Then and Now.

When we were kids, my brothers and I did all sorts - stuff I don't see kids ever doing now. I don't think I'm THAT overprotective with my kids, but when I think about how my childhood was, I can't help but wish the same for them.

Do you feel the same way? I mean, I remember playing in the rain, climbing trees, playing tag with my neighbors, etc. Most kids I know (including mine!) stay at home most of the time, glued to the TV, playing with their toys and gadgets, or whatnot... (too sheltered is the word I may be looking for here).

Do you remember the stuff you used to do as a kid? Do you see your kids doing the same today? I've been reminiscing a lot about my childhood lately and noticed that my kids don't really enjoy the same activities I used to enjoy as a kid.

I don't think my kids will ever get to...

Photo Credit: www.elephantjournal.com

...CLIMB A TREE. Well, we used to live in a condominium in the business district. No trees there. And we don't have trees where we live now. They aren't the kind you can climb or hang from. BUT when I was a kid, we used to play out in my granny's garden, play hide and seek, climb trees, wade in ponds... you get the picture.

Photo Credit: www.eleanorharbison.com

...WALK ON TOP OF MONKEY BARS. Ok, so maybe I'm to blame for this one. I always call them down when I see them climbing anything in the playground. BUT when my cousins and I were kids, we used to pretend we were in the circus. We'd spend hours on end playing on the swing set at our granny's house. I remember my cousins and I would even compete to see who can stay upside down, hanging from the monkey bars, the longest. And we'd go across the bars, over 8 feet above the ground, without fear or hesitation. Yes, I was crazy like that. Hehe.

Photo Credit: www.jacquelicious.com

...PLAY IN THE RAIN. Who hasn't? Well, not my kids. A has visions of dirty canal and estero water getting dried up during the water cycle and coming down again as rain. No soap in the clouds to clean that out, right? So they don't. I've never gotten sick after walking in the rain. I don't care about getting drenched. But my kids? Don't count on it. BUT when I was a kid, my cousins and I would play in the rain. We'd wade in flood waters around the compound. Once, my brothers and I even took out the "Slip N' Slide" and had a swell time playing while it poured. Fun times!

...SLIDE DOWN THE STAIRS WITH A MATTRESS. Ok, so maybe only a handful did this as a kid. Our staircase here at home is kinda narrow, and I don't think it'll be safe for my kids to slide down with the crib mattress. BUT My cousins and I used to take an old mattress and slide down our granny's long staircase. Once, during the summer, when my cousins, brother and I were at my godmother's house, we slid down their stairs backwards, holding on to my cousin R's old mattress. We tumbled down and R ended up in the ER. Hehe. Oops.

...CLIMB UP TO THE ROOF TO PICK FRUITS FROM TREE BRANCHES. There are no flat roofs to climb here. Nor are there big fruit-bearing trees around our house. BUT when we lived in the old compound, we'd climb up the emergency ladder, up to the terrace roof and pick Indian Mangoes from the tree in our granny's garden. When we moved to New Manila, our house had two huge Star Apple trees. You could climb up to the roof and pick one, sit under the canopy, and reflect on life. LOL!

There are other things I can think of, but I don't think I'd want my kids to try 'em now. Ha! Like say, catching tadpoles (I was around 9, and I was with the Pastor's son - we used to go to the old Calvary Chapel at Amoranto and caught the tadpoles from a dike, eeew, I know) and wading in flood waters (while catching fish from our neighbor's overflowing fishpond). Or dipping my feet in my dad's old pond and realizing there was a toad in it, about an hour too late! Haha! This list could go on.

All this reminiscing is making me miss my childhood. My brother and younger cousin, T, would take our bikes every afternoon (we called ourselves the Bikecrossers!) and just ride around the compound. We pretended we were secret agents and our black Cocker Spaniel, Beulah, was our chief. Haha!

The good ol' days. How I wish I could let my kids see how carefree life was back in the day when I had nothing to worry about. It's just so different now. Or maybe that's because we choose to make it so.

What did you do as a child that you wish your kids can do today?