My connections to Play

Barbies, Who didn't play with them. I have a collection of them. I still get one every year for Christmas.  This barbie is the only one that I was not able to get. I remember my mom and her friend driving all over San Antonio and Austin looking for her. 

When I was little I had a play house like this that my daddy built for me. I would spend every moment in the house. I would even sleep in there. It had a kitchen sink, table and chair. It was my escape from the real world. About 6 years ago I went to visit my daddy and he told me that he was going to have to tear it down because of flooding and it was just old. I cried because a piece of my childhood was being taken away.

I also had a duck pond when we moved down her from New York. We had three ducks, Larry, Curly and Mo. (We loved the three Stooges) My brothers, sister and I played in the pond with the duck all the time. 

When I was a kid my grandfather used to ALWAYS tell us "Does that spell toy on it?" (Elmer V. Trull) That is how we knew we were not to touch it. Unfortunately that was said a lot when I was around which meant I could not touch anything. Another quote my mom would say is " be home as soon as the light is on" (Linda L. Springer)

Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves. ~Abbé Dimnet, Art of Thinking, 1928


When I was younger, Play was simple. My siblings and friends ran the neighborhood with no cares or concerns. We would play hide and seek, ride bikes and just run. My parents never asked where we were, who we were with or what we did. Play was safe. When my kids were little, they were not allowed out of my sight. they could not run the neighborhood because of the people that live in it. My son, when he was 4 years old, was kidnapped by a neighbor. He was returned after a couple hours. the police were searching, the dogs came, everyone in the neighborhood was searching for him. They had just deployed a small boat by a low water crossing when Lane just strolls around the corner.  He left with the neighbor and his stepson. The man took my son without asking my permission. So that makes me even more overcautious.