Twenty years ago, I was in fifth grade. I remember it now as one of the best years of my childhood. Although, I didn't know it at the time. So often, we don't realize that we're making great memories as they are happening. And of course, when you're ten years old, that's not what you're thinking about.
At the beginning of that school year, I was excited to learn that almost all my best friends from previous grades were in my class. Our teacher had a chess set in her classroom, and almost every day she would let us play once we were done with all assignments. There were about 10-15 of us (maybe one or two girls, but mostly guys) who would try to hurry and finish our assignments so we could get over there and play first. We kept track of every game all year, who won and lost, and kept "standings". If I remember correctly, I was in second place at the end of the year.
My back yard at home was big enough for my friends and I to play baseball. We played almost year round. If it was warmer than about 30 degrees and no significant snow was on the ground, we were out there. We played with tennis balls to avoid breaking anyone's windows. We'd have about ten or so tennis balls that would fly into other people's yards. Whenever we ran out, we'd have to stop the game, climb over fences, and collect them all. I also was on a summer baseball team that year with many friends, and my younger brother was the batboy.
I also had a big bedroom and often had friends over to spend the night. We'd watch baseball games, play Mario and Donkey Kong on Super Nintendo, play "knee basketball" where we had a little rubber basketball and had to "run" on our knees to get the ball into a little wastebasket. We watched Home Improvement and Full House every week. We'd listen to the radio: songs like "Run Around" by Blues Traveler, "Lightning Crashes" by Live, and "Better Man" by Pearl Jam got frequent play on WKFR. Those songs remain favorites of mine to this day. Whenever I hear some of those songs, it takes me back to that big bedroom of mine hanging out with friends.
I'm not in contact with any of those friends anymore. But I still have great memories. And I've been thinking about that lately watching my stepson Noah, who turned 11 this past week. I see him making friends at school when I go to pick him up each day. I see the fun he has with friends when they come over to our house (although they get a little too rowdy for my taste sometimes). I can't help but flashback to those same days of mine years ago. We didn't have the technology back then that we do now, and pop culture has changed a lot. But the innocence of childhood is still there.
I've told Noah many times to enjoy this time in his life and take advantage of all these opportunities. I'm not sure he really listens to me, since many children that age think they have life figured out and can't wait to be an adult so they can do whatever they want and not have adults push them around anymore. But there are many days, when I'm tired of being at work or worried about paying bills, that being 10 or 11 years old again sounds pretty good.
If you have kids at home, tell them frequently to enjoy their childhood because it will be over way too soon. There's a good chance they will roll their eyes and ignore you. But maybe some day when they're older, they will come to you, say that you were right, and thank them for such great memories.
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