Being able to swim in the deep end and jump off the diving board. We had to pass a “swim test,” swim back and forth and then tread water for 30 secs. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I asked mom about it and she said “yeah that was the test, but the lifeguards always looked at the parent for their approval before passing the kid.” Doesn’t diminish the accomplishment, but always good to know Mom was looking out.
So many more things should be sold in souvenir batting helmets. A helmet full of ice cream was enough to keep me occupied for like an inning and a half of a Tuesday night AA game as a child, as I'd stir it, eat it slowly, and let it melt all the way down before drinking it.
Appreciate the Cloud Nothings feature here. After a morning of volunteering outdoors (pulling invasive plants out of the bottom of a 4 foot deep pond by the roots), brunch, and a long nap, I once had three Red Bull Vodkas at a friend's graduation party then lost my keys in a circle pit at one of their shows. Great times. Great band.
For milestones: when I turned 7 I got a Swiss Army knife for my birthday and my own passport (at the time UK adults could add their kids to their passport & having your own was a Big Deal at the British school in The Hague). I felt like I was moments away from being grown up. (This is such a “first kid overachiever seeking external validation” anecdote I can hardly stand it)
Getting a Swiss Army knife this year was a MAJOR milestone for my son, and one I was thrilled to induldge, remembering how excited I was to get mine at (roughly) his age.
It took me _ages_ to learn how to ride a 2 wheel bike. Not because I didn't have the opportunity or a bikeable neighborhood. But because I decided I was going to do it one day, found a wrench, took off the training wheels, and tried to teach myself in the backyard. Which featured a hill. Suffice to say I did not learn how to ride a 2 wheel bike that day, and I spent the next few years getting around the neighborhood on roller blades instead.
I learned twice - I learned when I was 5 & then we moved to a new country and oddly enough I just couldn’t, eventually got myself together and “re-learned.” Hats off to my parents whose response to what I suspect was an anxiety reaction was, after the traditional berating they’d learned from their parents didn’t work, to buy a little training bike and count on fomo and not wanting to look like a “little kid” to do the rest, it worked.
The big childhood milestone for me was learning to ride a bike. It’s wild to think about it now since I ride my bike so much in the spring and summer, but I didn’t learn how to ride until I was 8 or 9, a few years after my friends learned. I just couldn’t get the hang of it and kept getting frustrated (along with my dad, who couldn’t understand why I wasn’t getting it). Then one summer evening I was outside and gave it one more try, and I was off. Maybe I’m imagining it now but I remember thinking “that wasn’t such a big deal!” That’s a great feeling as a kid.
Today's kids have it so lucky with those balance bikes as an intermediate step. So much less wobbling slowly down the asphalt, hitting a rock going 1 mph, and slowly falling over onto your elbow while your mom yells "PEDAL DAMMIT!"
You have some uncanny humour, even when you intend to be serious! Everything’s an adventure or sometimes just a repeat of great adventure. Love it and the many memories it brings to mind!! Yep, potato salad is a true comfort food and barbeque finisher!
Dogs are an integral part of my own life, and so your descriptors - hilarious at times, were over-the-top and truly warmed my heart (anyone who loves dogs and/or cats also loves people)!! That exuberant Marley face was priceless!!
A great best read with my first Saturday morning coffee! Thanks Scott Hines - great job!!
Despite being Canadian, the then-Paramount theme park nearby used inches for height milestones. Being 48 inches tall was the first time you could go on any roller coasters that went upside down, i may or may not have padded my shoes with multiple layers of napkins to fit that when I was too short to go on them but actually hitting that height felt like a real milestone
There's one of those during-the-ride pictures of me on Vortex taken around the time I was 6 or 7, and I look absolutely petrified. I'm pretty sure that's the only reason my Mom (who didn't even go on the ride!) bought the photo, because we never got them any other time I can remember. Good on her, because now I laugh every time I look at it, and by Grade 6 I had come to enjoy them.
The big milestone that comes to mind is being allowed to stay home alone, rather than being dragooned into the car to go to my brother's soccer game, random doctors appointment, school function, etc.
I think the first time my parents let me stay home alone, my mom had to pick my brother up from school. I was told I had to stay on the first floor of the house, and I could read a book or do homework, but I was not allowed to play Pokemon on my Game Boy. I'm sure the "stay on the first floor of the house" was so that my mom could quickly verify I had not been abducted when she got home. I absolutely played Pokemon on my Game Boy while I was home alone, and immediately got called out for it when my mom go home.
Rites of passage....being allowed to venture out of the neighborhood, unsupervised, with friends was a big one. It started as a mile or so away to the local park, then it was riding to the zoo or card store. I can still remember mom's littany of things to be sure of the first time I drove solo.
Being able to swim in the deep end and jump off the diving board. We had to pass a “swim test,” swim back and forth and then tread water for 30 secs. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I asked mom about it and she said “yeah that was the test, but the lifeguards always looked at the parent for their approval before passing the kid.” Doesn’t diminish the accomplishment, but always good to know Mom was looking out.
"I also believe that potato salad should be sold in souvenir batting helmets." CO-SIGN
So many more things should be sold in souvenir batting helmets. A helmet full of ice cream was enough to keep me occupied for like an inning and a half of a Tuesday night AA game as a child, as I'd stir it, eat it slowly, and let it melt all the way down before drinking it.
