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Some of the best conversation I’ve had usually takes place between 8:00 and 8:30 in the morning. This is usually after the master’s swim program at the YMCA, while sitting around in one of the patio tables drinking Toni’s (our head lifeguard at the YMCA) coffee. It is the best part of the morning; it almost sounds like a Folgers’s coffee commercial ... “The best part of waking up is Toni’s coffee in your cup”.

Why? — you ask. Because “we,” as in the morning swimmers, have already put in over 1,500 yards in the pool (usually the water and air temperature are much cooler than normal), we are tired, yet we feel invigorated and gathered is an ecliptic group of athletes and personalities with many points of views. Our bodies may be tired; our minds have woken up though and we are ready to share thoughts and begin our mental stimulation of “hello world!”

One topic of conversation I find particularly interesting is how we played when we were kids. Don’t ask me what originally brought on the subject but what we figured out is we all shared the same type of childhood. We as in the baby boomer generation.

Now, need I remind you the baby boomer generation spanned over twenty years, therefore our ages are spread out but the family values were essentially the same?

Here is how we grew up or, as our master swim group stated, how our neighborhoods worked. What we discovered is most of our childhood was spent outdoors. The particular activity depended on the time of the year. It didn’t matter whether your neighborhood was Seattle, Washington or Bridgewater, NJ. (that’s mine) — it had the same law and order when it came to raising kids.

The little homework we had back then — unlike the three to five hours per night our own kids have — was done over a glass of milk and cookies (my generation was Yodels and Funny Bones) and out the door we went to play! We did not come home until … see if you remember … mom opened the front door and shouted “Dinner!”

Just like the call of the wild, we all knew whose mom it was. They didn’t even have to say your name — only the trouble makers or really, really slow kids (as we put it) needed a parent to say “Gina, dinner!”

It was amazing, nobody complained, stalled or ignored mom. You heard you were summoned and it was “Got to go; my mom’s calling”. Here’s the best part, nobody gave you a hard time or called you a baby for running home fast before the third call to dinner because every mom in the neighborhood did it!

Here’s another thing; every parent in the neighbor had the right to tan your backside if you got into trouble. It was like a neighborhood parental right. We were threatened, grabbed by the ear, swatted on the butt, placed in corners and — I swear — grounded from the neighborhood activities if we got out of line in any parent’s driveway, backyard, wooded area, or designated playroom. The neighborhood never questioned the adult authority; if they said you did it … you did it! No juvenile justice court, your side of the story, or evidence allowed into play. It was the neighborhood’s right to judge you guilty. There was never, ever a “not guilty” verdict. You did it! If a parent called another parent to “tattle”; you might as well have placed that Lava soap in your mouth, sent yourself to bed without dinner after you gave yourself a good spanking!

We all played the same games. Neighborhood favorites were “Kick the Can”, “Spud”, “Monkey in the Middle” “Dodgeball” (we are talking the type of Dodgeball that left welts on your body when you got hit; there were no softskin balls back in those days), “Pickle” (as in running bases, marbles), any card game where you gathered on someone’s front stoop for hours, “Stickball” or “Wiffleball” and “Kickball.”

Yes, some are still popular today such as “Kickball” and “Dodgeball.” Here’s the difference: the loser or losing team went through a paddy wagon (that’s what we called it in NJ). That’s where you crawled under everyone’s legs and they got to spank your backside. Humiliating, yes; however you made it a point to win. We were never too tired or too hot to play. We opt for sweat soaking through our clothes and near exhaustion before we would succumb to the paddy wagon. You played to win!

Here’s another fact you might have forgotten, when we came home from school we put on our play clothes! Our children would laugh themselves sideways to know we took off our school clothes which were not nearly a quarter of what we spend on our children’s clothes today and went outside in our rattiest pants, T-shirts, sweatshirts, and jackets to go out into the neighborhood to play. Think about it gang, our clothes went through two school wears before our parents washed them (okay minus the underwear)!

If I ever played in my school clothes I was grounded for two weeks, sitting in my pajamas staring out the window as all my friends played on the street in front of me! Back in the day you “messed up” once, you never made the same mistake twice. If you did it was a sore backside and cabin fever.

There were not clicks back in the day; you belonged to a neighborhood “gang” or group. Not the gangs of today, just a group of friends; all ages and sex that grew up together, played together, scraped elbows and knees together, drank out of the same soda can, explored different territories, and most likely got into trouble together. Bottom line, life was fun, life was simple, and there was not a care in the world other than if you had a nickel to buy ice cream when the ice cream man drove by. You didn’t watch the news. Korea? Vietnam? What was that! Some sort of Asian dish? Kids didn’t take an interest in world events, war, or social issues. All we did was care about not being picked last on a team!

Well, did I bring back some memories? Hopefully all good, clean carefree times. Share your own over a cup of coffee with buddies. When life gets tough, have a little fun and reflect on what was so easy.

Here is another tip for parents: Feel free to bring that same feeling back into your kid’s life. Life is good; still can be! Just don’t forget to make some pure, simple, uncomplicated fun! See you all next week!

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Gina Sisbarro-Blassneck resides on Marco Island and is the Senior Program Director at the Marco Island YMCA. Her passion is anything to do with kids; especially the teens. She enjoys directing theater and writing. She looks forward to publishing her first adult novel hopefully in print by the holidays. She has two teenagers Wesley and Brianna “Booey” which gives her the greatest joy in life!