OT: for anyone born prior to 1970.....

Well, what's the difference between the railroad track and the park?

There are/were potential dangers in both places. We never had a railway track anywhere near our house and I am so envious of my husband who tells me how they used to go through the local park to the railway and watch water being loaded and coal and ... we didn't even have a local park come to think of it. My favourite place to play was on 'The Steps' - a flight of stone steps between tall terrace houses which led from one road to another. There were steel rails for the feeble to hold on to (like me, these days) and we used to 'swing' on them and 'tipple over'. Oh I loved those steps. Yet the lower road had its name changed from Camp Road to Grosvenor Hill because of the bad reputation Camp Road had and nobody wanted to live there. I don't know what the 'bad reputation' was ... it can't have been child-friendly :-)

Oh yes, we had the matinees in the morning but I never enjoyed them, boys would shout and hoot and whistle and you couldn't hear what was going on. I never really liked boys when I was a child - but I was always jealous of their gangs and wanted to be in a gang.

Whatever it was :-)

Mary

I have had the flu once that I can remember since I became an adult. That time, Kandace (granddaughter) was the first person in Wabush to contract Influenza A, and the generous little soul shared it with me. It was absolutely miserable. That is why I get angry when people say that they have the flu when it is just a head cold.

Higs, Katherine

"Not Likely" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

the US national anthem is the Star Spangled Banner (which i loathe & always have).

it is a nicer song, but it was written later than the existing national anthem. it's lots easier to sing too. lee

Yep.

Even I don't cycle on very busy roads (okay, who am I kidding, I don't actually cycle at all any more but when I did I picked my route).

We were allowed to travel to town by bus by ourselves at 10. It was a coming of age thing for us.

It's now illegal in NZ to hit your kids. You're allowed to use physical force to stop a child endangering themselves but not as punishment. I still remember the teacher smacking me on the first day of Kindergarten when I cried because I missed my mum - totally uncalled for, I was 2 and I-missed-my-mum. My mother proved repeatedly throughout my childhood there are many effective punishments that don't involve striking a child.

Of course, but on balance I think I'd chose now.

I do cycle a bit but only for about half a mile. I'm trying to increase but I'll never get back to the stage when I'd ride more than 100 miles in a day as well as racing. Mind you, one of the roads where we used to ride a long time trial is now a motorway, I do't know how cyclists do long races any more :-(

I was going way out of town to my godfather's farm before then - but there was also a two mile walk across fields when I got off the bus. I loved it. When I was eleven I had to take the bus to school and back - unless I wanted to save the fare and walk or cycle, it was only three miles.

That's awful :-(

So did I :-) but mostly a NO! was enough, they knew I meant it.

I'm not sure, we can't compare fairly because it's chalk and cheese.

Mary

Jeesh... look at all the stuff we have all lived through (falls, snipped off fingertips, broken bones, cancer, *actual* flu, etc) and survived. Most children now would have a difficult time with all of that because a lot of them are *over* protected and not allowed to go out and have fun for fear that something bad will happen to them. Instead they are sat in front of the TV or computer.

When Matthew was tiny and I saw lots of games and toys that didn't require kids to use their imaginations, I couldn't believe it. Instead I made sure that I picked out things that he could (and often *had to*) use his imagination. For instance, we got plastic play food and a Fisher Price cash register, and he set up a store using a box fan as the counter (just the right height for him to stand at)... and my Mom and I would go "shopping" at his store. He loved it! I also got a HUGE cardboard box that the dishwasher (or something larger) came in, cut out windows and taped the flaps together in the open position to make the box even bigger... and he used it as a playhouse with an old blanket inside, and I cut an old robe for him to use as curtains for his windows. We (I helped him) drew bricks on the outside of the box, and flowers & grass at the very bottom. He thought it was great fun and actually played in the box more than he played with most of the actual toys he had... until it fell apart. I'm sure using his imagination, as did I when I was little, is the very reason we have good imaginations and could write stories and such through school and even now.

My Mom used to think we might get hurt (or worse) playing by the railroad tracks if a train came along and one of us tripped on the track or got our foot caught (yes, it happened from time to time, but thankfully never when a train was coming). Our parks were/are quite safe, aside from possibly falling off the playground equipment which I did being a klutz... we live in a very small and friendly town where I feel very safe going for a walk alone at anytime of the day or night (when my body allows me to go walking) without fear of being mugged.

Ahh, well see... I always got along with the boys (didn't like them as anything other than friends until I was in my mid-teens), most likely because my older brother allowed me to tag along with him and his friends often (note, I didn't say *all* the time). The hooting and hollering from them didn't bother me too much as the people running the movie theatre would come along and tell them to settle down or they would have to leave. So they went from making noise to tossing popcorn around.... until they were caught doing that too. ;o)

I think you're me ...

... but I don't remember posting that ...

Mary

We live in a high-crime part of the city. It doesn't bother me, I still walk around (when my body allows it ) without being mugged. I reckon that no mugger would be interested in me, a scruffy, old, fat woman without even a handbag :-)

I olny had a younger brother and the boys in the street were older than me I always wanted an older brother but my mother never obliged ...

I was far too prim :-)

Mary

*hugs* Gemini

Ah hah... that proves you aren't me! My older (2nd) sister was prim and proper and a real lady (my oldest sister moved away and married when I was very tiny so I don't even remember her living with us).. I was a tomboy. My older brother saw to that, teaching me how to defend myself, playing rough with me (trying out wrestling moves that we saw on TV on me, which I did to Matthew when he was little too... rough-housing with him), and taking me to the stockyard across the street to introduce me to the animals (pigs, sheep, cows, etc), and as long as he was there too I was also allowed to play with his cowboy set and also his train set. ;o)

You should be thankful :-)

Mary

My mother's sister bought this house from new and we visited. I always ended up behind one of the big chairs because that's where my cousin's fort was ... I was so jealous - but they had far more money than us and even my brother didn't have a fort or train set.

My primness came to an end when my godfather married a farmer's widow and I spent a lot of time on the farm. But, come to think of it, he was a very skilled plumber before then and he let me do anything I wanted in his workshop, teaching me what tools were for and how to use them. and how not to use them or I'd hurt myself. I realised he was right when I sliced off some of my thumb on a plane :-) He'd erected a high 'shelf' to house long lengths of timber and piping, it was wide but had no protection from falling, still I used to run along it and look down at the workshop. My mother would have had a fit it she'd known what I got up to in that wonderful place. It stood me in good stead though. He also introduced me to the magic of prisms, ancient bound copies of Punch and he allowed me to play his piano and any of his huge collection of musical boxes ... he was regarded as an eccentric, I loved him. He treated me like the daughter he never had and encouraged me to explore and ask questions. Asking questions still gets me into trouble :-)

Hugs,

Mary