By Robin Weaver
I grew up in the middle of nowhere, and since my parents
worked long hours and had a lengthy commute, my non-school time involved very
little supervision. In those days (and it really wasn’t that long ago), leaving
eight- and ten-year-old children alone during the time between school bus
drop-off and arrival of the parents after a day at the factory didn’t
constitute child-neglect. My eight-year-old brother had a more structured
existence. He was supervised by ten-year-old
me. Translation: it’s amazing we survived childhood.
What could possibly happen in those three hours each day? We
had chores to keep us busy, right?
Here’s what we actually did…
*Had races. On real horses. At
full gallop, through the woods.
*Had tin can fights. Did I mention
we loaded the cans with rocks because the weight made the throw more accurate?
*Went swimming in the lake.
Said-lake had been created from a gravel pit, and thus had a very deep
drop-off.
*Went fishing in the beaver pond.
Several water moccasins enjoyed the same water.
*Had contests to see who could
climb the highest tree. And jump down.
*Played circus knife-thrower. You
guessed it—with the kitchen butcher knife.
*Tried to create fire by rubbing
stones together. Fortunately for the hundred-acre forest, we never succeeded.
*Had target practice with B-B
guns. Enough said.
*Played Zorro. Sword fights
involved sticks sharpened with the circus-play butcher knife.
*Tested bed sheets to determine if
they could be used as parachutes. Testing involved jumping from the roof. Note:
Bed sheets do not make good parachutes.
*Drove the tractor to the
neighbor’s house (in first gear the entire trip). Note: The neighbor gave us a
lecture but
never ratted us out. I don’t think the tractor ever ran the same.
The Christmas Tree Wars, a contemporary romance novella, will be available this holiday season.
Styrofoam Corpse, a mystery/suspense novel, will be available in November.
.
*Made up stories. Probably the
only safe thing we did. At least until we turned the stories into live-action plays.
Did my mom know about our activities? Of course not. She
would have killed us.
My childhood didn’t seem like a near-death experience at the
time, but a few years later, I freaked because my five-year-old daughter went roller
skating without a helmet. I guess times really have changed. J
9 comments:
What a childhood you had! No wonder you write such amazing stories!! Yes, it is amazing that we survive some of our antics growing up - although most of mine occurred when I was a bit older.
Wow. I bet your guardian angel had to retired when you turned 18. :) Sounds amazing.
Lori
No wonder Cami lived a more sheltered life - you knew first-hand the trouble kids can get into! Fun post -
Haha! Hysterical. And scary. Although if creative kids turn into intelligently creative adults....is it really all that bad? Nahhh ;) And all that fun with no electronics! Looking forward to reading more from you!!
Robin-- This explains a LOT! No wonder your heroines have no trouble getting into hot water. But, luckily, like you, they survive--okay, flourish. While I'm not condoning all those risks, life would have a lot less joy if we were always cocooned in bubble wrap. A fun blog.
When it snowed (not all that often in NC), I would put my little sister on a sled and drag her down the road behind my horse ... I could TOTALLY relate to your horse races!
My children tell stories of what they did growing up while we were at work that chill my blood!
Of course, when I was ten my brother (who was tweove) and I would explore caves left over from the Japanese occupation of Guam during WWII - cavew where people sometimes found live ordinance. Luckily we never did!
Wow! My parents encouraged all those things, they called it playing! Now that we (my brother and two sisters) are older adults now, we talk about what our parents let us do…. hanging out the tailgate window of the family station wagon (?) to our waists at 30+ mph. Crossing State Road 7 on bicycles, shooting each other with dart guns, bows and arrows, and of course the ubiquitous slingshots!
Just like your stories, your blog has brought me back in time to pleasant days well spent. Your style of writing is unique….. keep it up
Enjoyed your blog post! I did many things my parents never new about. I would have been in a heap of trouble. Now, my kids are telling me about things they did when I was at work. Like my 13 yr old daughter driving her dad's truck around the block with a friend, while her Dad slept on the couch. Eek!!!
Post a Comment