And you knew I wouldn’t let this holiday pass by. . .
By Shelia Mader
It’s America’s birthday – what a grand day for a celebration. This year is an extra special birthday as it is the 250th birthday or as the millennials have officialized it - Two Fiddy! Yes, you read that right and I have a tee shirt to prove it. A very fine gentleman walked in my office this week with a smirk on his face and I just knew he was up to some mischief. Sure enough out of his mouth came “On your vacay around Merica, I got you this shirt for your send off!” And there it was big as life “TWO FIDDY”. Everyone in the office had a good laugh off of it and all was right with the world when he left.
I am a stickler for grammar (as if my faithful readers didn’t know that already). And I’m not so sure faithful is the proper word. I think some read it just to see what in the world I’ve come up with to fuss about on any given day. To me, faithful implies they are loyal and interested in what I’m saying, and I don’t know that all the readers fit into that category. At any rate, you can expect to hear from me at any given time on any given subject in my rant. And hopefully, I’ll still have a job the next week after it appears in print.
In the words of one of the most successful and profound teachers (now retired) with Jackson County School Board, “back at the ranch.” Change is often good but it is not 100% good for certain. There are so many things children are missing in today’s world. They have gone from the womb to first grade without the benefit of so much. I am forever finding things on line that definitely take me away from where I should be focused but I don’t regret finding any of them. This past week, it was “What happened to these childhood games?” You know me – I quickly said, “Merica took them away and decided they were not need – chose to take a longer vacay instead!”
For parents who have children freshly graduated from high school or even a four-year degree and younger children, this one is for you. How many have played “Mother May I?” Red Rover? Hopscotch? Kick the Can? Capture the Flag? Hopscotch? Double Dutch? How many of your children had mastered the hula hoop? Now, the question I asked prior to the listing of the outdate, but oh-so-fun games when I was a child, is a great example of a stupid question. The answer is no one and that truly makes me sad. It’s one of the most popular holidays coming up because although it will be hotter than a fried egg on an open fire, there will be water galore to help cool everyone off. If not at a pool, lake, pond, or beach, there is always a water hose close by, water slides or sprinklers. I can remember when city water was considered cheap and in the summer, we would often play some of those outside games under a sprinkler. Keep in mind, sometimes the sprinkler was a homemade one. Those were the best. My dad (and his eighth grade education) took a sprinkler head and put it on a five-foot pole. We were the coolest kids in the neighborhood. Decatur Street was never so lively as when we had that sprinkler going and the Holmes, Essers, Grants, Gambles, Weaver, Shields, Brendemuehls, and some I have forgotten I’m sure. Decatur, Spring and Park Streets were happening back in the day for sure. Those are memories that at age 72 bring nothing but smiles and stories galore.
Rainy days didn’t dampen our spirits at all. We had marbles and Jacks to keep us occupied. Has anyone under 20-25 ever shot marbles or played Jacks? You have missed a ton of fun you can never capture. And for teaching building and making of various stuff, Legos may be the hottest thing going today but NOTHING and I do mean NOTHING beats Tinker Toys. The things you could make with them are unmatched by Legos!
I say all of this to let the next generation know these things do still exist. Every outside “game” I mentioned is 100% free – no hidden costs, nothing needed to play them except wide-open spaces and we had plenty of that. The only choices we had to make were whose mom had the best to offer for lunch that day and who had the sweetest Kool-Aid!
You still have time before the holiday Saturday – if you have no idea how to play any of the outside games mentioned, use AI, use Google, and you’ll have an answer quicker than the speed of lightning. And your children will have some great stories for Show and Tell – oh wait, do they even have Show and Tell any more or does that interfere with algebra or scientific theories in grammar school?
Get my drift? GOOD! That was my point so that makes me happy. Now get out your Kodak camera and create a Kodak moment and send me pictures – Your kiddos will make the news! Take advantage of that for certain because their kids won’t ever see a newspaper (and I’m sure some folks will say thank goodness for that – no more Mader rants) but it’s all good in the neighborhood if one kiddo gets to experience what we did in the 50s and 60s. That’s is from Prissie this week! Happy Fourth of July and Happy Birthday America!
