The Mad Giggler on :
I remember night games! Hey, I taught our kids and the neighbor kids in our old neighborhood how to play Kick the Can. I must be really old.
Thursday, February 11. 2010The Blight of Suburbia
This morning it is snowing, already four inches or so on the ground, and my two school-age children have been outside romping through the drifts in the front yard for 15 minutes, waiting for their walking buddies to show up. (This means that my previously pristine, smooth front lawn is now a riot of paths and bumps, and the trees have deliberately had all their snow shaken down upon young heads. What will the neighbors think? Gasp!)
I sent them to school by themselves when it became clear that the walking buddies weren't going to show, and not thirty seconds later the very thing I had feared occurred - a neighbor mom in an enormous SUV saw them, pulled over, and offered them a ride. I am outraged. First of all, it's five blocks to school. Six if you go the long way. It's not hard for elementary school age kids to walk five blocks - in fact, they burn more than that amount of energy just zipping around getting ready in the morning (colliding, panicking, playing, hysterically laughing, and in the case of Preston RIGHT NOW, cuddling three light sabres and tucking them into bed.) Secondly, KIDS LIKE SNOW. I know this comes as a surprise to those of us who don't remember childhood. But I can guarantee that my kids, upon looking out the window this morning, did NOT think to themselves, "dammit, now I will be forced to frolic my way to school while pelting my siblings and friends with snowballs and sliding on the sidewalk in my snow boots." They LIKE walking those five blocks in a magically transformed, white-purple world (which has miraculously become wholly edible overnight.) And thirdly, and most outrageously, does that SUV mom actually think my kids are SAFER in an SUV which will go join a queue of a hundred other cars and SUVs, sliding on the slush with kids dodging before and behind as they unload? My kids are much, much safer walking to school than driving. Period. But most especially, they are safer in crappy weather like this. What to a driver is a harrowing death journey is to a child an enchanted wonderland. And yes, I am aware that my children probably won't be injured because of that sheltered, heated, crowded SUV, but that doesn't change the fact that they would have been better off outside of it. When did Suburbia become like this? When my grandmother raised her children, she sought out a suburban neighborhood. The kids roamed in packs, playing night games and raiding fruit trees. Now, my children play outside alone unless a neighbor invites them in to watch TV or play video games. And in this lovely, soft snowfall, all the children in my neighborhood can only watch through tinted windows as they join the endless queue to drop them off immediately in front of the school doors. Heaven forbid they have to walk down the school sidewalk. They might have to do something inconvenient, like enjoy themselves. Trackbacks
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The Mad Giggler on :
I remember night games! Hey, I taught our kids and the neighbor kids in our old neighborhood how to play Kick the Can. I must be really old.
Ladybug on :
I also lament the demise of Living With Energy and Joy - and Finding Out What You Are Capable of Doing. People are made weak physically and spiritually by always taking the easy or safe (read "lazy") way. What to do? Tell your kids it's okay to say "no, thanks" when offered a ride.
Wrenling on :
But we're grooming them for a life of drudgery and depression, which will come in handy when they're overlooked for that supervisor position for the third time despite their loyalty, creative thinking, and hard work at a company they've been at far longer than they had anticipated.
Ancient of Days on :
Wow, Wren - bitter, much?
Swatson on :
I think more and more the overlooking is due to management being intimidated that they will be embarrassed by promoting someone to a higher level who works hard.
Many people can't stand competition to encourage a higher level of production/quality. They want to do the least amount of work for the most pay. And some think they're entitled just because they breathe. And then of course you still have the "good old boys" group and the "whoever can brown nose the best" individuals. Swatson on :
I wonder how much the SUV pickup is due to technological advances?
For example instead of driving to a bookstore to get a book, just go online and have it mailed to you. Or read it online immediately. Or download the audio version on your player. It seems the easier we make things available, the more we can miss out on some of the best things in life. The night games, the walks, the conversations we use to have. With my chidren we do enjoy the technical gadgets, but I try and actually schedule times when we walk together or talk around the table. I hope it helps. |
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