Funny...

We just had this conversation the other night at my dinner table. What ever
happened to riding your bike down to the pond, walking home soon as the street lights went on, kick the can with EVERY kid on the block. When we tried to explain these fun times with the kids they just didn't get it , my kids are 17 and 14.

I figure 2 things happened that forces us to take childhood from our children.

1. Moms went to work...plain and simple, and I'm not trying to cause anger here, I was also a working mom. Soon as moms left the house kids were put in daycare, or tended to by elder relatives, who may not have the engery to chase them.

2. Child abduction/abuse. I believe this has always been a part of our history,
however today the media is doing a marvelous job bringing it to our attention.
Example...Polly Klaus, when that poor child went missing I was working at night and heard about it on CNN less than 5 hours after she was abducted.
Same with the young lady in Utah, and I sat here in Massachusetts and felt the deep dread, deep in my gut, that those poor mothers must have been feeling.

So what's the solution?? I don't know. My DH and I were both very busy career folks, and had only quality, not quantity time to spend with our kids. So when we had weekends or evenings together we took hikes, rode bikes,
played in the yard, went swimming, or sat and played a game. My kids have all the video gadgets but I never allowed them the opportunity to make a career of using them. Niether of them are fat, matter of fact my son is thin as a rail, and my daughter is proportional for her small stature. Both are very athletic, some say my son is "gifted". I can only pray I did right by them...

karen
sca