I remember. Yeah, we were gone from sun up to sun down during the summer, just to make sure no one would find some chores for us to do. When I was 5ish I loaded my buddies into my mom's VW Beetle and drove to the dime store (and the swedish smorgasbord, yum!). I remember when carrying a pocket knife was a mark of manly virtue and how the school teacher would ask one of us to cut something (we never questioned why they didn't just pull out their own knife). I remember learning how to start up the campfire for breakfast without burning the prairie down.
That was the Texas (and Austin!) I remember.
Yea those are days long gone by. It’s only when reflecting upon the past that I truly realize how far gone our society is.
And as a defense attorney (and former prosecutor) I know the extent of the dangers presented by predators on so many levels, so my kids are far more sheltered.
That said, we do our best to teach our kids how to safely deal with people (including cops and CPS workers) without scaring them to death.
We also home school our kids, so that adds an extra element of disfavor from the government.
Our two year old has Downs Syndrome and the older kids love him so much and they take turns watching over and playing with him while my wife is teaching the other kid.
It works out pretty well.
But it’s scary when we let them out to play. There are so many ways that a nanny state CPS worker or cop can make your life miserable over the smallest thing.
Fortunately my reputation keeps such figures off my porch. I’ve been in court with most of them and they don’t want any extra. I just hope it stays that way.
In our town, which has many Arabs, the Arab children are on the go, and out playing all day. On bikes, playing soccer, running around. They remind me of the American children of the 50’s and 60’s etc. They are not like the pasty faced American sissies.