Aunty Acid by Ged Backland for November 06, 2018

And real friends.

Sounds like me playing cowboys and indians with the little boy who lived next door.

…and we rode bikes. A lot.

And no helicopter parents!

And look how nicely you turned out.

My hi-tech toy was an Etch-a-sketch.

Amen!!!

As relatively newly weds (married about 2 years) we got stationed in Southern California. We noticed the kids on the block sort of “hanging around.” They said they had nothing to do. So we attempted to teach them how to play stickball. Their first question was, Where to you plug it in? This was the early 70s.

Things were simpler then. A 25 cent rubber ball and a discarded mop handle could keep a whole gang of boys busy all day and a re-purposed section of clothes line kept the girls busy as they jumped and chanted. Good exercise all around.

And see just where it got you.

Imagination very often results in questions and those are not allowed these days.

Your day made you a consummate grumbler, Aunty. That seems to make you happy.

And a jump rope!

Me too! And we played cops and robbers, cowboys and indians, had cap guns and lawn darts and were out from morning to night!

My cell phone back then consisted of 2 tin cans and a string

AKA “The Good Old Days”.

We didn’t live in the country, but we were right on the edge of the city. In fact, the house next door was outside the city limits, we were inside. We had hills, big fields, a creek, railroad tracks, I had a dog… It was great!

One of my best toys was a few boards I nailed together and if you used imagination and squinted a bit, it was a battle ship. I had lots of “adventures” with it and it sure outlasted any other toy I ever had.

So glad I was a free range kid!

AMEN!!!

This is #2 — when was #1? I must have missed it.