I love this! It amazes me that my friends and I regularly spent whole days running around outside unsupervised as 4-year olds, but we did. (My parents didn't worry because we had a Lab who would nudge me off the road when I wandered into it! No sidewalks where we lived.) My kids spent the first half of their childhood living on a creek in a small mountain community, having experiences much like those of your kids. They are similarly independent and adventurous now. I feel so fortunate that we were able to give them the childhood they had.
I love this so much! I wish our girls grew up here. We bought our house in Claiborne in 1995 when they were still in elementary school. Back then, we were only "weekenders". I still remember how much more "free" they were in Claiborne than in Arlington. Such a wonderful place to grow up.
Yes! I think about this a lot. I grew up in Urbana, Illinois, a university town of about 100,000, in the 1960s and '70s. Both parents worked and we had keys for when we got home before they did. We'd roam all over town, the campus, and even corn fields on our bikes, and our parents had no idea where we were. What I can't remember is how we always managed to get home in time for dinner. In the summer, we'd go out again after that and were supposed to be in by dark, but we never were. There was always the insistence, "It wasn't dark yet!" — and when we got watches, we'd set them back so we could come in later. As if that would fool our parents. ;-) Nothing bad ever happened; the worst thing was that we'd get bored and have to think of something to do. I often wonder if kids in Urbana still live at all this way. I mean, you can do a lot there without having to be driven places, and it's still a relatively small city.
Yes, our three girls would be out with the other neighborhood kids all day. I’m grateful that where we lived made that possible. I think parents are more protective now because they have to be. The world has changed.
The freedom oc our childhood back in the day! A freedom I actually let my kids have when we would stay with my mum and dad in the family coastal cottage. Up at the crack of dawn, out and gone till dinner with no worries of stranger danger, no bike helmets and no lifejackets.
There was a broken bone each for the children and my son fell overboard from the bow on a rubber ducky and his friend accidentally drove over the top of him cutting his head badly. But he survived and its an oft-told story.
Now he has his own son, an only child and he and his wife are trying so hard not to be helicopter parents. Living on a 500 acre farm helps and there's always Nanny's and Pa's house on the coast. But strangers ARE danger now and there are more entitled mad drivers and awful teenagers who delight in bullying. We love that the little fella has a huge imagination that includes games with his friends when he's with them.
The world has changed and we all try our hardest to let him live out his precious innocence every day. Life will intrude soon enough.
We grew up with a fairly big wild garden, and would spend nearly all of our time outside. Outside of school we didn't have the opportunity to play with other children, so it would be just me and my brother interacting with each other and the animals. He and I would be climbing trees, playing hide and seek, digging holes, catching frogs.... Everything about it all was absolutely fantastic. Your post takes me right back!
I love this! It amazes me that my friends and I regularly spent whole days running around outside unsupervised as 4-year olds, but we did. (My parents didn't worry because we had a Lab who would nudge me off the road when I wandered into it! No sidewalks where we lived.) My kids spent the first half of their childhood living on a creek in a small mountain community, having experiences much like those of your kids. They are similarly independent and adventurous now. I feel so fortunate that we were able to give them the childhood they had.
I love this so much! I wish our girls grew up here. We bought our house in Claiborne in 1995 when they were still in elementary school. Back then, we were only "weekenders". I still remember how much more "free" they were in Claiborne than in Arlington. Such a wonderful place to grow up.
Yes! I think about this a lot. I grew up in Urbana, Illinois, a university town of about 100,000, in the 1960s and '70s. Both parents worked and we had keys for when we got home before they did. We'd roam all over town, the campus, and even corn fields on our bikes, and our parents had no idea where we were. What I can't remember is how we always managed to get home in time for dinner. In the summer, we'd go out again after that and were supposed to be in by dark, but we never were. There was always the insistence, "It wasn't dark yet!" — and when we got watches, we'd set them back so we could come in later. As if that would fool our parents. ;-) Nothing bad ever happened; the worst thing was that we'd get bored and have to think of something to do. I often wonder if kids in Urbana still live at all this way. I mean, you can do a lot there without having to be driven places, and it's still a relatively small city.
Yes, our three girls would be out with the other neighborhood kids all day. I’m grateful that where we lived made that possible. I think parents are more protective now because they have to be. The world has changed.
I loved The land... great way to grow up!
Oh my gosh!
The freedom oc our childhood back in the day! A freedom I actually let my kids have when we would stay with my mum and dad in the family coastal cottage. Up at the crack of dawn, out and gone till dinner with no worries of stranger danger, no bike helmets and no lifejackets.
There was a broken bone each for the children and my son fell overboard from the bow on a rubber ducky and his friend accidentally drove over the top of him cutting his head badly. But he survived and its an oft-told story.
Now he has his own son, an only child and he and his wife are trying so hard not to be helicopter parents. Living on a 500 acre farm helps and there's always Nanny's and Pa's house on the coast. But strangers ARE danger now and there are more entitled mad drivers and awful teenagers who delight in bullying. We love that the little fella has a huge imagination that includes games with his friends when he's with them.
The world has changed and we all try our hardest to let him live out his precious innocence every day. Life will intrude soon enough.
Sadly...
so so good. i am forever grateful that i happened upon this tribe that encouraged and supported my choice to raise our children free-range.
Oh, just wonderful, Elizabeth!
We grew up with a fairly big wild garden, and would spend nearly all of our time outside. Outside of school we didn't have the opportunity to play with other children, so it would be just me and my brother interacting with each other and the animals. He and I would be climbing trees, playing hide and seek, digging holes, catching frogs.... Everything about it all was absolutely fantastic. Your post takes me right back!