Nude Santa

[Katherine]

My granddaughter is going to be four in a month, and my grandson will be three in a half a year from now. They are supervised vigilantly, and are never by themselves unless its in their rooms or out in the enclosed patio. It is kind of sad, but its necessary because they really ARE too young to be wandering in stores or outside. I am 58, and I was left to explore outside on my parents farm at the age of 3, and I dimly remember certain no go places like the settling pond for the dairy, the silage silo, haystacks etc, but I was free to go to a lot of places and no one gave a rip, as long as I came back. Even then, I know of times I missed meals because i didnt hear the call in, and no one noticed. Later as a young girl, 6 and 7 I used go off on my own for hours to climb the mountain up behind the orchard, at the back of the farm, and investigate the creeks and grasslands, the irrigation canal, the corn fields. I really attribute my interest in biology and my chosen career with that freedom to discover things, and I wish my grandkids could have that same freedom. My own kids lived at the end of a cul de sac above some farms, and they and all the other kids on the street would be out together as a group, playing till dusk. They have great memories of that time. That was 20 to 27 years ago, though. Before Michael Dunnahee, and other disapeerances.

[davefrombc]

I think all of us 50+ had freedoms incomprehensible to parents and kids now.