Childhood Dangers

So this week we have jumped back into some of our school...mostly just foreign language and Konos.  We've been studying Attentiveness as our Godly character trait.  This week we're just doing some explorations of the general topic of Attentiveness.

Star post-its on our ceiling, listing all our activities

We're memorizing Proverbs 20:12, reading some other great verses along that same line (my fav has been Isaiah 48:17-18), and doing some fun activities.  Monday, for example, we practiced being attentive by only whispering each other's name when we needed their attention.  We played "Hide the Penny" with three cups.  We practiced making eye contact with each other while speaking.  We read and then dramatized the calling of Samuel (Nate was God and wore a gold tablecloth, Anna was Eli, John was Samuel, and James was an angel at God's side, complete with pipe cleaner halo).  Yesterday, we were observant of our environment and each child got a stack of post-its with
adjectives on them to stick on applicable items around the house.


We made a list of the ways Jesus was attentive to His Father, and then talked about how we can be attentive to Him, too.  Today, we played the memory game where they all concentrated on a tray of random items I'd collected, then I took it away while they wrote out as many items as they could remember.  We also played "I Went to the Store."

It has been a lot of fun practicing being attentive to get us ready for the big academic units coming next week - and those following.  It has also been lovely to have some more routine to our day again, a little more purpose.

With that said, perhaps there still is not enough purpose, not enough routine.  Because yesterday the four younger kids went out to play (under my threat of death).  It was quiet, and no one had come in to whine or complain or tattle.  There were no reports of wailing injured little boys.  It was beautiful.  I took care of some correspondence.  I pinned some things on pinterest.  I even started dinner.  I was roasting a large chicken, and I like to chop some fresh herbs and press some garlic to mix into softened butter to rub under (& over) a whole chicken's skin.  So off I went, outside to the garden for herbs, figuring it would be a good time to check on the kids.  Out I went.  And this is what I found:

Yes.  What you see there is Nate, Anna, John, and even little James up on the garage roof.  Sorry for the crappy quality...the light was behind them.  There were all make and manner of pulley systems, straps and ropes, ladders, and buckets strung into the trees.  When I expressed my surprise and dislike, James said, "It's ok, Mommy!  I have a dog belt on!"  Sure enough, the older children had created a "harness" for James out of two dog leashes strapped to the tree and slipknotted around his waist.  Nate even assured me that it was shorter than the distance between the edge of the roof and the ground; he'd measured.  Oh, Good.  So the funny part was, yes, I stopped to take pictures.  Honestly, I just thought no one would believe me.  I really couldn't decide whether to commend them for thinking of the little boys' safety and for their cooperative creativity, or to punish them for being so darn dangerous.  I actually considered letting them stay up there.  Had I lived somewhere without neighbors, I probably would've just sent Sophie out to be alert to further danger, and I would've gone in to finish dinner.  But living where we do, in a nosy, suburban neighborhood, I knew someone would call the police if I didn't get them down.

It has gotten me thinking though.  Remember just 20, 25 years ago when we were kids, and dangerous tomfoolery was part and parcel of growing up?  I spent most of my summer outside, riding my bike all over the place.  At mostly any given time, my mom did not know whose house I was at.  We spent days and days filling the newly paved street in our neighborhood with chalk murals - kids of all ages and both sexes sprawled out on the Bridgewater street, drawing, yelling, "Car!!!" when we heard one coming.  Just last night, we had a long talk about the good ol' days; Dan and I were talking about our childhoods and adolescences. Dan talked of all the recess games they used to play: kickball, dodgeball, chicken, pickle, spread eagle.  Sophie said that her friends had told her that the year after she left her elementary school (after 3rd grade - she's just starting 9th now), the school had outlawed dodgeball, kickball, and seemingly everything fun.  The kids were no longer allowed to sit on top of the low monkey bars.  The only playground game that was still legal was four-square, but it had to played by the rules the school established and sent out.  But Dan spoke of long games of manhunt every summer night from 7th onward.  He also regaled us with tales of how he, Omar, Tim, and Yau made up "Challenges."  Each person took a turn "hosting" and devising incredibly dangerous, fun, and manly physical challenges.  They spent a whole week making a huge, icy, sled jump to see how far they could launch themselves over a creek.  They climbed trees, seeing who could go the highest.  They used a fallen tree over a ravine as a balance beam; they had to dive over fences - clearing them completely.  They even climbed onto the roof of the middle school by climbing the bricks of the school's facade.  Can you imagine?  I feel a little stressed letting my 10 year old son ride his bike alone now! Why is it so different?  Did today's atrocities really not occur back then - or did we just not hear about it?  Were people really friendlier, safer?  Why was it a totally normal and even an expected thing that 50 years ago, most country boys my son's age could responsibly handle using a gun, splitting wood, and caring for large animals?  It seems that we've so far removed ourselves, and yes even our children, from responsibility.  And perhaps, we've let fear rule us.  But truly, there is a lot of ugliness, sin, and depravity out there.  It's a lot to think about, a little sad to ponder, and it certainly makes me feel old.  I long for some land, some woods, and  a simpler, quieter, and dare I say, more dangerous life for my kids - where they can test their physical limits, be creative, and interact with God's laws of nature.  I want them to be able to climb big trees, hunt things, track things, grow things, build forts, ride bikes, and yes, even perch like gargoyles on the roof...without my neighbors gawking or me having a heart attack.

What did you do as a kid that you'd never let (or couldn't let) your kids do now?  Leave it in a comment below!  Let's chat about it!