What Do You Miss From Your Childhood?

[lllll]

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Edited March 8, 2016 by _ oq?"

[MSNative]

I miss non-achy joints. I miss being able to be incredible active and intense and not getting injured or sore. Sigh.

 

I miss the intense imagination I had as a child- getting so lost in my imaginings that the real world really disappeared.

 

Loved my childhood. Not saying that Id want to go back. I'm very thankful to be in a place where I don't care so much about what others think, don't have homework etc.

[Tap]

I miss being treated like family by my siblings.

 

I miss the summer we lived by a lake.

 

I miss someone cooking for me.

 

I miss being healthy and not having to think about things like pain/allergies.

[creekland]

Same here.  There are many things about my childhood that I would never want to relive.  But there were also many moments that I cherish, be they sounds, or smells, or sights, or experiences, or whatever.  And that's what I thought the OP was asking for.     

 

I agree that I think that's what the OP was asking for.

 

It doesn't change my answer.  I can't think of a thing from my past that I liked that I didn't keep in my life or make better.

 

Ok, maybe one. I loved the 3D movie "Magic Journeys" that Disney had.  They ditched it and I haven't been able to find it anywhere.  (Of course, I haven't really looked either, but I did look once a few years back when I wanted to share it with my boys.)

[lynn]

I had a great childhood here are a few things I miss

 

The tree fort, Sledding , ice skating on the pond, playing outside for hours with no fears, no electronics, no cell phones, drive in movies, summers at my grandparents farm, Betty's tulips, fields of Lily of the Valley's in the spring, catching falling leaves, my neighborhood I grew up in, dance school, 

 

I could go on for hours.  I had a great childhood, lots to miss.

[ikslo]

Having fond memories for certain things from my childhood has nothing to do with wanting to go back to that time period for me. I would never ever ever want to go back to my boarding school days but I can still separate out my appreciation for the awesome cinnamon toast we had.

I agree. Don't want to spend another minute at the all-girls summer camp, but oh man was the coffee cake we had on Sunday mornings to die for!

[fairfarmhand]

I miss my mom.

 

 

And that.  She was the only person to cook for me.  She made holidays special.  She made a big deal out of my birthday. 

 

Nobody else does any of that for me now.

Me too. :(

[Stacia]

I miss running around with big group of friends that we had in one of our neighborhoods -- we generally ran around day & night (at least in summer), riding bikes, swimming, having light-saber fights, climbing through houses that were being built (we weren't supposed to do this w/out adults around but we did anyway). Oh, and we also did the 'dinner survey'. Everyone would go home & ask their moms what was for dinner, then we'd report back. We'd decide who had the best-sounding meal that day & then try to get our friends invited over to dinner. :lol:

 

I miss going to see Raiders of the Lost Ark with my best friend; we would buy a ticket & then stay all day & watch about 3 showings in a row. Lol.

 

I miss spending the night at my friend's house. Late a night, we would make very weird food concoctions from what we could find. Then, her brother (who was a teen guy) would eat whatever we made.

 

In a weird way, I miss moving. We moved a lot when I was growing up. Sometimes, I really hated it. But, I can see in retrospect what great experiences that opened me up to.

 

I miss my relatives & pets that have passed on.

[MomtoCandJ]

I miss my dad, wish he could have met his grand kids (he died 25 days after dh and I married). I also miss sitting in the woods reading, or in a lilac circle reading. Ok really, I miss reading while being outside in nature (though I could live with out the bugs). I'm sure I will be able to read in the woods again someday in peace.

[Rachel]

I miss sharing a room with my sisters. I miss all my siblings and wish we were close now like we were back then (geographically and relationally).

 

I miss going around the neighborhood just to see who was available to play.

 

I miss riding my bike to the pool and stopping at my grandparents for ice cream and to watch cable TV.

 

Going to camp.

 

However, I am thankful to be an adult too. I wouldn't want to relive all of childhood but maybe just relive a day as a 5 or 9 year old.

[JFSinIL]

I miss my kid sister. She was only 17 months younger, and we looked to outsiders like twins when we were small. In fact, our pediatrician documented that we were idioglossic - we developed our own language. Now she is in California and I am in Illinois, and even went we do see each other once in a great while, it just isn't the same.

[SKL]

A lot of the things mentioned above.

 

I miss not having to think more than half a day ahead.

 

I miss the feeling that I was just a half inch shy of world class.  :P

 

Going waaaay back, that warm feeling that everyone who mattered in the world loved me, and that that was all that mattered in the world.

