I grew up in a time where games were either played with a board, words, or
our BODY! Yes, I am old…an official
antique, mind you.
My favorite part of Church growing up was getting to play with my friends while
our parents were at choir practice. When
we were little, we would play “Mother, May I”
(wow…a teaching lesson and we didn’t even know it!), “123 Red Light”, “Simon
Says” and some other funny games…We all played and no one was left out or
bullied. As we got older, we would play
KICK BALL outside in the summer and YES, in the basement when it got
colder. We knew what was expected of us
and I honestly do not remember us getting into arguments…oh sure, there were
the mumbles of UNFAIR or IDIOT under our breath, but we knew if we didn’t get
along, then NONE of us would be playing anything BECAUSE our parents would step
in and we WOULD be punished…so we learned to get along and to play nice…Yes,
again, I was raised in a time WHEN we FEARED our parents who disciplined us in
LOVE.
My parents were involved in a circle of friends that would play ROOK…They
would go to various homes and play, but the highlight was ALWAYS the “ma-freshments”
as my oldest brother called them. This
was BACK in the day when Chex Mix was called Do-Dads and they were made with
cheerios and pretzel sticks…I STILL need the cheerios and pretzels for them to
be good! Do-Dads were served in small
round wooden bowls that I still have. We
also ate popcorn from them each Sunday Night after we got home from Church as
we popped corn in a PAN on the stove…I KNOW…we SURVIVED WITHOUT microwaves…
 |
| There would be a GREEN BUTTON in there!! sigh |
Mother played WORD GAMES with us when we were young. Riddle, Riddle, Marie, I see something YOU
don’t see and it is GREEN and starts with a B…then we would do our best to
guess WHAT in the world she was seeing…It taught us to be observant and to pay attention
AND THAT Parents even when they were busy, STILL took time to make sure they
were teaching us and spending time to keep our minds busy with POSITIVE
thoughts. I liked when a word was said
and we would say the first thing that popped in our minds…To this day, most everything
people say makes me think of something else…MAYBE I took that game a little too
seriously??!!
Society has changed SO many words that we used to say without fear of
offending. CUSS words were seldom
uttered in my home—I can STILL remember WHEN my Parents said cuss words…NOT
because of their meaning, BUT BECAUSE they were so seldom said, they stuck in
my mind and YES, I laugh when I remember Mother getting into Aunt Becky’s car
and hitting her head and saying the S word…My eyes got big…At our house,
laughter would break out at the supper table when we would start talking about “dam
water”…it was good, clean EDGY fun! Last
night I watched a show where a sixteen year old was cussing as a normal part of
the conversation with her father and NOBODY blinked—except me…As I’ve gotten
older, I have developed a potty mouth, but I hear how tacky those words sound
and I am FAR too intelligent to not be able to find OTHER words to express my
feelings, so I am working on my mouth…
I shared on fb that my favorite word is GIGGLE. It instantly makes me smile…AND YES, I GIGGLE…Mother
told me so many times that one of her favorite sounds was to hear me LAUGH…While
I didn’t have much to laugh about while I was caring for her in her last days,
I am so thankful that laughter has returned to my life and I still feel guilt
that I let it leave me as I cared for her…I’ve got to let that go somehow also…sigh…
I think it is TIME for all of us to find some GOOD Four-letter words: Love, Hope, Care, Cook, Help, Give, Make,
KISS (Keep it Simple, Silly), LIKE, TIME, Play, Rest, Hugs…and for Karalee…FROG
(FULLY rely on God)…
THESE are words that can serve us well…These are words that we can use to
HELP each other…We are all in this life TOGETHER…so it is time to STOP all the
negativity and to replace it with HEALING words of encouragement. This is where THE GOOD OLD DAYS needs to come
into the present and we need to slow down and OBSERVE our surroundings and make
a POSITIVE change in our world…Blessings to YOU…~charlotte♥
Faithfully
Beautiful
Friends who
Really
Inspire me
Every day to
Never Stop
Dreaming and
Striving to be the best ME! U~charlotte
I'm a giggler too...often at inappropriate times! We used to play Mother May I and Red Rover with all the neighborhood kids and we lived in a cul-de-sac and can remember sitting out on the curb till long after the sun went down with friends playing our own made up version of Password. I just spent a few days with my husbands family and the nieces and nephews & grandkids couldn't get their noses out of their electronic devices long enough to grumble much more then a yes, no, hi or bye. Times sure are different now but I'm sure my Grandparents said the same about us.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right...I'm sure "THEY" thought we were doomed...BUT I still wouldn't trade the moments of being outside and BREATHING fresh air...NOW though, the air is toxic...FUNNY, but sad at the same time...SEE...there I go giggling again!! =)
DeleteOh Charlotte - I played all those games too. So if you're an "official antique" & i know that i'm older than you, well, that must make me an "official relic". LOL. No! Not yet! You are so correct, we need more of those GOOD four letter words. And you made me smile, but including my favorite. =) Another one....PUSH - Pray Until Something Happens. {{{hugs}}} my sweet friend.
ReplyDeleteI forgot about PUSH...I don't think I will ever see a frog and NOT think about YOU!! =) You old dinosaur!! ROAR....hmmm...another four letter word! ;)
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