I took Caitlin to the Dollar Tree one night recently because nothing says I love you more than shopping for cheap plastic stuff with your 3-year-old. She picked out a few packs of stickers and Cinderella crayons (or “crowns” as she says). She was so excited she started waving her stickers wildly at a couple in the parking lot and proclaimed, “I got stickers!” And Amelia loves to play with a plastic fly swatter (unused of course) in our “toy drawer” in the kitchen filled with Play Doh, McDonald’s Happy Meal toys, etc. It made me think about some of the simple pleasures of being a kid from my childhood. Most of these are pretty universal, despite the high-tech age we live in. Here are just a few. Feel free to add your own.
A new box of crayons.
Virgin PlayDoh, with that unmistakable PlayDoh smell.
Catching fireflies.
Walking barefoot through new spring grass.
Shopping for school supplies. (I’m still a sucker for office supplies, what can I say. Love those multi-colored Post Its.)
Running through a garden sprinkler on a hot summer day.
Watching Saturday morning cartoons.
Popsicles.
Reading a book while perched in a tree.
Lemonade and butter cookies after piano lessons.
New tennis shoes.
Riding a bike downhill. Wheeeeeeeee!
The sound of crickets and bullfrogs on a summer night when it’s cool enough to have the windows open.
I used to love it when we got new erasers at school. They were so pink and rubbery.
I also loved playing with my mother’s hot rollers, and with the strainer in a sink full of water.
Penny candy from the corner store…
...my Etch-a-Sketch.
Making ‘nests’ out of grass.
Blowing bubbles is on my list…
cartoons in the sunday paper, a brand new box of junky cereal like froot loops, new tennis shoes, getting to stay home from school when you aren’t too sick to enjoy it
Playing “house” in my Dad’s toolshed
Building “forts” in the woods beside my house…complete with curtains, of course
Sunday drives in the country with my family
Sitting on the front steps on a hot summer night…in my pj’s
Playing hide-and go-seek at night with about 25 kids in the neighborhood
Eating paste in elementary school…loved the paste
Ooh, I loved just reading that list. Brought me down memory lane. What about swimming in the summer time ALL DAY LONG?
When the stars aligned and all the moms said it was ok to stay out for the extra half hour and you could squeeze in a game of German spotlight.
These are good ones! I feel like playing hooky from work now.
getting a cheap popsicle from the ice cream truck on a hot day and having half melt down your forearms.
going to the beach and not caring about how you look.
I used to love laying down on the lawn and looking up at the sky and finding animals in the clouds. When I told my kids about it—of course, they thought I was a little goofy—until we went outside and did it! It’s a favorite.
Making snow angels in the snow. Or a snow fort. These days, my 14 year old makes snow bumps to snow board over (or is that off????)
So many great ideas!
Diane
Wow, this is a great idea. What about:
Sleeping on the back porch in the summer
Walking next door to have tea with my grandmother
Long walks in the woods with my great uncle
A trip to town to get soft-serve ice cream
Sledding in our back yard
Running to the playground during recess
Play dates at friends with horse models in tow
Thanks for the memories. And congrats on your picture being featured in Blogging Baby—it was a great photo!
Covering the driveway in chalk art… making snow angels … riding no-handed all the way down the alley …playing Honko until the stars come out—actually then its flashlight tag …stealing apples from Ms. Roses tree
Fun
They don’t really do Saturday morning cartoons anymore, which I find kinda sad.
Jack loves funnels in the bathtub. And don’t forget old shampoo bottles – something I enjoyed in the tub when I was little, and that Jack now loves too.
playing with potato bugs (or, as some say, roly polies)
building forts in the backyard with my dad’s sawhorses and a blanket
sleeping with my sister in those forts
getting new rollerskates
swinging so high you thought you would touch the clouds
Thanks for this Jamie. I had a crappy, crappy day, and thinking about these things made me smile.
LOVE that picture! Thanks for the neat post!
Getting into dry clothes after swimming all day. You really captured it!
Simple Pleasures Of Childhood
We like the multicolored Post Its, too!...