Tuesday, June 25, 2019

What did you do?

I started my day with a long overdue haircut. My appointment was for ten, when the shop opens. The first stylist showed up at five after, and Melanie came in about ten after. This may just be me getting old, but is surely is indicative of millenials. They should simply make the appointment for "tenish", at my discretion.

But, I do like Melanie; she's cut my hair for at least ten years.  Today my generally twenty minute hair cut lasted half an hour or forty five minutes. We talked about what a working mother can do to occupy a child during the summer.

Mel's daughter is thirteen, and I'd guess Mel is pretty close to forty. She said its not like her childhood, where she got up, ate, and went out all day, riding her bike and hanging with friends. In her neighborhood, that does not happen. Children are inside, with their electronics.

I told her I would send her links to our NPS and Conservancy day camps. She already sent her daughter to several Y-Noah camps. Her daughter is very shy, but enjoyed the Y camps, especially the horseback camps. I told her perhaps sign her up and leave her for the week.

That her childhood was much like my daughters' childhood was a bit surprising. I wonder when this sea change swept over children and how parents currently cope. I know my older daughter's children have busy summers, but that isn't surprising. Both were raised to be free range.

After I had my ears lowered, to quote my dad, I went to play cards. Nancy and I almost took the day.  I stopped for flower pictures. I don't know the name of either.




43 comments:

  1. We too spent most of every free moment outside. Electronics were not a part of my childhood. The weather had to be really nasty to keep us in.
    My father always talked about having his ears lowered too.

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  2. We too cleared off for the day...if for a long walk then took lemonade and sandwiches. What a horrible way for a child to live, caged up all day with a blinking box.

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  3. Its a different world out there for kids these days. Some good some not. I think keeping them them is the biggest worry for parents now. Free range can look very scary in some places...:(

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    1. Cleveland, Ohio. My grandson, on his bicycle from one place to another was admonished by a shopkeeper with a broom, in Little Italy, to get off the sidewalk. "My mom wont' let me ride on the road," was his defense. I doubt he was yet a teenager.He since rides all over the country, and he's up to 16. https://www.facebook.com/summitventure/
      is his blog.

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  4. I am not sure that being late started with Millennials. I have seldom gone for an appointment where they took me on time.

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  5. Ears lowered! My parents say that too. It's hard to figure out how to keep electronically addicted kids engaged. I'm glad that mine grew up mostly pre-cell phone and pre-computer.

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  6. I often wish kids could experience what we did in the summer. As soon as morning chores were done we were gone for the day. Building forts, climbing trees, riding bikes, playing baseball, picking wild flowers and berries, playing tag, swimming in the creek,fishing,reading, making headpieces out of weeping willow branches and flowers, and so on. Our worlds were unlimited.

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  7. My husband still says he's getting his ears lowered :)

    Doesn't a haircut make you just feel like a new person?

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    1. I missed my monthly haircut in May, with all the moving business. It was OK until a week ago, when it went wild on me, and I had to wait a week to have an appointment with Mel.

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  8. I went to summer camp when I was your and loved every minute of it.
    Coffee is on

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  9. Electronics are a big challenge for parents today both for themselves and their children.

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  10. I remember days when a shop would open and all staff were already there ready to start work. I've given up getting haircuts, I can't stand all those itchy little snipped bits down in my clothes.
    I hope Melanie's daughter gets to go to camp and spend time in the outdoors away from electronics. Vitamin D from sunshine is so important.
    The flowers are pretty.

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  11. I've gotten to the point of telling my Millennial son and DIL to be somewhere 30 minutes earlier than I want them to be therefore when they arrive 30 minutes "late" they are just in time. They do get to work on time though, so its just some things they choose to be late for. Here since its so hot in the summer I really don't know what parents do to occupy their kids but I'm sure its a lot of electronics.

    betty

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    1. I used to do that with my husband, who refused to be on time, and we both were war babies. It's in the genes.

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  12. Sounds like you had a nice day. I am not one who worries about waiting for awhile for someone else because I am often late! I don't like that habit in myself but I spent so many years being early to appointments then often waiting so I then started being later and later. Now I can't seem to change back. Of course there is a limit to how long someone should wait. I say 15-20 minutes maximum. I find with hair dressers even if you are there on time and they are there you are often waiting because it takes longer with another customer. I see you were first so that should have avoided that problem.

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  13. I have two sons ( 15 and 17) their communication woth other friends is mainly digital :-). The yellow plant is I think a Lysimachia punctata (called yellow loosestrife in USA?).

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  14. Wendy beat me to naming the plant: Loosetrife. Ours is in flower too here in Ireland. Its a perennial and very easy to divide in spring and autumn. If you lived near me I would send you a couple of plants.

