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| This kid knows how to play. |
Summer is officially coming to a close. I should really keep that a secret from 7-year-old me.
Summer is a special thing for kids. It's three months of no school, no homework, no uniforms (I went to Catholic school). It’s chasing fireflies and running from horseflies. It’s filled with super soakers and sprinklers. There is no equivalent.
In my family, summer also came with some isolation. My parents live about 5 miles from the downtown of a small Ohio city. My best friends in grade school lived either in town, or even further out in a nearby village, and therefore I rarely saw them during the summer months unless I was making a trip with the express purpose of doing just that. As I grew older this would became more frequent, spending almost entire weeks at a friends house in either of these places, but at 7 it was rare to leave the house.
Because we often spent our time at home, my siblings and I had to be the best of friends during those summer months. Most of my memories of the time involve an assortment of hoses and squirt guns, taking advantage of the warm days and attacking each other with various water weaponry. I recall trying water balloons, but I have never been good with them.
The summer was also prime time for comic reading. In our backyard we had a set of three trees that came together with a large space where we got together and would read comics. It wasn’t a constant, but I have fond memories of getting together and doing this, and I recall it fondly.
We also had a swing set/playset in our backyard that my dad built when we were in our youth. It probably did not go up until my sister was a few years old but before my youngest brother was born. As well as three swings (one for each of us), there was a slide and the set had a special area for our turtle sandbox. The playset still lives, but the swings are gone as with the sandbox. I assume one day it will be fixed up for grandchildren if my parents end up staying in Tiffin.
There were a number of other activities that were summertime favorites even if they didn’t involve the outdoors -- from playing Nintendo, watching our vast collection of Disney movies or just playing inside (we had a gift for creating incredible messes). And as time went on, the indoor part of summer continued to be more of a mainstay. We stopped running. Our bikes were not in as heavy rotation. I began working at an early age.
It’s really disappointing to think of my wasted summers in my adolescent years. Yes, I had fun as I grew older, even if it did just involve getting the extra sleep I would be missing when I went back to school. But I never took advantage of those summer months in the same way when I grew out of my 7-year-old self.
So I apologize to 7-year-old me for not taking the time to have fun during my summers. Sure this year I spent an unnecessary amount of time wearing shorts and flip flops, but I barely took the chance to have an experience as remotely entertaining as you -- nor even as relaxing as you would do later. Here’s hoping that I take a chance to change that next summer. In fact, I think I may buy a super soaker when they go on sale.
In my family, summer also came with some isolation. My parents live about 5 miles from the downtown of a small Ohio city. My best friends in grade school lived either in town, or even further out in a nearby village, and therefore I rarely saw them during the summer months unless I was making a trip with the express purpose of doing just that. As I grew older this would became more frequent, spending almost entire weeks at a friends house in either of these places, but at 7 it was rare to leave the house.
Because we often spent our time at home, my siblings and I had to be the best of friends during those summer months. Most of my memories of the time involve an assortment of hoses and squirt guns, taking advantage of the warm days and attacking each other with various water weaponry. I recall trying water balloons, but I have never been good with them.
The summer was also prime time for comic reading. In our backyard we had a set of three trees that came together with a large space where we got together and would read comics. It wasn’t a constant, but I have fond memories of getting together and doing this, and I recall it fondly.
We also had a swing set/playset in our backyard that my dad built when we were in our youth. It probably did not go up until my sister was a few years old but before my youngest brother was born. As well as three swings (one for each of us), there was a slide and the set had a special area for our turtle sandbox. The playset still lives, but the swings are gone as with the sandbox. I assume one day it will be fixed up for grandchildren if my parents end up staying in Tiffin.
There were a number of other activities that were summertime favorites even if they didn’t involve the outdoors -- from playing Nintendo, watching our vast collection of Disney movies or just playing inside (we had a gift for creating incredible messes). And as time went on, the indoor part of summer continued to be more of a mainstay. We stopped running. Our bikes were not in as heavy rotation. I began working at an early age.
It’s really disappointing to think of my wasted summers in my adolescent years. Yes, I had fun as I grew older, even if it did just involve getting the extra sleep I would be missing when I went back to school. But I never took advantage of those summer months in the same way when I grew out of my 7-year-old self.
So I apologize to 7-year-old me for not taking the time to have fun during my summers. Sure this year I spent an unnecessary amount of time wearing shorts and flip flops, but I barely took the chance to have an experience as remotely entertaining as you -- nor even as relaxing as you would do later. Here’s hoping that I take a chance to change that next summer. In fact, I think I may buy a super soaker when they go on sale.
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