10000 Miles

And I'm Still Alive.

And I'm glad about that. We did the birthday party thing today at the Skating Rink as was requested. I've realized something, there won't be too many more birthdays like this, so I let her have her party pretty much how she wanted it. It was quite a success. The skating rink did all of the work, they had it all planned out, all we did was show up, and have a good time, and the fee was not outrageous at all + she got a brand new pair of skates out of the deal. Not roller blades much to her dismay, but I assured her she could have just as much fun on regular skates.

Gosh I must have skated 10000 miles as a child. We used to put on our skates and go to the school near our house, it had very smooth pavement, and we could get high speed as we skated around and around the building. We went everywhere in skates. We would skate a mile away from home, and skate back when we were done. I used to hate when I was going just fast enough where when I hit a rock of a large enough size it would send me sailing and stumbling to regain my balance. Most of the time I did manage not to fall and get all scraped up, sometimes...I didn't.

We would develop skating routines and perform them in my neighbor's driveway. She was our age, and she skated all the time too. She had really really old skates with metal wheels!! Ours had the rubber wheels. She didn't care that hers were metal at all, she skated just fine on them. We used to skate to Loverboy! and The Cars.

There was a park about a mile away from our house, we would go there in our skates and spend a whole day just skating the many sidewalk pathways, and we would really get to going good on the tennis courts there. I don't think we even carried shoes with us.

It was a big deal to get a new pair of skates, I remember all I wanted was a new pair of skates. They cost about $20 at K-Mart, they had a whole wall at the back of the store by the snack bar that was filled with wonderful skates. Of course, I did get a pair eventually. I don't remember when or how, might have been a birthday present or something.

I remember those times with a sigh. My daughter has never been allowed to run as freely as we did when we were children. It really makes me mad when I hear people complaining about how children are so fat nowadays. They always say it like the children are flawed and lazy because their parents have sat them in front of televisions since the day they were born, and now all these spoiled children do is eat and play video games.

You know what? It's not the kids or the parent's fault.

I'll tell you who I blame for our fat children, it's all of these freaking perverts out there who have had their fill of all of the porn and filth available in the world, and whose minds are so corrupted and distorted that they are always looking for more to satiate themselves. Those who are so mental that they turn their attention to children and all of the stories out there about kids being kidnapped and tortured and murdered by these evil bastards.

There is hardly a parent with any lick of sense who is willing to let their kids out to run and play. I know very few parent's who are willing to gamble with their own children. Hell, I get nervous when my daughter asks if she can walk the dogs around the block, and I usually say no.

Don't tell me that I should not worry about these things, that they are not as common as the media would have us think, one such event is too much for any parent's peace of mind. Just a few years ago some girls my daughter's exact age were yanked in a van and raped by some sicko right here in our neighborhood. They were simply walking home from school.

The only people who complain about children being fat and how they sit in front of the t.v. when they should be outside playing are people who don't have children. I bet you anything. The parents know the risks, we understand them. We won't take them.

Don't tell me that I should then go do all of these things with my daughter. It's not the same. What I'm talking about is a freedom that I knew as a child that children of today have never experienced, and probably won't ever experience. Maybe I'm wrong, that's happened many times, but I just can't see it. Our children know no other way. I skated miles and miles away from home, and back again. Don't even get me started on our 10 mile bike rides we used to take. We were 13 years old, the same age as my daughter now, there is NO way I would allow her to do that.

Realistically most parents can't be available to go on the sorts of adventures we went on as children. They would ruin it for the kids if they even began to try. As kids, we left the house, the screen door slammed behind us and we went where the wind took us. I don't know many adults who could keep up with that pace.

Anyway, that's what I was thinking today when I saw my daughter put on those super cool new skates. We were amazed at how little time the kids even bothered to skate, they were too into the games and the cotton candy. They had games and cotton candy when I was a kid, but we were too busy going around that same circle over and over too notice those much. When we got tired, we would go play PacMan for a few minutes until the pocket change wore out, and then we'd be back on the floor again skating to our favorite songs.

The kids just don't seem to get that joy from it. It was sort of strange. One other thing, when I was a kid the place was full of children, and few adults. Today I could hardly see the kids for all of the adults standing around. Watching close I suppose. I understand.