Back when I was a kid...

Things just aren't like they used to be...  The price of gas, the fact that sense is no longer common, the amount of gray hair on my head.  Just to name a few...

I recently reconnected with a friend from elementary school on facebook.  It's had me thinking about those days, and while it's been a very long time, I have a pretty good memory.  I was thinking about a slumber party that I went to at this particular friend's house and remembered something hilarious that took place at said party. 

I don't know if we snuck out or if we had permission to be hiking down the road late at night, but someone had the grand idea to moon a car that was going down the road.  (I said it was hilarious, not wise or legal or sane...)  Anyway, there were probably 4 or 5 of us and we all (I think, I don't know - it's been a long time.) turned around, bent over and went for it. 

It was a police car.

Yeah.  I'm pretty sure we ran all the way home after that.

All lunacy aside, I've been thinking about how much we ran the roads back in those days.  I probably had 50, 000 miles on that pink and gray ten speed bike of mine...  Okay, probably less than that.  Seriously though, we rode our bikes all over the place.  I'm pretty sure I would go out to play in the morning and never show my face again until dark.  We lived in a small town, and it was totally safe.  

My dad and step-mom still live in that same town today, and I just don't think I would feel comfortable with Chloe having that kind of freedom, even if she was 10.  Our world is so different.

As it is, we live in the Middle of Nowhere, and I still don't know if I would trust her to be alone outside for long.  I suspect I'll trust her just fine, it's the crazy world we live in that I'm not so sure about.

It saddens me on many levels.  Of course, I wish we could have more faith in the goodness of people, but it's mainly sad to me because we had so much fun! Sure, she'll have fun too, but I will have no choice but to instill a small amount of fear in her.  At the mall, the grocery store, the zoo, for crying out loud.

I have no plans to live my life in fear, nor to teach my daughter to.  But let's be real.  There is a call for safety and precaution more now than ever before.

The only thing I had to worry about was getting run over by cars on my pink and grey ten speed bike.... 

Those were the days.  Back when I was a kid...