"Stand on Your Head and Laugh" - Kids These DaysWritten by Lady Camelot
Stand on Your Head and Laugh - Kids These Days by Lady Camelot Over course of spring and summer breaks, my teenage kids find multiple ways to antagonize me. One of my daughter's favorite complaints is, "...I'm bored. There is nothing to do." Of course, my response is always, "...there's plenty of things to do," with a continuation of myriad listing of ideas, tasks and other events in which she can partake. Ideally, she would have me take her mall shopping, cruising beach strip, and ultimately become her sole entertainment planner and provider during her "vacation" period. Suddenly, it dawns on me that I was once tyrannical 10-year old who "had nothing to do..." My dad's sharp but justifiable reply to me then was, "...stand on your head and laugh." That was, of course, at a time when television wasn't quite as controversial and diverse as it is today. I can't even begin to imagine many channels my kids have at their disposal. I think I stopped count after 300-something. If movies aren't on their menu, then they've got ultimate in gaming audio - not only Sony Playstation, but also Sony II, Sega Genesis, and many handheld computer games as well. Not being a house-recluse myself, I always preferred enjoyment of great outdoors. Okay, we didn't live on a mountainside, but our backyard was equally just as fun. Whether it was catching frogs, playing in tadpole-infested puddles, playing Frisbee or ball with family dog, playing Marco-Polo, Redlight-Greenlight, Simon Says, softball, jump rope, hopscotch, bicycling, soccer, tether ball, roller-skating, volley ball, tennis, sprint-racing, or simply sitting on green, dewy grass - there were ample things to do. Kids growing up in 1970s despised rainy days. We didn't have cool conveyances that children have in modern society. Back then, if it rained - you're "vacation" or "school in-service day" was shot. We actually had to find things to do with our time - like reading, drawing, and listening to music. If we were fortunate, we had some type of talent that we could indulge in - resorting to playing guitar, singing, painting or cooking. And yes, kids actually had to turn on a stove to cook infamous Ramen Noodles. Today, microwave has made cooking a breeze. Specially marked packages of mac-n-cheese, and many other easy-to-cook foods are now microwavable. No longer do we have to wait forever for a quick snack. Mealtime is mere seconds away.
| | Forgetting to RememberWritten by Rosalyn Bronstein
Many of us can look back on out formative years with great fondness. We were surrounded by people who looked after us, taught us, and provided values and socialization needed to succeed in modern world. Others met our most basic needs, and we were completely dependent.Remembrance of people and past events plays an important part in many religions and cultures. Some light candles and offers up prayers. Special days are set aside as memorials or celebrations of lives past. This occurs both in East and West, and some of ceremonies are quite similar in content, despite differences in language and culture. This is universally acknowledged as a way of paying homage. More than simply marking calendar, however, we mark our hearts when we think back to fond memories of people we’ve loved and events that were important to us. This provides a sense of stability in a rapidly fluctuating world in which people frequently move, change jobs, change partners, change friends, and change interests. Sometimes it feels hard to keep up with movement. Yet by being centered with our memories, we can return again and again to our zone of comfort and serenity.
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