 

I miss believing in hidden passages, undiscovered powers, wishing wells ....

[LucyStoner]

Having fond memories for certain things from my childhood has nothing to do with wanting to go back to that time period for me.  I would never ever ever want to go back to my boarding school days but I can still separate out my appreciation for the awesome cinnamon toast we had.

 

  

Same here.  There are many things about my childhood that I would never want to relive.  But there were also many moments that I cherish, be they sounds, or smells, or sights, or experiences, or whatever.  And that's what I thought the OP was asking for.

 

Not missing many parts of my childhood doesn't mean that I only have negative memories. For me, missing something means I want to reclaim it or do it again. There is nothing that I need or want to reclaim from mh childhood. If it was important, I still have it with me, even just as a memory and that is good enough for me. I also still do many of the things I liked as a child and hold dear many of the same friends. I don't need to miss the lovely parts of my childhood because they haven't gone anywhere. Maybe I will miss it in another 20 years but right now, not so much.

[Another Lynn]

I miss the pool in my backyard. We set it up every year, and I swam (really, bobbed around and played) all summer.

 

I miss the feeling that summer lasted a long, long time.

 

I missed my whole family being together. It felt right.

 

I miss my dog, Sam. He was so gentle, you could anything to that pup--not that I did. He was just a rock, steady and dependable and always available for petting. He was really an overweight, beagle/bassett who was incredibly patient and an excellent family dog.

 

I miss playing SPUD in the yard, and playing with my brothers and my dad. My dad "travelled," so he tried to play with us when he could.

 

I miss my best friend, Stacey, and my other-best-friend, Robin.

 

I miss visiting my 3rd grade teacher, Miss Reinhardt, afterschool on Fridays when I was in 6th grade. I'd go to her class with Stacey and my across-the-street-neighbor, Robbie, and she'd give us her apples from her desk and speak to us as if we were truly all grown up, being in 6th grade and all.

 

I miss my room. This makes me cry. I loved my little white room on the corner of the house, with the view of the backyard all the way to the crabapple trees, and the "other window," which looked over the garage roof. I miss my big desk, that had been my mothers, and the ivy I grew in a pot, and the tiny locust tree I tried to grow (and it did grow, in a pot for several years before we put it outside and it died), and the lambskin rug on the floor that my parents brought me back from their trip to England, when Mrs. B. came to babysit for a whole week, and tried to make a cake but she used the roasting pan and forgot an ingredient and it came out flat...

 

The first thing I thought of was my bedroom.  I had a wonderful room.  I miss having my own space. 

 

[Ausmumof3]

Both of mine are sensory - the cool smoothness of mums curls and the feeling of fresh sheets on the bed that someone else washed and did for you.

[Lady Florida.]

Nothing. 

 

What I miss is more about where I lived as a child than missing something from childhood. Food. I've lived in Florida most of my life - 46.5 years. I consider myself a Floridian and never want to live anywhere else. Yet, in 46.5 years I've never stopped missing the variety of good ethnic food that was (and still is) available in New Jersey.

[Spryte]

I miss riding. I miss horses. I miss riding out to the swimming hole and swimming with our horses. I miss riding out alone, even when now I'd worry if it was my own DD. I miss reading the Silver Brumby series for the first time.

 

I miss finding out that there's music that makes my soul resonate, for the first time.

 

I miss the neighbor who introduced me to lithics in the sixth grade and inspired my life's path. I miss the hours I spent on learning lithics, and the time I could concentrate on learning that one skill.

[PineFarmMom]

I miss a time of no internet. I like it, but I miss not knowing about it or feeling tied to it.

This!!!

 

Long conversations with my family, the safety and warmth I felt in my home where I didn't have to think about anything except schoolwork or what I was going to do with my free time. I miss going on vacations with my family and it all being an adventure.

 

I miss the smell of my grandmother and the way it felt to be with her. I found a fragrance the other day that was the smell of her, and the sweet memories flooded!! Then my mom and sister, ail, niece, and older kids had a long talk about how we missed her and loved her!!

 

I miss watching bugs bunny and the three stooges with my older brother. The shows were funny, but his laughter made them the best!!!

 

I miss how good food tasted when I was a child. I cook pretty well but I get tired of my own cooking. Ha

[J-rap]

I miss the simple, fun life of my lovely little family.  It was pretty much the Leave it to Beaver family.  It was such a loving, safe environment.  

