Monday, September 4, 2017

Got Toys?

Learning curve as you age:
If you just want to walk fast, walk alone; but, if you
want to walk far, walk together!


My great grands  have many toys.  Most children today have more than enough toys for a childhood. Any child can have most of the toys they desire picked up at yard sales for pennies on the dollar and hardly used.

We took an illegal trip across the Rio Grande for $5 round trip once. We went into the small town of Bacchius (?).  I didn't see an abundance of toys. The homes did not have running water there were communal faucets and also communal toilets. Most of the adobe homes had dirt floors.
          (This little girl was our guide for the day.)
We did not see an abundance of toys there.  Many Hispanic folk here in the states buy at yard sales and take the stuff home to Mexico.

I don’t know about today, but as a child we played in the streets.  It was especially fun under the few street lights that existed. Games like hide and seek, kick the can, and just plain-old tag. I remember seeing pictures of kids in NYC playing in the streets.  That is about impossible around here, surely it is tough to play in the streets in NYC.
ball in the street!

Why this came up? I was thinking of our entertainment as we walked around the camp ground in Williamsburg. I saw a man and his son ‘pitching ball’.  I can remember passing ball for hours at a time. Just pitch and catch. Basketball wasn’t a big thing, but today kids can shoot baskets for hours on end.

Many times our ‘baseball’ was nothing more than a wad of string covered with two thousand wraps of black tape. There were only a few bats (except at school) so we used a strong stick or a Weaver’s paddle from a weave mill.

Kids do get some physical activity now, but they get more time on the ‘smart phone or tablet’.  I am not fussing. In the past it would have been ill mannered for kids to text or talk on the phone an entire dinner.  Of course manners have changed over the years and I am behind.  And now my Mama is not here to tell me, or I would know.


Nite Shipslog
                                                               Speaking of TOYS


9 comments:

Mevely317 said...

Good points, Jack!
I wonder how much 'helicopter parent' attitudes have to do with their children's reluctance to play outdoors.

Our little, local grandchildren's toy stash is, to my eyes, overwhelming. I don't know if their mother repurposes them, but each birthday seems to boast a tidal wave of brightly wrapped packages. I'll never forget my mother commenting on her own childhood: "I always received one gift." (... and knowing her, she cherished it.)

I'm happy to remember playing catch for hours.

Chatty Crone said...

You have me on a topic I hate - cell phones and games!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had a girl go to Haiti from our church. THEY HAVE NOTHING! Next time she went down there thy brought each kid one Lego - they were the happiest kids alive!

Lisa said...

Toys will be a thing in the past one day. I have a three year old nephew that can already navigate a smart phone but still doesnt know how to use a spoon!

Nite
Lisa

TARYTERRE said...

sad to think kids today don't use their imagination like we did growing up. these new fangled devices take the work out of the things we used to find pleasure in.

betty said...

We have a no cell phone rule at our house during dinners. I get amazed some days when I see kids out and about playing here in Phoenix or riding their bikes on busy streets, etc., but then I have to remember that their parents are letting them grow up without too much helicoptering and even though its a huge big city, they still have to learn the ropes of living in it. I still helicopter and the kid turned 28 this past March!

betty

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

My grands have so many toys they really don't appreciate what they have. But they always want more. The ones that have smart phones and tablets have a rule that they are banned from the table at dinner time. It's important for all of us to get physical activity. I know I don't get enough. I got a 3 wheel bike for my birthday this year and plan to get more exercise riding around the park here. If we don't use it we loose it.

Dar said...

I have to agree that kids have way too many toys and most they don't even use. I must add tho, I'm glad most of my grandloves do donate to less fortunate. It tells me that the parents do two things, one, they are the ones usually purchasing those unwanted toys but they also instill the will to give up what they don't use. I guess the parents are bored with what to get the spoiled children????? Some things I just don't get. I was glad to get new socks and undies for my birthday and a cake, when I was a kid. This big kid is still glad to get the same thing......but I can do without the cake. lol KIDS, young and old, Get OUTSIDE and PLAY.
love n' hugs from up north where we played outside all day in our woods and the gardens. phew, I'm plum tuckered out.!

UplayOnline said...
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Unknown said...


I'm happy to remember playing catch for hours.


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