By David Tepera, July 12, 2023

Recently, Tina and I were reflecting over our childhoods. Just know, I grew up in the 1960s and ’70s, and of course, life was much different than today. Hopefully, your childhood was as memorable as mine.

In my neighborhood, there were tons of children, and we all went outside to play. We rode our bikes everywhere, including jumping wooden ramps and ditches.

It was easy to gather enough children for a game of kickball, driveway basketball or sandlot tackle football. I was fortunate to live next to Delany Lake by the College of the Mainland. Us boys would sneak into Delany’s property to fish, swim and ride the trails. We were never destructive and built great memories.

Whenever we had a good rain, we would find panels of wood and skim-boarded in everyone’s ditches. My side of the tracks did not have sidewalks.

At home, there were always chores to be had. Dad seemed to constantly have projects, and I was his helper. Once old enough, mowing grass was my responsibility, and just know, weed eaters were not invented yet. We used hand clippers and a manual edger.

How many of you or your children know how to change oil or fix a flat tire? I know today’s cars are much more complicated, but we did all our cars’ maintenance back in the day, including spark plugs, alternators, brakes and the list goes on. When my son Dylan had his first car, he learned to change a flat in the rain.

Also, it was rare for me to really enjoy sitting with the family to watch a television program. That’s because I was the youngest, which meant I was the remote control. I was constantly getting up to change the channel, adjust the volume and rearrange rabbit ears for better reception. So, really, I was still exercising before bedtime.

I know I’m over exaggerating, but I’m sure many of you are laughing because you can relate.

I’m glad I didn’t grow up in the world of video games. There were no overweight children in my neighborhood. Now, there is an obesity epidemic among all ages. It seems the world is getting easier, and the youth are getting softer. That’s on all you parents.

Now, we all want life to be better for our children than it was for us, but I feel it’s important to teach them responsibility, plus understand the importance of health and exercise.