Tuesday night Mary and I had a “make your own taco” party for our new neighbors. They are a young couple with two kids, a 13y/o son, and an 11 y/o daughter. We asked another neighbor, his wife, and their kids too. They have three daughters around the age of our new neighbor girl and a younger son. Finally, we invited one of our sons, his wife and their three kids, one of their boys is the same age as our new neighbor boy; they will be in the same class when school starts and are already sharing early football practice.
After a fun and filling dinner the adults sat for hours at the table and the kids, now put on your seat belts so you don’t fall out of your chair, actually went outside and played in the heat. No TV, no Video games, no DVD’s, no texting, no cell phones,they actually played like kids should. The older boys skate-boarded on our quiet neighborhood street while the younger ones played some running games in the neighborhood and the field behind our house.
Everyone had a good time and the kids all came in dripping sweat from their faces and hair. They asked for water, not soda or juice. No one fell and broke an arm or leg, no one collapsed from heat stroke, no one got lost in the field or neighborhood, and as unbelievable as it sounds, no one got kidnapped or raped by a stranger!
As I have said before, this is one of the reasons I love our neighborhood; kids actually play outside. Oh, I forgot to mention, not one of them is overweight!