August 2010 Tell Us About Contest 1/Winner Announced

Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 6:09 am (No subject)

OMG!!! My Childhood was soooo much fun and carefree! I grew up in an exclusive neiborhood right next to a river. A biker community, actually. There were so many other kids that lived there besides my sister and I. That whole neiborhood and river was our playground. We ran all over that place, day and night. We were always safe because all of the adults were always looking out for us. Didn't matter if we were thier own children or not. Our dogs ran wild with us, never on leashes. But my most favorite thing that I miss the most were the endless summer nights of playing "hide- and- go-seek" with all of the neiborhood kids. Our boundaries was the whole neiborhood and we would stay out playing untill midnight, sometimes! I'm talking like twenty to fourty kids playing this game! So Fun!!! I do remember getting my first kiss from a major crush on one special game night!!! Razz

Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:55 am (No subject)

This is not my poem, but was sent to me last week. I read it and then i thought to myself- my God, kids dont even know how to be kids anymore!
When i was a kid, I remember summers lasting forever, running around in those terry cloth shorts an tube tops, lol. we were always outside running around and playing, catching crawdads at the creek (where a track of homes now sits).. taking lawn and leaf bags and making ghetto slip n slides ont he front lawn,lol
my best friend and i used to knock door to door in our neighborhood and ask if they had any odd jobs around the house (we were into making money to spend one the ice cream truck and out at the baseball field where both of our brothers played lol).. my mother still lives in the same house, a few blocks from me and lots of neighbors are the same, my daughter attends the same elementary school- do you think for one second id let my daughter knock on anyones door? i dont let her play outside unless theres an adult keeping an eye on her and her friends. I dont live in a bad area, but things are so different than they used to be- why is that? sad really.. hope u like the poem!

HEY,WASN'T THAT US ? SURE WAS!!!

A little house with three bedrooms, one bathroom and one car on the street.
A mower that you had to push to make the grass look neat.

In the kitchen on the wall we only had one phone,
And no need for recording things, someone was always home.

We only had a living room where we would congregate,
Unless it was at mealtime in the kitchen where we ate.

We had no need for family rooms or extra rooms to dine,
When meeting as a family those two rooms would work out fine.

We only had one TV set, and channels maybe two,
But always there was one of them with something worth the view.

For snacks we had potato chips that tasted like a chip,
And if you wanted flavor there was Lipton's onion dip.

Store-bought snacks were rare because my mother liked to cook,
And nothing can compare to snacks in Betty Crocker's book.

Weekends were for family trips or staying home to play,
We all did things together -- even go to church to pray.

When we did our weekend trips depending on the weather,
No one stayed at home because we liked to be together.

Sometimes we would separate to do things on our own,
But we knew where the others were without our own cell phone.

Then there were the movies with your favorite movie star,
And nothing can compare to watching movies in your car.

Then there were the picnics at the peak of summer season,
Pack a lunch and find some trees and never need a reason.

Get a baseball game together with all the friends you know,
Have real action playing ball -- and no game video.

Remember when the doctor used to be the family friend,
And didn't need insurance or a lawyer to defend?

The way that he took care of you or what he had to do,
Because he took an oath and strived to do the best for you.

Remember going to the store and shopping casually,
And when you went to pay for it you used your own money?

Nothing that you had to swipe or punch in some amount,
Remember when the cashier person had to really count?

The milkman used to go from door to door,
And it was just a few cents more than going to the store.

There was a time when mailed letters came right to your door,
Without a lot of junk mail ads sent out by every store.

The mailman knew each house by name and knew where it was sent;
There were not loads of mail addressed to "present occupant."

There was a time when just one glance was all that it would take,
And you would know the kind of car, the model and the make.

They didn't look like turtles trying to squeeze out every mile;
They were streamlined, white walls, fins, and really had some style.

One time the music that you played whenever you would jive,
Was from a vinyl, big-holed record called a forty-five.

The record player had a post to keep them all in line,
And then the records would drop down and play one at a time.

Oh sure, we had our problems then, just like we do today,
And always we were striving, trying for a better way.

Oh, the simple life we lived still seems like so much fun,
How can you explain a game, just kick the can and run?

And why would boys put baseball cards between bicycle spokes,
And for a nickel red machines had little bottled Cokes?

This life seemed so much easier and slower in some ways,
I love the new technology but I sure miss those days.

So time moves on and so do we, and nothing stays the same,
But I sure love to reminisce and walk down memory lane.

Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:51 pm (No subject)

we dont realize how much things have changed in the last 30-40 years.
the poem really makes you long for the good ole days.
what is sad , this generation of children are exposed to everything bad and good on a daily basis. They dont have time to be children. The adults tried to filter what we saw and heard, and our innocence lasted a little longer.

thx for sharing cambaby,
gl all,
lcakin62