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  15. Hari OM
    At 40, Mel actually falls into the Gen-X category... my two younger sisters are both (just) within the Baby Boomer range and they are THE WORST time keepers I know. I have to tell them an hour earlier than I really want them and even that's a gamble.

    I know quite a few 'free range' kids here and in OZ. I also know they are so because the parents make sure of it, with discipline about online and viewing times. Parenting, I am sure, is more complex than it was due to the lifestyles on offer now but also the need for caution regarding safety. YAM xx

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    1. I should get that all straight in my head!

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    2. I'm a baby boomer. I usually arrive early for everything. It's the way I was raised. My dad made us arrive about six hours early for everything.

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  16. Do you still have 'Summer Camps' in the U.S. or are they a thing of the past?

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    1. We are replete with summer camps, and they are themed around experiences the parents/sponsors want for their children.The YMCA has two large camps nearby. There is the Boy Scout Camp. The Conservancy for the national park holds a series of camps based on outdoor experiences. Then there are the mega churches and their camps. My older daughter and her husband tried Lithuanian Boy Scout camps for their children for a couple of years. More disciplined and rigorous than they anticipated.

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  17. I'm very loyal to my hairdresser. :) It took me a long time to find one who does exactly what I like how I like it. I saw her last week. We talked about cake and her husband possibly commuting to a further away location than he works now. Seeing as my other half started uni 6 months ago he has been doing a long commute twice a week to get there.

    I loved horse riding camp as a kid, and in fact ended up becoming a camp counselor there.

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  18. I saw a little thing on Facebook yesterday where Billy Porter was talking about punctuality. He said something like, "Being fifteen minutes early is being on time. Being on the dot is running late. Being fifteen minutes late is unacceptable." That wasn't it exactly but close. I hate being late. It makes me anxious.

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    1. It was made clear to me that being late was the worst rudeness expressed. It said the other person's time and being were less valuable than your own.

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  19. Know the yellow flower but just can't remember its name - it's an age thing!

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  20. I used to get irritated if I had to wait. Now I see it as bonus knitting time. Sometimes, it's all in the perception. As kids in summer, we'd head out the door (western xburbs of Cleveland) after breakfast, have to be summoned, whining, for lunch and then more whining when coming in for dinner. We'd have lived wild all summer, if allowed. Of course, that was before ticks.

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  21. Pretty flowers!

    I haven't had my hair cut in years. Though if you look at it a different way, I cut my hair every day or two. :)

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  22. I'm having one of those days destroyed my manner matters that have piled up a little. I could list them all but it would put you to sleep.

    Trying not to be overwhelmed, enjoyed hearing about your day.

    XO
    WWW

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  23. I was 'encouraged' to go outside right after breakfast and was called when meals were ready.

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    1. I can visualize Mel's problem. In fact, I see it every time I'm out and about. There are no children outside. There are no bicycles wobbling in the street. There are no pick up games, or rope jumping, or a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g. There are no children! Mel says any time her daughter is able to arrange a play date with her "best friend", the friend cancels at the last minute.
      I sent her links to all the camps I could find, or know of. Maybe Mel needs to start phoning around for play mates.

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  24. We couldn't wait to get outdoors after breakfast.

    We just spent a week with husband's Irish family, all 30 of them that could come. It was glorious. But, the 6 to 10 year olds sat with their electronics and played.

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  25. I was reading through an old diary and got to the part where I was talking about sending a bunch of five year olds out to the little park just down the street. OK, only just down the street, but by themselves, and I would perhaps come out a little later. Or maybe not. I wouldn't do that now in the city. Like you, I wonder when things changed.

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  26. I haven't gotten a haircut since last year. My hair is awful. I had an appointment for today but My Girl Sam had to reschedule because she has bronchitis. Sam is a millennial so time is a fluid thing with her. I don't mind. She usually makes me her last appointment of the day so we can be alone to talk. I love her dearly. I almost cheated on her once but couldn't do it.

    Love,
    Janie

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  27. I think I might be your daughters' gen. I was a latch-key kid & summers were wide OPEN. My friend's kids, by comparison, are on a much shorter lead.

    I am in desperate need of a haircut. I wear it up in a bun & try to forget about it most days.

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    1. Latch-key kids! I'd forgotten that expression. Mine certainly were, born in 65 and 67.

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  28. Love that expression ‘I had my ears lowered!’ Funny all the things that come back from your parents years later... they live on in you. A lovely thought.

    LX

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  29. What a lovely, happy new day...with flowers.

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  30. Sounds like a good day...Scouting day camps, the library and books were all part of summer for me.

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  31. Oh shucks! I was hoping you'd show us your new haircut. I'm growing my hair out a little and I'm at the stage where I'm dying to cut it short again, especially with the hot, muggy weather we're having.

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