another world who had lots of stuff. We feared them, obeyed them, but most of the time they were not around so into the great urban and woodland wildnesses we went to pillage, forage, and fight amongst ourselves like wolves on a carcass. Like so many fierce ancient tribes, if we could not find something to fight we would fight each other.

I've been shot, cut, burned, and beaten but those were all easily healed. It's those falls out of trees and roofs, bycicle wrecks, motorcycle wrecks, and finally as a teenager, car wrecks that put me on this forum.

My poor daughter had to suffer through over protection and supervision for I was going to make darn sure she would not get hurt as a child as I was. I can't believe she's 21 now. I blinked my eyes and she was grown and doing fine.
jb