 

My father would plan a family outing every Sunday.  Usually a picnic in the mountains or a hike along the beach or sometimes just an afternoon drive to Monterey or Carmel.

 

I also miss our train trips.  We were the only branch of family out West.  So every summer, we'd take the train across the country to visit all our relatives.  It was a long, wonderful train ride.  I looked forward to it all year.  We didn't have sleeping cars -- just coach, so it was probably miserable for my mother, but we kids thought it was the neatest thing!  We'd get off at various stops along the way to check out the towns, and then would have to sprint back to the train to catch it in time before it left without us.  That was back in the 60's and 70's!  Then we'd spend the entire summer with our cousins.  It was hot and humid and pure Heaven.  My two boy cousins and I were best friends and it felt like we had all the freedom in the world to explore, walk to the corner dime store, and hang out in their basement watching Casey Jones.  :)

[theelfqueen]

I miss our tree "fort" in the huge open field near my house.

 

[PineFarmMom]

I also miss riding the greyhound bus to see my grandmother. I did it a couple times a year from about 7-12yo. I would sit behind the bus driver and mom would pack up special snacks and books, crossword books, etc. Everyone was nice to me. Lol. You would have to hold me at gunpoint to "try" to get one of my children on a greyhound bus. But that was the seventies and this is now.

 

Also, oddly, I miss my alone time exploring and reading. I was quite a bit younger than my siblings and was somewhat of an only child. I enjoyed doing things alone and wandering around the neighborhood. I had friends but had a lot of fun alone too. I also thoroughly enjoyed trips with my parents with and without my siblings. They were awesome people. 😊

Edited March 8, 2016 by Texas T

[TianXiaXueXiao]

I miss my dad. I miss the freedom of living in a freakishly safe area where children spent all day outside exploring the mountains ranging miles in any direction. I miss the starry skies on warm summer nights. I miss my horse. I miss the snow of my childhood...getting 3 feet of snow from a single storm. I miss the road trips, falling asleep in one state and waking in another, listening to dramatic radio plays in the wee hours of the night. We visited nearly every state during our family vacations. I miss our family ski trips and backpacking excursions. My dad was an outdoorsman who tought all 11 of us rock climbing, mountain biking, and snowshoeing. I miss the hours of trying to keep up with him and the feeling of elation when I persevered and made it to the top/destination.

[Baseball mom]

I miss my dad.  He died 43 days after I married. 

 

I miss playing kickball, barbies, house and any other random made up game I played with the neighbor kids.

 

I miss visiting my grandparents in the summer and laying on their porch swing and reading for hours.

 

I miss visiting my other set of grandparents and spending time with cousins.

 

I miss being able to eat anything and not worry about weight gain or how it would affect my stomach

 

I remember as a teen leaving the house (walking or driving) with a friend and being gone for hours.  No one could get ahold of us but it wasn't a big deal.

 

I remember it being pretty on a Saturday or Sunday morning and my dad saying "come on let's go for a ride".  Throwing picnic stuff in the car and heading off.  Sometimes we would pick up my best friend on the way.  We would all be jammed in the car (no seat belts required back then) but nobody cared and enjoyed the day.

[Squawky Acres]

I miss the roller rinks of the 80's -- the freedom of flying around the rink to the Madonna songs and flashing lights.  I took my kids to a "community skate" at a local gym last month, and zoned out into my childhood.  I didn't realize I still knew how to skate.

[HRAAB]

I miss my mom and dad, and I believe that I will always miss them.  I'm used to them being gone, but yes, I miss them.  I miss their love, wisdom, support, and encouragement.  I miss them being the older generation.  I miss the security and comfort I felt when they were alive.  They always seemed to have an answer or advice.

 

Now I'm in that position, and I don't think I'll ever do it as well as my parents did.

[StephanieZ]

I miss Mom.

I miss Dad. 

I miss Grandma.

I miss playing with my brother. 

[Jenny in Florida]

I'm not nostalgic about my childhood. It wasn't awful, but I wasn't a happy kid. I was never comfortable in my skin. I never remember feeling unselfconscious or carefree, and I mostly remember waiting out my childhood until I was deemed old enough to make my own life.

 

I have no relationship with my parents, but that has been true for a long time and was largely my own choice. So, although I sometimes miss having a family, I don't miss the one I actually had.

 

I did have a good friend who died in her late teens, and I sometimes miss her. As it turned out, I had already moved out of our hometown by that point, and we weren't as close as we had been, but I like to believe that we would have kept in touch and maybe found each other again at some point.

