On old friend and I were talking the other night and we realized that as life has become more hectic things have changed for today’s children.
It seems that now children are forced to grow up quicker. Kids have so much pressure to learn things at an earlier age, there are tests galore to see their achievement and even their games have changed.
As a matter of fact, as children have become more serious, even their games have headed down that road. I know it’s been hot lately, but I just don’t see kids out doing anything anymore. I guess they’re inside playing games on their phones or computers, but the days of being a kid seem to have gotten a whole lot more businesslike to this aging guy.
The friend had sent me something he’d seen on social media. It asked people to name a game that you played as a child that kids today don’t play much anymore. We remembered our days in the neighborhood during our summer vacations almost five decades ago.
As I drove home the other I night, I noticed a lack of children playing outside around Columbia. I know there are kids in the neighborhoods. As my longtime buddy and I talked we remembered those summer evenings. I think we might have done something different every night.
Our favorite sport in the summer was Wiffle Ball. Yep, that hole-filled plastic ball and the bright yellow plastic bat. As we gathered in a friend’s yard, we were the baseball stars of the era. I was a big Johnny Bench fan back in the day, so much so that I became a catcher. In my mind as I sat behind the plate, I was Johnny Bench, catching for Don Gullett or any of the other pitchers of the time. As a hitter, I wanted to be like Bench and hit home runs. Heck, we had Reggie Jackson on the field, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson and the local favorite, another catcher, Thurman Munson.
Growing up in Kent, Ohio, we’d seen the young Yankees catcher play college ball in our hometown. As teenagers, in 1979, we mourned when our guy was killed in a plane crash while flying home to Northeast Ohio.
We loved our Wiffle Ball games. Everyone played from about age 4 up into their early teens. One of the neighborhood yards had base paths worn into it we played so much. But Wiffle Ball wasn’t the only summer game by far.
Everyone over a certain age remembers the likes of playing badminton, croquet, tag, horseshoes, Red Rover, Simon Says, Mother May I, kick the can and more. Heck, we even played with those “dangerous” lawn darts. Add in football, baseball, basketball and swimming and you’ve got a complete summer. Oh, there was also fishing, kite flying, bike riding, and once in a while, when it rained, we went inside to play board games. I’ve got to admit that Monopoly and Mouse Trap were always favorites.
We cooled off in the sprinkler in the front yard, drank from the water hose when we got thirsty, and had to take a shower when we got home when we were so filthy.
Things have become a whole lot more organized these days and the older I get, the less I like the ideas. I really just want to run around and catch fireflies (OK, some of you call them lightning bugs), play Wiffle Ball, drink Frostie Root Beer and eat bologna sandwiches with cheese and mayo. It was a great childhood.
We didn’t have travel ball, PlayStations, X-Boxes, iPhones, and to be honest, TV was only a few channels, so unless baseball or cartoons were on, it was useless.
I know the kids today don’t know any different. They hear their parents or grandparents talk about childhood games.
What will this generation remember? It’s hard to tell. But I wouldn’t trade a Wiffle Ball game or a good round of kick the can by the streetlights as daylight faded for anything.
Whatever your age, go find something you enjoy, or at least go back there in your mind.
Right now, I’m Johnny Bench, it’s about 1973 and I’ve got a full count with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning. Every kid can dream, right? n
Reach Managing Editor Mark Rogers at news@columbianprogress.com.
