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FirstLight

(14,990 posts)

15. Going anywhere alone... especially out in the woods..

Tue Apr 15, 2025, 12:06 PM

Apr 15

We had 40 acres in the wild forest of the Armstrong Redwood area in Sonoma... NO people. I'd pack a snack and say goodbye after breakfast and wander off into the woods by myself... folowing deer trails, sitting it the trees for hours. They never worried.
I used to let my kids and the neighbor's kids would do the same in the creek and meadow near oput house in Tahoe, they built "houses" out of deadwood etc and would then drag me to come look!

I let my Gen Z kids ride without helmets and climb trees! *gasp*
They were monkeying around on the aspen in our yard once and my friend was visiting with her kids and wanted her daughter to wear a helmet to climb! I reminded her we were not that coddled in our youth...

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debm55 EverHopeful Clouds Passing

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Can you remember anything normal for a kid to do in the 60's-80's that parents would not allow today? Mine is sitting [View all] debm55 Apr 15 OP

Ride a bike without a helmet Sanity Claws Apr 15 #1

Thank you very much Sanity Claws. I never used in the 60"/70's. debm55 Apr 15 #2

I used to ride my minibike (small motorcycle) up in the woods without a helmet. Good times! beaglelover Apr 15 #33

Thank you very much beaglelover. debm55 Apr 16 #75

That's mine, too. Aristus Apr 15 #37

Very good advice to offer, Aristus. debm55 Apr 16 #76

No bike helmets when I was a a kid/tween/teen... electric_blue68 Apr 16 #67

Same here, Thank you, electric_blue68 debm55 Apr 16 #77

Riding in the back of a station wagon. Ocelot II Apr 15 #3

Thank you very much Ocelot II. I remember all of them. debm55 Apr 15 #4

Oh the wayback! In the Boston area in the late yorkster Apr 15 #8

I remember riding in the back of a station wagon once or twice sakabatou Apr 15 #45

Thank you sakabatou. Same here. debm55 Apr 16 #97

Ok... like if I remember myself... a few of us would be in the bigger back section of the station wagon.... electric_blue68 Apr 16 #69

'Riding in the back of a station wagon.' AKA the TAILGUNNER position! nt kelly1mm Apr 16 #101

HAHAHAHAHAH. Thank you kelly1mm. debm55 Apr 16 #114

I used to play deep in the woods by myself. Climbed to the tops of the tallest trees there. Mister Ed Apr 15 #5

Thank you Mister Ed. I like that term free range kids. debm55 Apr 15 #6

Yes. We used to climb big pine trees. yorkster Apr 15 #11

Same here. We spent quite a lot of our summers at Grandma's house Ocelot II Apr 15 #13

Blow the whole allowance on Lik-M-Aid RoadRunner Apr 15 #7

Thank you RoadRunner. I did not get a chance to blow my allowance as I didn't get one. What is Lik-M-Aid? debm55 Apr 15 #9

A powdered sugary candy thing that kids like RoadRunner Apr 15 #14

I collected empty bottles of the side of the road to get my money. debm55 Apr 15 #17

Allow kids to run and ride their bikes behind... Buckeye_Democrat Apr 15 #10

Oh, my. That does look dangerous. debm55 Apr 15 #12

Oh gosh, I forgot about that one. Mister Ed Apr 15 #24

Going anywhere alone... especially out in the woods.. FirstLight Apr 15 #15

Thank you so much. I used to walk 7 blocks to kindergarten by myself. Now kids get dropped off and picked up at the debm55 Apr 15 #16

Whuuutt? awesomerwb1 Apr 15 #20

Yep. but we did have crossing guards. I went during the afternoon session. I just looked at a map and it was the debm55 Apr 15 #21

Did other little kids walk the same route that you did? awesomerwb1 Apr 15 #22

No , I was not given any money to buy anything. It was the same route I followed through out the year. I had friends to debm55 Apr 15 #36

Same, It was 9/10 of a mile from home to the elementary school.. bottomofthehill Apr 15 #38

