Simple Summers

This time of year, when there is a blanket of heat and humidity hanging over us all, reminds me of childhood once again. We didn't care that there was no air conditioning because we didn't know the difference. Summer days were carefree, for the most part. Our folks required us to work alongside them, in the yard and garden, cleaning house, helping Daddy with whatever he was doing too. But they were always good to  let us play and have plenty of free time. There were fields all around our house, at the end of the humble subdivision. Behind us was a neighbor's 200+ acres, where there were horses, cows, and a lake. I'd slip between the barbed wire and wander through the creek, slipping tadpoles into a container to bring them home to hatch out in our little aquarium (we woke to dozens of baby frogs all over the house one time). There were stolen bareback rides on crazy horses, sunning on patches of grass after dips in the muddy lake, and picking wild blackberries for Mama to make cobblers (topped with a slab of vanilla ice cream). My sister and I would make pretend houses in the woods, cutting trails with all the running back and forth. The neighborhood kids would congregate in our front yard for softball or basketball games with Daddy, topping off hot days with a run in the sprinkler. Life was simple. Work, play, sandwiches at lunch and then supper at home each evening. Baths, brush your teeth, then bedtime sprawled out slightly damp, with the windows wide open. I would look out at the stars and talk to God about how pretty everything was that He made. My siblings and I were extremely blessed to have a secure, stable home, unlike the homes my parents came from. There were no fancy vacations or clothes or Disney World and that did not bother me in the least. Those aren't bad things, but a happy home doesn't have to include them. The uncomplicated world I grew up in has made the rest of life more wondrous. If I thought every day life was supposed to be a carnival, I'd get mighty disappointed as an adult. 

I highly recommend simplifying your children and grandchildren's lives. When you take away the phones, TVs and devices, it's shocking and difficult for a few days. The mind goes blank, but then it begins to actually work again. Provide them with plenty of work ("If you don't work, you don't eat")...plenty of free time, plain blank paper, pencils and paints. Shoo them out the door. Take them to the library at least once a week and join the summer reading program. Give them a treat for every book they finish. Let them be bored. Give them worth by attaching work and service to good things. Hug someone. Visit your old people. If you don't have any, visit a local nursing home and have them draw or play something to give the lonely ones there. When technology was starting to take over, back in the 80s and 90s, these are the things we did to stave it off. It takes even more effort now. Be the weird ones. Be the tough Mama and Daddy. You'll thank me later.