Posted on 10/19/2007 7:33:32 AM PDT by SmithL
Today I do let my kids have some fun and try not to notice when they're being crazy. I'm sure I don't know half of what goes on. My son came in covered with road rash from some stupid experiment with a bike the other day and I wondered how many experiments had gone on when I wasn't here.
The other day I saw a boy wearing a helmet while riding a scooter. That is, a non-motorized toy/vehicle with two wheels, handlebars, and about as much space for standing on it as a small skateboard offers. You stand on it with one foot and propel yourself with the other foot.
It would seem to me that a horse is a lot more dangerous, but so far nobody’s helmeted for that. (Outside of sports and the attendant regulations.)
Every summer I take my kids to visit their grandparents in Michigan. We enjoy going over to the playground at my old elementary school and climbing around on the equipment. I remember fondly two sets of monkey bars from when I was a kid in the early 60's. They were metal, and had been painted over dozens of times. They had a very distinctive smell in the summer heat - a mix of metallic smell, paint, and sweaty handprints from generations of kids. This past summer I was dismayed to see that the monkey bars had been removed. One more loss of innocent childhood fun. I'm sure it was some over-protective idiot who decided they were too risky, because I guarantee you, they didn't "break".
ping
Yep. My 12 year old nephew was killed because he rode his bike without a helmet. He was sideswiped by a truck and hit his head on the curb. If he'd been wearing his helmet he would have walked away with a headache. My sister-in-law (his mother) is no longer suicidal but will never recover from the guilt and grief. And the rest of us miss him every day.
I think there are a lot of posters here who have never lost a child due to an easily preventable accident.
Yep, all of the above.
We also chewed this horrible, nasty tasting, government issue glue, it was a cool texture, who knows what was in that! We had black walnut fights until the doctors daughter got a black eye.
In the summer, we played until late at night throughout the neighborhood.
Fire was my favorite toy.
...man those things would get hot in summer, I suffered many a burn and then damaged knees from jumping off
My grandkids went to a really cool daycare this summer. They rode horses and donkeys, there were all kinds of animals and growing things, they had to keep the place clean. It had tree houses and all kinds of things, they popped out of bed every morning excited and ready to get there already.
“The other day I saw a boy wearing a helmet while riding a scooter.”
I see kids on trikes and training-wheel bikes with helmets on sometimes. The funny thing is, they are closer to the ground and going slower than if they were walking at a good pace. It’s just getting silly.
Every other year we spring for tuition at a summer camp in New England. The boys go for 7 weeks of grand fun and independence. I miss them, but the growth in their independence is a joy, and it gives them a break from their protected suburban existence.
OMG, your post reminded me of the day my 8 yr old (at the time) son went to friend’s house. They had a teenage babysitter and she was in the house watching TV. My son, his 9 yr old mentally deficient friend and his 7 and 5 yr old sisters decided to drive a tractor to the neighbor’s house to play.
It was an old tractor with no fenders, just a platform with a seat and barely enough room for the other 3 to stand. The exposed wheels turning could have gotten any of them!
That was bad enough but they made it the 2 miles to the neighbor’s house, played with the kids and then got on the tractor to drive home and it wouldn’t start and the other kid’s dad jumped it for them and let them drive it back home!
Well, anyhow, they survived and my son was really mad that he got a spanking by someone else’s father. The babysitter was also fired, she never realized they were gone.
Wow, that’s too bad. Hopefully your SIL will be able to move on from feeling guilty.
I just did a bike safety class at work for one of our safety meetings. I showed a friends helmet after he had a massive crash. The helmet was absolutely shattered but he survived. The accident broke his neck and he had a few other injuries but he’s fine now.
It’s sad that we have to use tragic examples to encourage some safety.
I cringe every time I see someone riding without a helmet. Really, how hard is it to wear the thing? They’re a little uncomfortable but so what? My nephew would be 23 now if he had worn his.
I don’t care what people say......I let my grandson ride in the bucket of my tractor, ride our horses, ride his own tractor, run all over the place unsupervised. He’s a kid and needs to experiment with life. Swim in the creek, climb trees....in fact I may build him a tree house. I use to ride on the sun deck in the back seat of my dads cars. Anyone know what a sundeck is any more?
We also chewed this horrible, nasty tasting, government issue glue, it was a cool texture, who knows what was in that! We had black walnut fights until the doctors daughter got a black eye.
In the summer, we played until late at night throughout the neighborhood.
Fire was my favorite toy. *****
I liked eating the Paste. And on hot summer days we'd also chew TAR from the streets. We didn't have Walnuts, we had Pea Shooters -- now a Class 3 'Firearm' :-) -- and snowball fights in winter and I did give a neighbor girl a black eye with one by accident (I'd be in prison for that today).
And yep in summer we were basically gone all day long. Playing, exploring and roaming wherever. Just had to be home when the street lights went on (I don't recall 'eating').
We didn't 'play' with fire, just started little ones to melt the lead to make fishing sinkers. But we did catch spiders, big ones, 'Banana Spiders' (which I now find are venomous).
Sheesh, why are we here????
:-)
Imagine if that happened today. Among our circle of friends, we encourage other adults to set our children straight if they see them acting out of line, but I think we're the exception in our community. We've had some pretty hostile reactions from people when we say anything to their errant children. My husband got yelled at for telling a youngster to get out of the way of moving cars in an Independence Day parade.
School and park playgrounds are rapidly disappearing. Why? Liability issues. Nobody wants to get sued when some kid injures themselves. On a related note, when was the last time you saw a diving board in a public swimming pool? Those are gone as well.
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