Thank you bottomofthehill debm55 Apr 16 #98

My friends and I always walked ourselves to kindergarten womanofthehills Apr 15 #46

Thank you very much, womanofthehills. It sounds fun. debm55 Apr 16 #99

When I was about 6 years old a few of us would pack lunches and hike around the rock bluffs Bev54 Apr 15 #18

Thank you very much Bev54 debm55 Apr 16 #115

I used to climb fences in my backyard kimbutgar Apr 15 #19

Thank you very much, kimbutgar. debm55 Apr 16 #116

Play/hang out in the neighborhood at night (10pm +) awesomerwb1 Apr 15 #23

Oh yeah. Remember these? True Dough Apr 15 #25

"Jarts", as I remember them. Harker Apr 15 #59

Anything True Dough Apr 15 #62

Leave the house at 7:30 am with my best friend Phoenix61 Apr 15 #26

Going downtown by myself on the bus Jilly_in_VA Apr 15 #27

Taking a pocketknife to school. Sneederbunk Apr 15 #28

Play in the street Rachel M at 6 pm Apr 15 #29

Car!!!!! lol. n/t getagrip_already Apr 15 #30

and yell car at the top od your lungs when you saw one coming. bottomofthehill Apr 15 #39

I love being known as a free-range kid. Gone in morning; back in time for supper. Polly Hennessey Apr 15 #31

We had contests about who could hold a bee longest in their hand womanofthehills Apr 15 #48

Good times DUgosh Apr 15 #32

Oh you reminded me of one of my favorite childhood things EverHopeful Apr 15 #54

Rural kids carrying pocket knives TexLaProgressive Apr 15 #34

Go trick or treating alone . . . even when carrying a UNICEF collection box. Vinca Apr 15 #35

ride with no seat belt ofr for that matter, no baby seat. bottomofthehill Apr 15 #40

Not so much what "parents would not allow today"... but mainly school rules and state laws won't allow today Niagara Apr 15 #41

Do you have Sir Walter Raleigh in the can? LuckyCharms Apr 15 #42

No, but I have a Frank Rizzo on the other line Niagara Apr 15 #43

SIZZLE CHEST! LuckyCharms Apr 15 #44

Buying cigarettes Emile Apr 15 #47

Playing with gas powered model airplanes MichMan Apr 15 #49

I too was a free range kid. I also grew up in deserts, and once in fifth grade, we spotted a tarantula in the Dorothy V Apr 15 #50

I am LMAO picturing this. 3catwoman3 Apr 15 #64

Oh yeah! Then he picked on another girl and discovered she could hit like a boy! Dorothy V Apr 15 #66

Ride in a car without a seatbelt Ineedamoment Apr 15 #51

Yes and no car seats for the little ones. Thank you Ineedamoment. debm55 Apr 16 #117

Out for hours on bikes, or down in the creek, or floating on pond IrishBubbaLiberal Apr 15 #52

Sounds great. Thank you very much IrishBubbaLiberal debm55 Apr 16 #113

Lawn Darts bpj62 Apr 15 #53

I never played but watched my cousins play. Thank you bpj62. debm55 Apr 16 #100

Lawn darts, klackers, going out in the morning with no contact with my folks until it started getting dark. catbyte Apr 15 #55

Agree, catbyte debm55 Apr 16 #106

Walk home from school wendyb-NC Apr 15 #56

Thank you very much wendyb-NC. Agree with you. debm55 Apr 16 #96

Roller skating in the street with no helmet or pads in a dress SARose Apr 15 #57

Thank you SARose, I did the skating with no helmet or pads, but not in a dress. Your poor knees. debm55 Apr 16 #81

We used to go to the "thumbing corner" when we were like 10 years old and hitch a ride to town doc03 Apr 15 #58

Thank you doc03, I never thumbed. Always used the busses around Pittsburgh. debm55 Apr 16 #91