Top 10 things to eat out of a souvenir batting helmet:
10. Cereal
9. The stuff you dunk a Dunkaroo in
8. Popcorn Shrimp
7. Chili
6. Caviar
5. Risotto / Paella
4. Gazpacho
3. Ceviche
2. Potato Salad
1. Ice Cream / Dippin' Dots
The stuff you dunk a Dunkaroo in : Nutella :: American cheese : cheddar
MARLEY! What a great photo. Dogs are the best
Appreciate the Cloud Nothings feature here. After a morning of volunteering outdoors (pulling invasive plants out of the bottom of a 4 foot deep pond by the roots), brunch, and a long nap, I once had three Red Bull Vodkas at a friend's graduation party then lost my keys in a circle pit at one of their shows. Great times. Great band.
For milestones: when I turned 7 I got a Swiss Army knife for my birthday and my own passport (at the time UK adults could add their kids to their passport & having your own was a Big Deal at the British school in The Hague). I felt like I was moments away from being grown up. (This is such a “first kid overachiever seeking external validation” anecdote I can hardly stand it)
I joined the boy scouts basically for knife related reasons.
Getting a Swiss Army knife this year was a MAJOR milestone for my son, and one I was thrilled to induldge, remembering how excited I was to get mine at (roughly) his age.
I earned 1 merit badge, and never advanced past tenderfoot, in the like 3 years I was a boyscout. It was really all knives.
gonna start a new organization: Knife Scouts of America. Motto: "it's all knives"
Do What Donny Don't Does
I will start the Fire Scouts so that there's an organization covering the two really important knowledge bases of scouting.
It took me _ages_ to learn how to ride a 2 wheel bike. Not because I didn't have the opportunity or a bikeable neighborhood. But because I decided I was going to do it one day, found a wrench, took off the training wheels, and tried to teach myself in the backyard. Which featured a hill. Suffice to say I did not learn how to ride a 2 wheel bike that day, and I spent the next few years getting around the neighborhood on roller blades instead.
I learned twice - I learned when I was 5 & then we moved to a new country and oddly enough I just couldn’t, eventually got myself together and “re-learned.” Hats off to my parents whose response to what I suspect was an anxiety reaction was, after the traditional berating they’d learned from their parents didn’t work, to buy a little training bike and count on fomo and not wanting to look like a “little kid” to do the rest, it worked.
'wait the bicycles in the UK are right hand drive what the hell?!' as I careen into a Mace at 3kph.
A thought on the potato salad- if you wanna go Maximum Effort, making your own mayo and using pickle juice in it seems like a fun little twist
The big childhood milestone for me was learning to ride a bike. It’s wild to think about it now since I ride my bike so much in the spring and summer, but I didn’t learn how to ride until I was 8 or 9, a few years after my friends learned. I just couldn’t get the hang of it and kept getting frustrated (along with my dad, who couldn’t understand why I wasn’t getting it). Then one summer evening I was outside and gave it one more try, and I was off. Maybe I’m imagining it now but I remember thinking “that wasn’t such a big deal!” That’s a great feeling as a kid.
Today's kids have it so lucky with those balance bikes as an intermediate step. So much less wobbling slowly down the asphalt, hitting a rock going 1 mph, and slowly falling over onto your elbow while your mom yells "PEDAL DAMMIT!"
You have some uncanny humour, even when you intend to be serious! Everything’s an adventure or sometimes just a repeat of great adventure. Love it and the many memories it brings to mind!! Yep, potato salad is a true comfort food and barbeque finisher!
Dogs are an integral part of my own life, and so your descriptors - hilarious at times, were over-the-top and truly warmed my heart (anyone who loves dogs and/or cats also loves people)!! That exuberant Marley face was priceless!!
A great best read with my first Saturday morning coffee! Thanks Scott Hines - great job!!
Despite being Canadian, the then-Paramount theme park nearby used inches for height milestones. Being 48 inches tall was the first time you could go on any roller coasters that went upside down, i may or may not have padded my shoes with multiple layers of napkins to fit that when I was too short to go on them but actually hitting that height felt like a real milestone
There's one of those during-the-ride pictures of me on Vortex taken around the time I was 6 or 7, and I look absolutely petrified. I'm pretty sure that's the only reason my Mom (who didn't even go on the ride!) bought the photo, because we never got them any other time I can remember. Good on her, because now I laugh every time I look at it, and by Grade 6 I had come to enjoy them.
The big milestone that comes to mind is being allowed to stay home alone, rather than being dragooned into the car to go to my brother's soccer game, random doctors appointment, school function, etc.
I think the first time my parents let me stay home alone, my mom had to pick my brother up from school. I was told I had to stay on the first floor of the house, and I could read a book or do homework, but I was not allowed to play Pokemon on my Game Boy. I'm sure the "stay on the first floor of the house" was so that my mom could quickly verify I had not been abducted when she got home. I absolutely played Pokemon on my Game Boy while I was home alone, and immediately got called out for it when my mom go home.
Rites of passage....being allowed to venture out of the neighborhood, unsupervised, with friends was a big one. It started as a mile or so away to the local park, then it was riding to the zoo or card store. I can still remember mom's littany of things to be sure of the first time I drove solo.