Well, not everything. Just things about growing up.

We may have moved to a Mayberry RFD neighborhood (for all you young folks, just google it), but lives here are just as overscheduled as anywhere these days.

I miss what I remember – just going over to someone's house and asking them to come out and play. Going on a bike ride, finding some more friends, then hanging out for the rest of the day. Playing kickball in backyards. Playing Blind Mans Bluff until the last bit of twilight was gone and all the mothers' voices were getting angry when they called to have us come in. Walking or riding my bike to school. Climbing trees. Jumping on trampolines with no enclosures or pads. Digging in the dirt. Flattening pennies (and other things) on the railroad tracks when we saw a train coming. 

But I get it. The world is different now. And that was easier to handle when I was merely an observer. Watching Evie grow up and explore makes my heart ache at times for the freedom and relative lack of structure I seemed to have had when I was her age. Watching my wife try so hard to find someone to watch Evie for just one hour for a doctors appointment frustrates me as much as it does her.

This is why people are moving closer to family. This is why we moved closer to family. I just wish life was more unstructured, unscheduled and free. Especially for kids.