No bus here. nt doc03 Apr 16 #108

Riding in the back of a truck is a good one. Laffy Kat Apr 15 #60

Thank you Laffy Kat. And do get better. debm55 Apr 16 #74

Sleeping on the shelf behind the rear seat in Dad's Oldsmobile. TomSlick Apr 15 #61

Very true. TomSlick, Thank you. debm55 Apr 16 #73

I used to ride my bike 3 towns away. Golden Raisin Apr 15 #63

Agree. Golden Raisin. Thank you. debm55 Apr 16 #72

Instead of putting the rolls in my toy cap pistol, hitting then with a hammer on a concrete block Ziggysmom Apr 15 #65

Thank you Ziggysmom. I did something similiar. I used a rock to hit the caps. That is until one cap hitting my eye. Then debm55 Apr 16 #71

Wow, all this free range kids stuff in the 'burbs or smalker towns... electric_blue68 Apr 16 #68

Thank you electric_blue68 debm55 Apr 16 #70

Home alone UpInArms Apr 16 #78

During the day I was , but never at night. debm55 Apr 16 #88

We had a wood-burning kit. And we also made gunpowder. Walleye Apr 16 #79

Thank you Walleye. Glad your cousin was okay. debm55 Apr 16 #87

Thankfully it was a habit I never picked up markbark Apr 16 #80

We had one at our school too. Times have changed. Thank you markbark for that memory. debm55 Apr 16 #86

Riding 2 buses for 40mins+ as twelve year olds to go from suburban Chicago to Wrigley Field. NoMoreRepugs Apr 16 #82

Thank you NoMoreRepugs. I rode one bus with my friends in 7th and 8 grade to see the Pirates at Forbes Field. . It was a debm55 Apr 16 #84

Never asking the boys what they did today. Squaredeal Apr 16 #83

Thank you very much Squaredeal. debm55 Apr 16 #85

Had a Chemistry Set if..fish..had..wings Apr 16 #89

Thank you very much, if..fish..had..wings. Glad no one was hurt. debm55 Apr 16 #92

what do you mean IN the bed of the pickup lapfog_1 Apr 16 #90

I lived in a steel mill town. However, people had trucks. Kids would get in the bed --back of the truck . It was filled debm55 Apr 16 #94

In the 60s thru 70s, my parents would have no idea where I was no_hypocrisy Apr 16 #93

Same here. Thank you no_hypocrisy. debm55 Apr 16 #95

Walking through town ( about 5 miles) as an early teen LiberalArkie Apr 16 #102

Wow, Thank you LiberalArkie debm55 Apr 16 #105

Yep, get 2 quarters from my mom. 1 to get into the Boys Club pool and 1 for snacks LiberalArkie Apr 16 #107

Riding our bikes around the entire neighborhood with no helmets, no supervision. lark Apr 16 #103

Thank you very much . lark debm55 Apr 16 #104

Floating Down the Mississippi River on Inner Tubes Two or Three Times a Day in the Summer (two or three miles). waterwatcher123 Apr 16 #109

That sounds wonderful. Thank you very much, waterwatcher123 debm55 Apr 16 #112

cutting the grass with absolutely dangerous machines rurallib Apr 16 #110

Wow two dangerous things to do or witness. Glad you are here with us, rurallib. debm55 Apr 16 #111

My parents pretty much just left us run rurallib Apr 16 #120

Playing near an abandoned slate quarry as deep as a 2 story house, bottom 4th was filled with water Clouds Passing Apr 16 #118

Thank you, Clouds Passing. Glad you are with us. I didn't like snapping turtles when I was a kid either. debm55 Apr 16 #119

The neighbor boys brought home a snapping turtle that stuck out a foot on each side of their red flyer wagon Clouds Passing Apr 16 #121

That's why I don't like them. debm55 Apr 16 #122

Getting a full-time babysitting job at the age of 12. This was in the early 1960s... Hekate Apr 17 #123

Thank you very much, Hekate for sharing your post. You were a very responsible young girl. I admire you for that. debm55 Apr 17 #124