Ah, memories...

So I was derpin around Facebook trying to think of something to write about here when I heard the neighborhood kids playing outside. They were playing that great old game, "Red Light, Green Light". I'm not sure if that's played elsewhere in the states or the world but I clearly remember playing that when I was a kid. It's a great game where one kid is "it" and the others line up. "It" has his/her back to the line up and then he/she yells 'Green light" which means the line up gets to try to sneak up on "it" but...then "it" quickly turns around and yells, "RED LIGHT!" meaning "STOP!" of course. If "it" catches even the slightest movement the offending party is sent back to the start line and has to try again.

The first part of the childhood was spent playing games like this on what was then known as the "north side" of Kenosha, across the street from Union Park, a few blocks from the small boat harbor. Funny but we never played much in the park because we would have to cross two lanes of traffic on 7th avenue so instead we played down at the harbor. Because, you know, playing near a large body of deep water is so much safer. What? But that's how it was back then.

We had a rule in our house. If you weren't cleaning your room or doing your homework you had better be outside - rain or shine! We came back for dinner and then out again until the street light came on. Once that happened we had to get home for baths and to get ready for bed. Red Light, Green Light was just one of the great games we played. We also played Kick the Can, Round the Moon, Graveyard, and Statues. I have no idea where these games came from or who started them but all the kids knew them! Statues was a particularly strange game. Again, someone had to be "it" and someone was the museum owner. The rest of us would get spun around until we were senseless and frozen into whatever heap we landed in. Then the person who was "it" would come to the museum to purchase a statue. The owner would take "it" to each one of the statues and "it" would ask "what does this one do". We then had to come up with some kind of animated statue like "I'm a puppy" and the owner would push an imaginary button and the "puppy" would crawl around barking until he pushed the off button. Then, once they had seen all the statues, "it" would choose one to buy and that person then got to be "it". Like I said, strange game but we all liked playing it!

Another really strange game was something we called "Chinese Tag" though I have no idea why it was Chinese. It was your basic game of tag, someone is "it", chasing everyone else around to try to tag them but the catch was if you got tagged, you had to kiss whomever was "it". This was a great game for the more mature girls in the neighborhood who were already swooning over who we thought was cuter by age 10. But, inevitably, that one kid in the neighborhood that always had a runny nose and drooled a lot would get the short stick and have to be "it". Well, we weren't stupid! We would take off and run away and hide and it would be game over. No one wanted to kiss that kid!! EW!!

When I was in the fourth grade my family moved into a new house on the "south" side of town, near St. Joe's High School. I was terrified because I didn't know anyone and I wasn't sure what to do. Imagine my surprise when the kid next door turned out to be way cool, best friends, and the "south side" kids played all the exact same games we did on the "north side"! I fit right in!

The great thing about these games was you could play them with any number of kids and you didn't need any special equipment to play them. All it took was a little energy and a little imagination and you were golden. Some of them, like Graveyard and Round the Moon, were best played in the dark, just before that streetlight came on. We'd often try to stretch that time out as much as possible until you could hear mom's calling out all over the block.

"Mary! Janet! Time to come home!!"

Funny how just taking time to listen can spur on the memories. Even now, the kids are still out there and I can hear them yelling, "Ollie Ollie Oxen Free!" which, if you don' t know, is the all clear sign to come out, come out, wherever you are!