Times a changin!

Joshua my eldest recently asked me if he could go to the playground,I was sorry to tell him that i couldnt take him.
He told me he knew the way there and i neednt bother coming along!i registered horror and said no way!
Really times have changed! i'm turning into my mom...i now have offically started to behave like an adult.....i have joined the club of people that say "when i was young".......
So beginning again,when i was young ,nobody monitored my sister and me,in fact i dont recall any adults around to settle disputes between siblings or friends. simply they did not exist....we had the free run of not only the home but the entire colony, where we stayed.
What times i say! apart from stealing fruit ,we played in all weather.
Hot summer under shady trees and in rainy simply making paper boats and splashing wildly in puddles,we never lived by the sea but had no end of fun playing in the sand heaps collected for construction purposes.
my sister and me did not own a single toy,my dad thought they were bad,as did not develop a healthy imagination! He need not have worried .
We invented games ,found new games to play,if the neighbours kid got a bicycle no probs, within the week we all had learnt to ride the bike, if somebody got a board game we took turns to have fun,the games whether hop scotch or hide and seek was a mania ,till something new took its place. Just couldnt wait to get home from school!
When we were not outdoors ,my sis and me voraciously read books,nobody taught us to read ! that is why ''To kill a mocking bird'' is my all time fave....we had a similar childhood!
Not denying part of it was "quel d'horror"!
i just wish josh was as free to go anywhere,that all these new fangled toys and unsafe times did not exist.The other day an aquaintance told me he had bought his 3 yr old an ''X BOX'' really that tops the cake!!!!!! just sad! simply sad!
anyway not to fear, iam working on a foolproof plan to make sure josh gets a healthy dose of imagination and that his childhood is just as fun!