Summer vacation should be just that for kids…a vacation. A break from school, a break from the constant pressure of schedules, a break to be a kid! I mean that’s how it was when we were kids…we would get up in the morning, have a quick breakfast and be off to a new adventure for the day. We didn’t have cellphones to find out what everyone was doing for the day or social media to stay connected to our “friends”…we ventured out and found whomever was available in the neighborhood and off we went to play. PLAY…another lost idea. We knew what it was to play. We were not entertained by our parents and where they were taking us…we found our own fun. Bikes. Yet another lost form of transportation to hours of fun. Our bikes took us downtown, to the pond, or to find our friends at the school playing basketball; our parents never even considered TAKING us anywhere…we had the world at our fingertips, and on our bikes. Very rarely did we see our parents until dinner. Actually, going home might wind up being asked to clean out the garage or to take care of our younger siblings…we liked being our own boss–correction, we LOVED being our own boss…if only for the months of June, July and August. We climbed trees without the fear of falling out of them; it’s what kids did. We made flimsy ramps out of scrap wood to jump our bikes off, we played for hours making believe we were some superhero rescuing our poor dog we managed to sneak into our bicycle basket, complete with doll clothes. It’s what our pets did too; they didn’t know crates or being locked up for hours held hostage until someone came home from work. I don’t even think our dogs ever had a leash! We had a dog for the sheer pleasure of being a pet; our protector, our best friend and companion…think of Lassie!

When we were kids, we weren’t slathered with sunscreen, packed organic lunches of humus and carrots, or given water bottles by our moms…our bodies tanned by the summer sun were given a quick kiss on the cheek, told to have fun and off we went for the day. We swam without lifeguards in various bodies of water and we ran through the backyards of our neighbors– we knew all of them…5 streets over. These were the kids we walked to school with until we got a car, maybe in our last year of high school. We knew the parents by Mr. and Mrs. and they knew our names…and middle names! We knew they had the permission of our parents to yell at us if we were misbehaving. If we were hot we put the metal sprinkler on in someone’s back yard and ran through it for hours, dirty and grass-stained…we didn’t have water bans in our towns and we certainly weren’t using our sprinklers for any pride-kept green lawns (they were already burned out by our running on them and making wiffle ball fields on them).

Compare that with today. Our summers are planned before February when parents need to sign up for Summer Camp, tennis and swimming lessons. Bikes?? The only bikes kids would attempt to get on today is maybe the stationery bike at the gym and that is because they were clearly not abiding by the rules. Cellphones make sure our kids communicate instantly with friends, but it’s by logging on to Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter or Facebook. Often we don’t even see our school friends until September. Parents are at work all day, paying for the Camp, and numerous lessons they feel their kids need to keep them busy and out of trouble. Kids spend the day at the mall with friends shopping or going to the movies. Having kids at home in the summer isn’t fun, it’s EXPENSIVE!!!

I am a mother of 4 children, a teacher during the school year and choose to be a nanny for a local Cape family for the summer. My motto is that I try and give the kids I care for, regardless of the time of year, a rounded view of being a kid. I remind parents everyday that these years of raising children are SO short. Play with your kids…teach your kids to play by themselves. It is a lost skill that we feel as educators is key to the well-developed child. Entertaining your children is not your job…allowing them to experience simple pleasures in life, caring for their basic needs while providing them a safe place to live, and loving them unconditionally…that’s your responsibility. Remember buying that present you thought your child would be thrilled about, only to play with the box it came with for endless hours…think of that lesson.

Provide the “box” and watch the excitement!!!

7/20/2014

Kristy’s Korner
by Kristy Spinelli, spinelliscoop@hotmail.com

Kristy is a local writer and Hyannis News contributor. Her views, opinions, and observations will deal with a wide range of topics surrounding our local HyTown culture. Kristy’s views do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Hyannis News, but in the true spirit of freedom of expression are intended to entertain and create discussion. Feel free to add your own thoughts in the facebook comment section below… or you may also contact Kristy directly at spinelliscoop@hotmail.com.

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