What Do You Miss?

As you sit and reminisce about your childhood years, is there something you miss? Something you wish our young people today could experience? Something that made that innocent time of your life so special? I'm a baby-boomer, and I do sometimes wish my own son and the children all around us could experience life as I did.

Of course, I wouldn't wish on them the experience of having a U.S. President killed, nor the fear of nuclear war and having "war drills". But, the beginnings of space exploration were quite exciting for us. (Now I can wish they had not experienced the tragedy of the World Trade Center!)

Our lives were so much simpler than those of the children today. I imagine if there could have been a shooting in our school, it would have been accomplished with a bb gun or a sling-shot. But, even that would have been almost impossible, for we respected and valued each other more, and would not have harmed each other.

There are many things I remember fondly about my childhood: I remember when the price of popsicles increased from five cents to six and to seven cents. Our ice cream man used to park in our driveway, and often gave my mom a "deal" on purchasing something that just didn't sell. Once we had boxes and boxes of coconut popsicles to give out at one of our family get-togethers. I still like them! Of course there was the milk man, whose truck also carried eggs and cream. Sometimes we were rewarded with chocolate milk, and at holiday time, even eggnog. The bread man had the most wonderful Easter candy each year. I think one of his relatives made the candy, and perhaps he wasn't even supposed to sell it from his truck. But, it was so good!

Recently, I was reminded of something from my childhood that really made an impact on me, and it's something that today's children have not experienced. That one thing is the apron. I was reminded of how special aprons were when I received my daily Heartwarmers Newsletter from www.heartwarmers.com.

Aprons, to me anyway, represent something our children have missed. As I recall homes where I lived in and the homes of relatives and friends, I remember drawers full of aprons. Whenever there was a gathering of extended family and friends, all the females from about age ten and up were given an apron to wear as they helped prepare meals or cleaned up afterwards. There were small aprons that just fit around the waist, and those more like jumpers that also fit around the upper portion of the body. There were plain aprons and rather fancy ones. Some had towels sewn into them for wiping hands. Most had pockets for collecting things around the house while one cleaned. All, to me, represent a time when women stayed home, and where extended family gatherings were an important part of our lives. They represent a time when there was always a pie or cake or cookies baking in the oven. And they represent a time of innocence, and love and sharing that our children just don't know.

Perhaps that's another reason why I wanted to home school my son. I wanted to pass on some of that innocence and love and sharing. I wanted to be the mom with something baking in the oven, so that my son would equate the smell of vanilla and cinnamon with sharing and caring.

Today's children think that aprons are something men wear when they grill hamburgers outdoors. How I wish I could take them back to a time when our kitchen was full of girls and women in aprons, aprons of all sizes, shapes and colors. How I wish I could show them the joy those women seemed to have as they fellowshipped and laughed and sang together.

Perhaps what our children are missing is not really the aprons themselves, but the love they represented. Perhaps they are missing out on having grandparents and aunts, uncles and cousins gathering for wonderful family events. Perhaps they are missing having friends and neighbors looking out for them almost as much as their parents, and being allowed to rebuke them for inappropriate behavior.

I still smile as I wear an apron in my own kitchen and think about those times. It almost makes me want to put on a pair of skates - the kind that went over my shoes and had a key. Or climb the nearest tree. Or grab a hoola-hoop and twirl it around my waist. What do you miss from your childhood? What do you wish our children could experience?