 

I've actually been thinking about this a lot. When I get tired and stressed, I often have this overwhelming feeling that I want to go "home."  I've felt this way for years, but I've never been able to identify what home I'm pining for. I spent most of my childhood in the same small-ish city. We moved once, when I was in sixth grade, but it was close enough to not require me to change schools or anything. It was definiltely my "hometown," but I stopped feeling any connection to it within a relatively short time of moving away.

 

Since then, I've lived medium-to-large chunks of time in a few places, including 17+ years where we are now. This is where we've raised our kids, but I still don't really feel rooted. So, I'm not really sure what the whole idea of "home" means to me. I guess I haven't really found it yet, but it's weird feeling nostalgic about a place you've never been.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Jenny in Florida

[Mom2Five]

Sleep, lol.

[Carrie12345]

Being able to lay down, preferably in a hammock, without having a list of things I should be doing running through my head, making me feel guilty.

[Alicia64]

Somebody asked Bill Murray this question and he said, "My parents."

 

SO SWEET!

 

Alley

[lauraw4321]

Quote isn't working for me.

Jenny in FL:

 

So, I'm not really sure what the whole idea of "home" means to me. I guess I haven't really found it yet, but it's weird feeling nostalgic about a place you've never been.

 

C.S. Lewis describes that as the yearning for heaven.

[Jenny in Florida]

Quote isn't working for me.

Jenny in FL:

 

So, I'm not really sure what the whole idea of "home" means to me. I guess I haven't really found it yet, but it's weird feeling nostalgic about a place you've never been.

 

C.S. Lewis describes that as the yearning for heaven.

 

C.S. Lewis and I don't see eye to eye on most things having to do with religion, but it's an interesting thought. 

[PineFarmMom]

Quote isn't working for me.

Jenny in FL:

 

So, I'm not really sure what the whole idea of "home" means to me. I guess I haven't really found it yet, but it's weird feeling nostalgic about a place you've never been.

 

C.S. Lewis describes that as the yearning for heaven.

I was thinking the same thing!! 😊

[Hoot]

I miss my grandfather.

I miss when my grandmother was sane.

I miss picking blackberries with my grandmother and making bblackberry shortcake.

I miss being in a farm environment with the wide open spaces and the animals.

I miss my grandparent's dog.

I miss watching Disney on my grandparent's big satellite dish.

I miss when my grandmother's sister and her husband would come to visit in their big RV.

I miss having my whole life ahead of me and having options for what I want to do with the rest of my life.

 

 

I miss nothing about my nuclear family.

[Hoot]

And I definitely miss the days when I didn't have a teen driver or on the road to worry about. Now I know where grey hairs come from.

[Guest2]

Riding bikes, playing chicken on bikes( wait, I didn't like that part)

Playing football in the street and yelling,"Car," as a warning

Dipping rhubarb in a bowl of sugar

Eating garden tomatoes like apples and salting them.

sitting up the big tree,watching the world

Popcicles and bare feet

Playing basketball woth my Dad

Walking to the library, and dime store and really everywhere I wanted

Hours talking and shelling sunflower seeds leaving them everywhere

walking to the pool and geting super hot on the 2 mile walk, so the pool felt like pure heaven

Ice cream after swimming

Catching lightning bugs ( then letting them go)

Sledding down the golf course hills, and after walking home pulling the sled a few miles, drinking lots of hot chocolate

Skating on the ponds the city froze

 

Wow..realizing that my childhood was way more active than I thought.. And there was a lot of food!

Edited March 12, 2016 by Silver Brook

[Tsuga]

Combination of poor childhood (though not abusive--certainly neglected by my dad, as my parents were divorced, latchkey kid by necessity but loved by mom) and awesome adulthood for the most part: I don't miss childhood. I don't miss staying in all afternoon because of "stranger danger". :P My kids get much more freedom than I did.

 

I have everything I wanted in childhood, much more choice than I ever had then. More freedom. Money. Eating out. Then I was worried that if I wasn't perfect I wouldn't make it. When I graduated college and got into the Peace Corps and then got my first job--it's been all really promising since then.

