The best things in life are free..... (Fairview, Seaside Heights: renting, credit card)

[EEEPNJ]

Originally Posted by EB2

True! But when I was a kid, it was innocent enough to have on or two of my best friends over.

Oh I know. But now as a parent, I look at things like OMG we were SO LUCKY nothing awful happened to us.... esp in the teen years....

[colleeng47]

Summer: Two week vacations every summer at Ortley Beach, which included several trips to the Seaside boardwalk. The "Lemon Ice Man" coming every summer night with his bell ringing. Packing a lunch early in the morning and staying out all day. Riding bicycles, skating, jumping rope. Playing pick up sticks and jacks with friends. Walking to the library once a week to report my books read to the librarian for the kids summer reading program.

Winter: NO SCHOOL snow days! Christmas morning. Sleigh riding in Branch Brook park. Building snow forts and having a snowball war.

It's amazing that none of us (or very few) remember anything that keeps kids occupied today: indoor games, tv, computers, I-pods, sports specific camps. All my memories are OUTSIDE the house with just me and my friends. No adults to "organize" our play time.

Amazingly enough, I was able to give the same type of childhood to my two teens (now 17 and 19). We actually lived in a neighborhood with a lot of kids who also had stay at home moms, so the yelling of kids playing could be heard all summer long.

[clevedark]

Listening to music with my best friend all afternoon and writing stories about hanging out with rock stars.

Doing gymnastics on the lawn.

Spending a day at the beach.

[regarese]

Originally Posted by colleeng47

All my memories are OUTSIDE the house with just me and my friends. No adults to "organize" our play time.

The only inside memory I have is getting yelled at by my mom or grandmother, "Shut the TV off. Get dressed and get outside! And don't come back until lunch!"

[wileynj]

Originally Posted by regarese

The only inside memory I have is getting yelled at by my mom or grandmother, "Shut the TV off. Get dressed and get outside! And don't come back until lunch!"

what? No "go out and play on the double yellow line"

[regarese]

Originally Posted by wileynj

what? No "go out and play on the double yellow line"

I think my sister got that one more than me. LOL.

[nicolem]

Originally Posted by wileynj

what? No "go out and play on the double yellow line"

Funny-I was told to "Go play on Route 37" many many times.

[crazyworld]

My Dad was a Merchant Marine and back then it was not glamorous and it did not pay well. There were six of us kids and when he was home he made the best of every single second.
He took us out riding on the dunes in his jeep,digging quohogs, roller skating, coasting and my best and funniest memory is that we all gathered all our change to go Xmas shopping at Woolworths...we never even thought to borrow and we were little and we would do our shopping and then sit with my Dad at the soda fountain and count out our change to make sure that we had something for everyone and the money to pay for it or we rethought our purchase....when I think back the cashier must have hated us coming through with our change. I still chuckle because I bought one of my sisters white lipstick.

Memories are always free and give so much pleasure.

[wileynj]

Originally Posted by regarese

I think my sister got that one more than me. LOL.

my brother, "Jesus Christ" and my sister "God dang It" were always the first to be asked to go and play on the yellow line . Me, "whoever you are" as my mother continuosly forgot our names- 8 of us, preferred the woods on the side of the house.

[RobRiguez]

For me it was going outside on a spring/summer night with a wiffle ball bat and some friends and see who can get their bats to glow from killing all the lightning bugs. There were always THOUSANDS out every night. (And that was in urban Elizabeth!!!) Now, I usually dont see more then 5-10 flying around.