a little bit of my childhood!
Last Saturday Bret and his BFF, Duane, planned a sand volleyball night at this park near us. They invited TONS of families from the Ward and we weren't sure who would show up. It was very causual and "whateverish". We had about 10 families come and it was SOOOOOOO much fun!!!
The volleyball nets were in a big sand pit with 2 courts side-by-side. Some of the adults played on one court and all the kids (about 20) played in the other one in the sand.
We all stayed out till late and as it grew dark I looked over at the kids. Their ages ranged from 2-12 and they were all interacting and playing and connecting without adults bugging them. They were close enough to keep an eye on, but far enough to just be themselves.
It reminded me of when I was a kid and we would stay out late in the summer and run around the neighborhood as a large pack of wolves (crazy and free). We'd play games like tag & hide-n-seek. Or run around in someone's front yard because their mom wouldn't let them leave the yard after dark. :)
It was amazing freedom and I didn't think about how great it was to be with other kids without adult interaction until I watched all the kids last Saturday. You know, you get all those emails passed on to you about the beauty of the old days. And I get sad sometimes about the fact that my kids will never have what we had. BUT I often tell myself that when they are 30ish they'll have emails (or something more hightech) passed around about the good old days of WII's and MP3 players. About the freedom of antibacterial everything and life lessons like 9/11.
But it makes my heart happy that I got to provide for them a little bit of MY childhood. That freedom and connection with other kids!!
They had so much fun! All the kids worked together to make a pile of sand as tall as Elizabeth's waist. I wish I had brought my camera! The big kids were even burying the little kids in the sand and the little kids were LOVING it!!! LOL - I think we'll have to do it again soon. :)
2 comments:
I love those days and I feel the same as you. Wishing my kids had a neighborhood to run around in.
Bret and I were those kids running thru the neighborhood for almost a whole block. Boy, it brings back memories. I wish times could be different but then in some things their better. Thanks for the reminder. We kindof did that tonight at an Elder's Quorum social. The guys were playing basketball, the kids were running around, and the women were just chatting. It was fun...
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