Day 397

We were at a Neighborhood Gathering tonight to celebrate a 40th Birthday! The party was an amazing success planned right down to the last detail: games for the kids in the back yard, food galore, labels on all the coolers, gluten-free options, receptacles for all of our used goods and dear friends sitting around every table. Perfection!

As the oldest, and most "rooted" Christian Hill resident, I couldn't help but walk down Memory Lane a step or two. Watching the 15 to 20 children playing in the backyard, I began to compare our childhood gang to the youngsters playing in the yard today.

In the 1950's and 1960's, we were sent out into the safe arms of our neighborhood to play and create activities on our own. Often, when heading out to find the action, the tendency was to look for a pile of bikes in someone's front yard. Ringing the doorbell at the chosen home, we were always invited in with directions leading us to the assembled crew. Our favorite activities depended on the weather and time of year, but the list was amazing:

Tag at the Anderson House

Softball at Grandma Babcock's

Flashlight Tag at the Collier Residence

4-Square (sometimes 10 or 12-square) back at the Babcock's

Swimming Lessons

Roller Skating Village back at the Babcock's

Summer Christian Hill Follies rehearsal at the Farrier's

Crawling into the Farrier Rambler heading to the pool or DQ

Drawing and writing stories wherever we could find paper

Going to the Carnegie Library

The list goes on and on! Never a dull moment! Typically kid directed with creativity abounding!

Today's neighborhood is noticeably different in many ways:

Playing in safe "forts" built by parents and grandparents

Scooters galore with helmets on every head

Hot Wheels and amazing, intricate tracks

Bubble Machines

"Screen Time"

Sand boxes with incredible toys

Time in the homes under the watchful eyes of parents or grandparents

This list could be extended, but is not as long!

When it comes right down to it, the real difference seems to be that our neighborhood kids have more hands-on, adult supervision. Watching our group tonight, the children were all playing in the Birthday Girl's amazing backyard with MANY adult eyes vigilantly watching them have fun. I rarely remember my own parents, or any other adult for that matter, standing around watching us play out in the neighborhood with our friends. We were on our own. Today, kids are more guided and protected.

This comparison does not strive to conclude one childhood is better than the other. It only reminded me that we live in a different world as parents and grandparents to our children of today. We are more watchful and deliberate with our young ones. When I was a child, we were often on our own while today, adults are hesitant to simply open the door and set their kids free.

Perhaps it is the news media which makes us more watchful and protective. It could also have something to do with test scores and the need to observe our children gaining knowledge. There is also the possibility that, with all the computer games out there, we feel compelled to become involved with activity choices for our kids. Whatever the impetus, there has been a shift.

Tonight, however, was simply a throwback to kids being kids...being creative with the options available and running until they were "happy exhausted." The parents still took their role seriously and stood, for the most part, as sentinels to the magic beyond.

I am grateful for my amazing neighbors, the birthday hostess who makes every party memorable AND to the sweet children at play who reminded me of days gone by.

The world has changed.

Parenting has changed.

Children have changed.

What remains the same might just be that kids still love to run, scream, laugh, create and imagine...albeit under the watchful eyes of their families.