Help! I've turned into my (GASP) Mother!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, it's true. I started a sentence today with "When I was your age..."

It was a fun story, no lesson involved, just something to share, but I cringed, as did my granddaughter, at my utterance of "When I was your age." She even said "Oh, no!" She had just come in from feeding and watering the peafowl, and said how hot it was -maybe upper 80's, and I related that I had grown up in the Phoenix, AZ area, daily temperatures of 115 degrees, cooling down to a nice comfortable 110 degrees at night. All my friends had pools, and in a pinch, if no one was home, the local Howard Johnson Hotel that had a pool would let locals swim for only .50cents. What a deal. 

My friends and I would ride our bikes to the hotel, towels draped over the handlebars, shorts over our suits, and thongs (what are now called flip-flops). We'd park and lock our bikes, go thru the lobby, and head out to the pool. Chairs claimed with a toss of the towel, shorts and thongs, and without missing a step we dove into the cool, cool water. After cooling down, we'd sunbathe, swim, sunbathe, swim, then head home, cool and pink with the kiss of the sun, and our youthful joy.

Those were the days. No worries about kids swimming in a hotel pool without parental supervision, no worries about riding safely, we never wore helmets, and all survived. Such a peaceful time. We had a blast, trusted everyone, and everyone was kind. 

One summer my friends and I donned our backpacks, rode our bikes 5 miles (seemed a lot farther) to the Phoenix Zoo, walked around, ate lunches we had packed, fed the ducks, and elephants, then went on to the Hole in the Rock section of Papago Park, climbed and hiked.

Hole in the Rock at Papago Park, Phx. AZ








Next we went to the Wax Museum. After a full day, we rode our bikes back home. 

 What a day. So, "When I was your age" we rode our bike everywhere, enjoyed the outdoors - even in 115 degree weather. Kids these days are just wimps.