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Are there still young kids in your neighborhood? There were always kids playing outside when we lived out east. In Texas now it's rare, but I think it's too hot!
I live in Houston which is a steam room during the summer months, but we still played outside. We would drink from the water hose when we got thirsty.
We live in an area in which there's a park just in front of our river...it's very beautiful.
The last time I saw kids playing there was about three years ago. A group of boys, aged around nine years old or so. They caught a fish in the river (unsure of what species it was) and they had a frying pan. They tried to cook their catch and all sorts of smoke began to surround our area.
Mr. Daynet and I watched from our front steps, amused. Another neighbour didn't think it was so funny, and called our local firestarters. (Fire department).
The rat neighbour is long gone. I think he lived here for about six months. He thought he was a big man and would go huffing and puffing around young kids, throwing back his shoulders as if he was a tough rooster.
He never tried to pull that crap with the local teens, though.
He was also deadly afraid of local wildlife, such as raccoons. Big man, eh?
So back to my story, the firestarters arrived and put out the cooking fire that the kids had started. A couple of the firestarters tried to chase one or two of the kids, most who had long since bolted.
There was a chubby kid who flipped the bird at a firestarter, and even he was able to outrun and outwit the guy.
Guess it's one of those "Had to have been there" moments. It was very funny to watch.
Why don't kids play outside anymore? Helicopter parenting is probably the reason why, first thing that comes to mind. I'm a bio-mom and never raised a child, but I have observed a lot of people who do have kids and I notice things.
Heaven forbid that the little butterball might get a scratch if he's outside. Better to pick him up after school/daycare and keep him inside, amused by video games.
Our next door neighbour bought and set up a trampoline for her son, who is about eight years old, I'm guessing. I think the kid was on that trampoline twice since she set it up last spring.
Once the kidlet jumped on it with his mother, who was clutching a baby at the time as she jumped up and down with her son.
Second time, one kid from across the street where kid lives came over to jump briefly.
That was it.
There should be a bad neighbours/neighbours from hell/odd neighbours thread on City Data so that some of us can post our experiences/dealings with wacky neighbours.
I live in Houston which is a steam room during the summer months, but we still played outside. We would drink from the water hose when we got thirsty.
You didn't answer the question asking if kids even live on your parents' street. My parents have lived in the same house since I was 5. There were lots of kids on the street when I was young, but we all grew up and stopped playing outside. There was probably a good 15 year period where there were not any kids living on there street. In the last couple of years young couples have started to move in, so now there are always kids out playing.
I'm 31 and I visit my parents a couple of times a week to eat dinner or just to visit with them. It's the same house and neighborhood that I grew up in starting when I was 8 years old.
It dawned on me the other day as I was driving down the road that I never see kids playing outside at all. That is so very different from 20 years ago when I had a couple of friends down the street who I would hang out with regularly. We were always out rollerblading or riding our bikes down the street. We would also build forts in his backyard and climb in the trees. There were a couple of trees that we had tied ropes to help us climb them.
I thought about video games being the reason, but we had video games too. We still played outside. What is the reason then? I hope it isn't paranoia about kidnappings because believe it or not, the crime rate has actually gone down over the past 30 years.
I just feel sorry for today's kids, cooped up inside a house all the time.
Well think about it, if the neighborhood was dominated by families the same age as your parents, it is reasonable that they have grown children who no longer live at home, just like your parents. Eventually through downsizing and people passing away it will likely become a young family area again, but clearly it isn't one now. Neighborhoods definitely have dominant ages, some are older some are younger. I live in a fairly young family area and there are kids everywhere. Many young families only want to live in neighborhoods with other young families.
Perhaps your parent's neighborhood hasn't "turned over" yet. If the same families are still there, the kids would be grown, like you.
This is what I was thinking. Because of the prices of the houses in our 'hood, they're not starter houses. So you don't see a lot of little kids. Plus the people who live here often live here for a long time and their kids are gone and grown up.
We walked to the park yesterday morning, and it was packed with kids, though.
I noticed the grandkids playing simulated live action video games the other day and asked why they didn't go out and play with their friends. They said that they were playing online with their friends who were playing the same game in their homes. -- This isn't your grandpa's sandlot baseball game, but kids will find ways to play ... their own way.
Years from now, they will probably telling their kids, "Why don't you go play online video games with your friends like we used to do ... instead of engaging in these virtual space flights and jungle adventures with these remote controlled robots?"
There are tons of kids who play outside in my neighborhood.
As has been mentioned, there may not be kids actually living in your parent's neighborhood.
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