Am I Too Old-Fashioned? 

Dear Reader, To the "younger than me" people, I'm sure I would be judged as too old-fashioned, but to me I am only remembering the many carefree times I had growing up.    We had our times of fear and anxiety as is normal, but we had many more fun times. Back then, all the neighborhood children could go outside to play after supper.  Simple games such as:  Run Sheep Run, Stillwater, Statues, Beckon Beckon, etc.  No matter your age, everyone joined in.  We didn't realize it at the time, but wasn't that a good learning experience for how to get along with everyone? We were always outside being active.  In warm weather it was often sports games while in the winter we went sliding, tobogganing,  skiing, or ice skating.  As we grew older we were allowed to walk to the skating rinks after dark.  Still older, a boy would walk me home, an innocent exposure to future dating.  Now many children are sitting inactively indoors watching TV or working on computers.  That can be good for learning, but they are doing it for too many hours at a time, and usually alone. What happened to birthday parties?  Instead of a group going to a fast food place, roller rinks, movies, etc., we had simple little parties run by moms.  These would include games, gift opening, and end up with birthday cake and ice cream.  I realize that this was so because my generation grew up during the Depression and "inexpensive" was the norm. My friends never complained of being bored.  We weren't together all the time because we enjoyed reading, sewing, writing letters, listening to music, and doing home chores as our contribution to the family. Is this simply a rosy nostalgia?  I think not because, by and large, it was a happy period in our lives. Grandma