....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
Even Kick the Bucket
REMEMBER....
Ring around the Rosie
London Bridges
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
WHAT ABOUT....
Mother May I?
Hula Hoops
Seeing shapes in the clouds
Endless summer days...
~and~ hot summer nights 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' Sunday morning oldies (Abbott & Costello, Three Stooges)
Wonder Woman & Super Man Underoos
Catchin' lightning bugs in a jar
Christmas morning
Birthday parties
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
Runnin' til you were out of breath
Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt
Tickling a friend til they swore they were gonna pee...
Being tickled to you thought you would
Being tired from PLAYING
WORK: meant taking out the garbage or doing the dishes
Your first crush.
Your first kiss (the one you kept your mouth CLOSED and your eyes OPEN for)
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 and milk
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’!
Doesn’t this feel good? To just 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"
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.
(CRAP! I'm officially old!)
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 PEOPLES" rides
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’ve LIVED!!!