What means the most to you now as an aging person? How has your views changed from your ideas in your youth?
I feel so differently about so many things from when I was young. This question was sparked in my mind due to something MidKid said about Christmas. Christmas commercials that tell us to run out and buy a Lexus and so forth.
I was traumatized in my youth by some things but I have to say I was also a dreamer, carefree, who truly didn’t comprehend how devastating life could be for adults.
I truly knew how to enjoy the simplest joys in life as a kid. It’s such a shame that we lose that as an adult. One of my favorite things as a kid was playing in the mud, you know, making mud pies, etc. I loved jumping rope, hopscotch, riding my bike, playing with my Jax and ball, marbles, etch a sketch, pick up sticks, spinning tops, yo-yos, Spirograph, my dolls, and so on. Really simple things.
Once I was watching a show on adults building elaborate sand castles and I thought that we should all take the time to enjoy the simple things in life again.
I have to tell you that I was the mom who played with my kids at the playground rather than watching from the sidelines and those are beautiful memories for me and my children.
My dad enjoyed playing with my kids. So often I would call him up and say, “Daddy, do you want to go to the park with us?” He never told me no. My mom rarely went so I stopped asking her.
My kids adored when grandpa went to the park with us. They loved listening to his stories about how I swung on the same swings they were on. It was really sweet.
What are your thoughts?
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I've become a minimalist as I've gotten older. I work at home as does my spouse. We rarely buy new clothes. We downsized our home (although still a much larger house than I would like to have). We have not exchanged Christmas gifts in years, preferring to take a trip with friends every year.
My parents are both still alive and in their 80's. They both still have all their marbles. I am thankful for that, but fearful of the day when that is no longer the case.
3 years ago a va mental health nurse not only refused me any medication to help with my nerves ( grief ) but said they would be forcing me into rehab .
i told her ive about 10 years left on this planet and if she thought i was going to live it tee total -- she was out of her feckin mind .
Oh my gosh, your comment about time is so true. It did feel like we had all the time in the world as a kid. Now times goes so much faster being older. I can’t believe I am 64! We end up thinking, where did the years go?