THE GAMES WE PLAYED

This article was published in this month's issue of our community magazine as part of the series "Do you remember...?" It tickles me that the latest group to form here at Sun City Carolina Lakes is the Stickball Club. 

“All grown-ups were once children – although few of them remember it.”

So wrote Antoine Saint-Exupéry, author of the classic The Little Prince, in the dedication of the book, published after his death in 1943.

Many of us seniors are at the point in our lives where we are remembering that we were once children, and we’re enjoying and relishing the memories. Not only are they wonderful topics for conversations among folks of our own age, they’re wonderful stories to pass along to our grandchildren. We can also pass on to them the stories of when their parents were children. (When their parents were young, such stories my not have been thought a wise to pass on at that particular time, or they didn’t want to hear about “when I was young,” or we simply forgot them for the moment.)

The time has come (the walrus said) for us to remember some the things of our childhood - the things you don’t often see these days. In this age of electronic babysitters, from TVs to tablets, it is often a delight to us to remember what kept us amused, passed the time, helped us learn, and made us a part of our neighborhood. We met with our friends after school, or played games like Red Light-Green Light, Red Rover or Hide and Seek in the street after supper on a summer evening when the boys and girls could get together. We were never bored, were we?

Boys’ games were usually played with some kind of ball, and varied, according by names and rules, from place to place. Guys, did you ever play stickball? A broom stick, a pinky, and a car-free street with a handy manhole cover for home base were all that you needed. You can still get a spaldeen, a pink Spalding High Bounce ball. Amazon has them for a “mere” $5.95.

It’s very rare these days, but you might still see girls at jump rope, or double-dutch (and why was it called “Dutch?”), or playing Jacks or the many versions of Hopscotch or Potsy. Are the memories flooding in? Stickball was mainly for the boys, but girls used the pinkies to play games like A My Name is Alice. Did you ever get through the alphabet on that one?

Remember when “heavy metal” meant those great steel roller skates? Do you still have your skate key?

Add to the list: Ringolevio, tag, buck-buck, hide and seek – the names for these games may vary, depending on where you lived as a child. Do you still have your marbles (no, not those marbles) even one or two?

Do you ever take your grandchildren out to a field to fly a kite? You might want to teach them how to make their own kite. There are, of course, how-to guides in the web for making kites and lots of other great things. One excellent resource, for many things both senior- and grandparent-related, is the American Grandparents Association at aga.grandparents.com. Another fun website is gameskidsplay.net. There you’ll find lists of both old and new games, and you might have an “aha moment” when you see the name of one long forgotten from childhood.