 

I can still ride my bike with my kids every afternoon! I can still do all the crafts with NICE markers. I can paint on pottery like all the "rich" kids. I can listen to my music in the car, HAH! I get to play the guitar. I didn't have one as a child: no money. I buy whole milk. I hated milk as a kid because my mom bought 1%. Gag. I get to buy brand-name cereal that is not stale by the time you get to the bottom of it. We used to have TWO movies and ONE video game. Now we have the whole Internet, and iTunes movie rental. What the heck kind of paradise is this? I don't even like movies but at least it's not Ferris Bueller's Day Off, taped with commercials and censorship in it, for the 1000th time. We can walk to the park. Edit: hoodies! My mom never let us have the hoodie because it was more expensive. We got "regular" sweatshirts. I got my first hoodie with my own money at like 24 when I had a salaried job.

 

Also, bare feet and popsicles, why would you give that up? Every summer weekend and afternoon I wear my bathing suit, shorts, bare feet, and homemade popsicles. I will do that until I die.

 

I hope my kids will miss childhood. :D

Edited March 12, 2016 by Tsuga

[Guest]

You know, there are so many things I miss about the 1960s-1990s and so many things I dislike about the 2010s and so many dreams that didn't work out that I couldn't possibly list even a few of them here without offending somebody and starting some sort of a flame war or another.

 

But life is precious.

 

Humanity clings to it, even at the bleakest times, even in the concentrations camps of the 1940s and the Siberian prison camps of Stalin's time.

 

Maybe somebody who isn't me can dig up a quote by Tammy Takahashi from a decadeish ago where she uses those facts in a reassuring manner and concludes that no matter what happens with some anti-homeschooling legal event that none of us even remember any more, everything is going to be okay.

Edited March 12, 2016 by Guest

[EmilyGF]

Going on large, multi-family, week-long camping trips in the summer and basically being allowed to explore, as long as we came back in time for meals.

 

Living a mile from my grandparents. 

 

Roping my sister into doing goofy stuff with me.

 

Playing twenty questions with my dad while he worked on the house (repairing something, painting a wall, etc). Kept me happy and out of his way.

 

Biking downtown to the candy store with my best friend.

 

Exploring a local creek and gathering bay leaves there for our spaghetti sauce. 

 

Eating sour grass (enjoyed introducing my kids to that last year!).

 

Running through the hills with my running buddies (high school) on 6 mile long runs.

 

Emily

[fraidycat]

Oh my goodness.

 

Everything? The people (grandparents, aunts, uncles who've passed on), the carefree days, reading for pleasure all the time, no responsibilities, free-ranging (my kids don't have this opportunity), pets, home.

 

I could get myself into a funk if I dwell. I have a pretty awesome life, but sometimes being a (responsible) adult is just blah and I just want to blow all my money on books, candy, and entertainment and just know the meals, roof over my head, and loving family is just "there".

[Guest]

I miss when we used to go over my grandparent's house for Sunday dinners. I miss that we made our own fun out of simple and often intelligent activities - card games, rolling coings, crocheting, playing "store", playing "office," climbing up in the mulberry tree.

 

I miss riding my bike all around; it was safe and any 8-year-old could ride to the park or the corner store without supervision.

 

I miss it being a big deal to go get ice cream cones or sticky buns.

[OnMyOwn]

I miss playing in the woods, building a fort, exploring in the creek and riding my bike.

 

I miss the freedom I had from worry.

 

I miss the optimism that anyone could grow up and be anything.

 

I miss life before the internet.

[TranquilMind]

I'm feeling nostalgic. I can't stop thinking about stuff from my childhood that I miss lately.

 

I miss taking naps at will.

I miss fist fighting after school just for kicks

I miss riding my Huffy around town.

I miss playing super heroes.

I miss having water gun fights.

I miss the ice cream shop that was my favorite place in the world.

I miss enjoying peanut butter and syrup sandwiches. That stuff is disgusting to me now, but I miss the days when I could enjoy one.

I miss dangerous play ground equipment--slides and monkey bars that super heated during the day.

I miss the old Saturday morning cartoons.

I miss cheating on school work and laughing at the teachers for not catching it.

 

 

What do you miss from your childhood?

My family.

[alisoncooks]

Living very near extended family.

Having large outdoor space for free range playing/roaming.

Being active and fit; participating in organized sports.

[Tsuga]

You know, there are so many things I miss about the 1960s-1990s and so many things I dislike about the 2010s and so many dreams that didn't work out that I couldn't possibly list even a few of them here without offending somebody and starting some sort of a flame war or another.

 

But life is precious.

 

Humanity clings to it, even at the bleakest times, even in the concentrations camps of the 1940s and the Siberian prison camps of Stalin's time.

 

Maybe somebody who isn't me can dig up a quote by Tammy Takahashi from a decadeish ago where she uses those facts in a reassuring manner and concludes that no matter what happens with some anti-homeschooling legal event that none of us even remember any more, everything is going to be okay.

