Close your eyes...And go back...

....Before the Internet or PC or the MAC......

....Before semi-automatics and crack....

....Before Playstation, SEGA, Super Nintendo, even before Atari...

....Before cell phones, CD's, DVD's, voicemail and e-mail....

....way back.... way.....way.....way back.....

I'm talkin' bout hide and seek at dusk

Red light, Green light

Red Rover....Red Rover.....

Playing kickball & dodgeball until the first...no...second...no...third streetlight came on

Ring around the Rosie

London Bridge

Hot potato

Hop Scotch

Jump rope

Duck....duck....GOOSE!!!

YOU'RE IT!!

Parents stood on the front porch and yelled (or whistled) for you to come home - no pagers or cell phones

Mother May I?

Hula Hoops

Seeing shapes in the clouds

Endless summer days and hot summer nights (no A/C) with the windows open

The sound of crickets

Running through the sprinkler

Cereal boxes with that GREAT prize in the bottom

Cracker jacks with the same thing

Ice pops with 2 sticks you could break and share with a friend

...but wait.....there's more....

Watchin' Saturday Morning cartoons

Fat Albert, Road Runner, Tom&Jerry, Heckle&Jeckle, Pink Panther, Richochet Rabbit, Schoolhouse Rock

Watchin' Sunday morning oldies (Abbott & Costello, Three Stooges, Tarzan, Shirley Temple OR WONDERAMA!!)

Wonder Woman & Super Man Underoos

Catchin' lightning bugs in a jar



Your first day of school

Bedtime Prayers and Goodnight Kisses

Climbing trees

Swinging as high as you could to try and reach the sky

Getting an Ice Cream off the Good Humor Truck

A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers

Jumpin' down the steps

Jumpin' on the bed

Pillow fights

Sleep-overs

A 13" black and white TV in your room meant you were RICH

Runnin' till you were out of breath

Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt

Being tired from PLAYING

WORK: meant taking out the garbage or doing the dishes

Your first crush

Your first kiss (the one that you kept your mouth CLOSED and your eyes OPEN)

Rainy days at school meant playing "Heads up 7UP" or hangman" in the classroom, remember that?

Oh, I'm not finished yet....

Kool-Aid was the drink of the summer

So was a swig from the hose

Giving your friends a ride on your handlebars

Wearing your new shoes on the first day of school

Class Field Trips with soggy sandwiches

When nearly everyone's mom was at home when the kids got there

When a quarter seemed like a fair allowance; and another quarter a MIRACLE

When ANY parent could discipline ANY kid, or feed him, or use him to carry groceries...And nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.

When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited you at home.

Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! And some of us are still afraid of em!

Didn't that feel good? Just to go back and say, "Yeah, I remember that!"

Well, let's keep going!!

Let's go back to the time when...

Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo"

Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "do over!"

"Race issues" meant arguing about who ran the fastest.

Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in "monopoly"

Catching fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening

It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends.

Being old, referred to anyone over 20.

The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was cooties.

Nobody was prettier than Mom

Scrapes and bruises were kissed by mom or grandma and made better

It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the "big people" rides at the amusement park.

Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true.

Abilities were discovered because of a "double-dog-dare"

Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles.

The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.

Water balloons were the ultimate, ultimate weapon.

Older siblings were your worst tormentors, but also your fiercest protector

If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED!!!

Pass this on to anyone who may need a break from their "grown up" life.....I TRIPLE DOG DARE YA!!!!!!




GOD is the reason why even at the saddest part of life, we smile, even in confusion, we understand, even in betrayal, we trust, and even in pain, we love!

Man that was good. Thanks for posting it. I can remember a lot of those. I am expectially fond of parents stood on the front porch and yelled (or whistled) for you to come home - no pagers or cell phones. And you could hear in the whole neighorhood.

Darlene

This was very cool. I'd like to add to this some things I remember.

Johnny on the pony
Hide and go seek
Old wooden seesaws
Monkey bars made of metal
Girls wearing white gloves when they went to church
Listening to radio programs before we had a TV
Collecting glass coke bottles to get the refund deposit
Metal roller skates with the toe clamps and leather straps
The roller skate key to tighten the toe clamps on the shoe
Playing hand ball on the side of a building
The ice truck delivering blocks of ice
The coal truck delivering coal for the furnaces
Men tipping their hats as a greeting
Seams on ladies' stockings
Moms wearing aprons
Covering our school books with the brown paper from the
grocery sacks
Milk delivered to the home in glass bottles

Anyone else have more to add? I just love this thread.