DogHouseMom

Honestly ... so many. I truely did have a wonderful happy and healthy childhood. My folks were practical people who knew the value of both a $ and a good lesson. They knew they were raising children to someday be good citizens who would be expected to contribute to society. We always had what we needed, but only rarely did we get what we wanted.

So most of my best memories are the simple things ... playing hide-and-go-seek at night with the neighbor kids, catching fireflies, learning how to spit watermellon seeds, sitting in the garage during thunderstorms with dad and singing songs (there was an old lady who swallowed a fly ...), sitting in the lawn with my mother pulling weeds and talking, playing with dolls in the attic of the garage, raking leaves into a giant pile then jumping in them, ice skating at the local pond ....

... things I rarely see kids do these days. How sad.

May in Jersey

summertime and playing outside most of the day, hopscotch, double dutch jumping rope, in the daytime we played cards on our front stoop (steps), at night we sat on the stoops while the older kids would tell us scary stories, cooling off at Sunset Park pool, special Sunday treat going to Coney Island or Ries Park with the whole family squeezed into my father's car with a big grocery bag filled with sandwiches and fruit for lunch and fat thermoses filled with lukewarm drinks.

Sept. meant back to school, we would get our roller skates out and skate in the street. Back in the mid 1940's there were hardly any cars or traffic on our city street so we had almost full use of the street, also was during WWII so cars had rationing for gas so they didn't move from their parking spots very often. Still had peddlers with horse and wagons, fruit and veggie guys came almost every day.

BabyCakes

Water skiing everyday except sat and sun.(Gas was dirt cheap then) To many crazy people on the lake sat and sun. drinking. Camping/sailing (sailed two races a week .Sea boats and A1's)/swimming.We always had a boat load friends over on the weekends.All of us kids would get to sleep outside in a nimrod trailer.I remember my mom had a water war with the guys next door.(The hose came into the house) The next day which was Sunday she was standing at the back door all ready for church looking outside to see if the coast was clear so she made a mad dash to the car.You never wore your good clothes to our house.One guy got thrown into the lake clothes/shoes/wallet and all. So his wife took all his clothes/shoes/wallet and put them into the dryer.LOL his leather shoes looked like elf shoes.Today I look at all the pics and have nothing but sweet memories.

Deb watkins

Being taunted by the boys in the neighborhood about limbing the huge willow tree in my back yard......did climb 3/4 of the way to the top and getting scared. My dad have to come with the extension ladder to get me down.

watterstide

1. the smell of bleach on grandmas hands,when she buttoned
my coat up
2. Channel #5 (grandma wore it)
3. Chicken and Sliders
4. Bob-Lo Island
5. Toni Perms grandma gave me! YIKEES!
6. Flying PanAm when i was 5,with my 4 yr old brother,by ourselves. from England to Detroit to live.

I have let go of all the bad memories..they were trying to destroy me..

maryb119

1. swinging on the porch swing with my cousins at Grandma's house.

2. Running down the big hill by the barn when Grandpa was doing chores.

3. Both Grandma's making me new school clothes and teaching me to sew.

4. Watching fireworks with my cousins on the 4th of July.

5. Sliding down the banister at Grandma's

6. The new Sear catalog because that ment I could have to lod one to cut out paper dolls from the pages.

7. New shoes

There are so many more things, way to many to list. My cousins and my sibblings were always together. The kids at school were never sure who was borther and sister and who was a cousin. We all say we were raised in a litter. There was always somebody to play with.

grayma

1. Getting ice chips from the ice man (am I showing my age? I'm only 61).
2. Getting individually wrapped slices of bread from the breadman.
3. Playing ball will all my cousins on Sundays.
4. Riding sleds down the big hill on our street until they put the cinders down (:
5. Snow cream!
6. Home made cinnamon rolls on Sunday morning.

Ramona Byrd

Sitting on the porch in the dusk, watching lightening bugs blinking on different bushes and trying to see which bush would go in sequence with the next one.

Listening to the grownups' soft voices, everyone tired after a long day of work, but they still had time to sit on the porch and rock back and forth slowly, watch cars go by on the road down the hill. With no electricity we didn't stay up very late, it cost money for kerosene and during the depression you balanced need and want, and want usually came in second.

Going to milk the cow on rainy mornings, and coming back to the house with the milk spilling down my shoes and having to change to clean socks before going to school.

Coming home from seeing "the picture show" after dark, which meant that I was supposed to detour a few blocks near town and call an uncle's dog to walk home with me. Then I'd give him a treat and tell him to go back home.

Picking ripe tomatoes from the vine and hurrying in to put some butter on bread, cut a big slice of tomato and sprinkle salt on it and eat it all, and having to put my dress into some water to soak out the tomato juice.

Looking out the window at the trees whipping around in a storm, and dragging the heavy, scratchy quilt up over me and feeling so warm and comfortable.

lyndad

Oh jeez, I'm tearing up, all these things bring back such precious memories. I miss my brother, Mom and Dad, they are gone now but I have fond memories. In the summer we rode horses from daylight til dark, playing games, racing and whose horse could jump the highest. I can barely lift a saddle now.

QuiltMom2

Cherry Tree House! My cousin and I played for hours in the remnants of an old orchard several hundred yards away from her house. Occasionally some of the barn cats would wander through only to be dressed as baby dolls(much to their protest!!) and the dog was also a visiting guest. Think I'll give my cousin a call- she was also maid of honor for me many, many years ago.