 

The oldest man alive right now is an Auschwitz survivor; the oldest woman, the daughter of Alabama sharecroppers, grand-daughter of a slave.

 

Now she can vote. :D

[YaelAldrich]

I miss going fishing with my dad in the ocean.

Going hunting for frogs and grasshoppers in the rice paddies

Getting a hot potato croquette from the meat market.

Riding bikes

Playing kick the can

Getting a hot sweet potato from the sweet potato man

orange and grape Fanta

Watching Atom Boy cartoon on t.v.

My kids who have spent a number of years in Japan reference the ones I bolded above these as great memories.  My son asked me if we could get yakimo in the US. I told him yes we can make yakimo, but we can't hear the plaintive cries of the yakimo man.  I sometimes cue up the five o'clock song from YouTube and everyone stops and sighs.

Edited March 13, 2016 by YaelAldrich

[mamiof5]

I miss the childhood I missed out on. I can't change my experience so I am trying to make wonderful childhoods for my children.

Same here!!

[Jean in Newcastle]

My kids who have spent a number of years in Japan reference the ones I bolded above these as great memories.  My son asked me if we could get yakimo in the US. I told him yes we can make yakimo, but we can't hear the plaintive cries of the yakimo man.  I sometimes cue up the five o'clock song from YouTube and every stops and sighs.

 

Yes, those sounds.  Our garbage truck came around playing "Camptown Races" and everyone would run out with their garbage cans.  The Chirigami Kookan man (the toilet paper exchange man who gave out flat sheets of toilet paper in exchange for your recyclables) had another American folk song as his calling card.  I can't for the life of me remember what song it was.  Before him, in the even older days there was the junk man who came around with his cart and his counterweight scale so that he could know how much to reimburse you.  I'm pretty sure he had a song but I'll have to ask my older brothers and sisters whether they remember it.  The yakimo (sweet potato man) had his plaintive call that in the old days he sang out and later on had on a recorded loop.  I remember when he actually pulled his cart on foot before he switched to a pick-up truck with his cooker in the back.  Even the train played a Japanese folk song whenever we pulled into our station, which was the final destination.  I know if I heard any of those songs that I would be right back in Japan.  I watched a Japanese movie a couple of summers ago and the sound of the cicadas in the movie took me right back in an instant. 

[Audrey]

My parents. 

[Meriwether]

Everything. My childhood was amazingly wonderful. My kids have opportunities that I never did (we didn't have much money growing up), but I'm not half the mother my mom was.

Specifics that I would love to have again from early childhood living in Michigan:

The breeze blowing gently through the tall hardwoods. This is something I never really experienced in Kansas. It is just different.

All the reasonably priced, good fruit, especially going berry picking.

Playing in the hay mow. We used a long, wooded wagon to haul hay there. When the three of us were early elementary/preschool age, Dad would stack "forts" for us as he loaded. It was a lot more work for him for sure.

Riding on the old John Deere with Dad. My favorite side had two tiny holes on the wheel cover.

The two story playhouse Dad made us.

The raspberry bushes and large garden.

The sandy corner of the garden that was 8-10 times as big as a sandbox.

The red bud tree that was perfect to sit in.

Camping trips to the UP with a popup trailer.

Regularly having people over or visiting other families on Sunday afternoons or special get-togethers. Mennonites are good at community.

The comfort of a clean, cozy home.

 

Specifics from Kansas, the second half of my childhood:

Life on a larger farm with all of the hard work that entails.

Helping build our house. That house will always be special to me.

Sunday afternoons spent playing Canasta with my family.

Or sometimes playing Super Mario Bros. 3 with Dad and my brother, sharing one controller.

The feeling that we were all working together for the good of the family and to build something lasting. Getting into farming is hard work and terribly expensive. Land, equipment, fence, animals, feed. It took almost 20 years for my parents to show a profit. Now they are doing well and the farm is a solid asset for them. It took a lot of hard work and many lean years, though. Mom and Dad *needed* us. I loved that.

 

In general:

My mom's chocolate chip cookies and Sunday dinners.

Road trips to visit family.

My maternal grandparents house. It had been in the family since the early 1700's. It was sold a couple of years ago, which was hard for me. It was one of those old stone houses in southeastern Pennsylvania. It had marvelous nooks and crannies, including an old wooden curved staircase that we liked to slide down.

Time. Time is different in childhood.