Tag! You're It! Ok maybe later....

Remember the 80's? We had TV Tag, Movie Tag, and Song Title tag. Tag and touch football were staples for children playing outdoors. Well not so anymore in certain Massachusetts schools. Apparently you can get hurt playing these games. You might trip or fall, there may be something construed as inappropriate touching, or hitting involved.

Augh. I just want to scream. I am so sick of our over policing our children to death. What the hell is wrong with people? What is wrong with freakin' tag? Kids get hurt it's a fact of life. They fall down, go boom. T.D. does is daily and I just say with a smile on my face-Oh! You fell over! She's fine. She sees it's not a big deal and moves on. I got a ligament pulled in a tickle fight once and had to wear a sling for a week. Big deal. I climbed monkey bars, slid down the tall slide, watched friends fall from high heights out of gasp! tree forts! They broke limbs, we moved on. If a kid doesn't experience that or isn't allowed to run around and be free they become fat-assed blobs who absorb too much screen time and can't function normally around people. Their attention spans rival gnats.

I know I may sound harsh here but I really get worked up that I'm raising a kid in such a freaked out, germ obsessed society that doesn't allow kids to play past their front door but then thinks it's ok to let their child wear shirts that say, 'Flirty!', 'Diva', and 'Your're boyfriend thinks I'm good in bed.' WHAT?! It makes no sense.

We in a world crazy about protection yet we have a really warped sense about what we are protecting. It's truly a shame that kids are becoming little tiny prisoners shuttled around in mini-vans to and from structured activities. They are growing up not knowing what it's like to really live and experience life with all it's bumps, bruises and scratches. Or imaginations. That is a whole other arguement though.

I understand that not everyone does this. I applaud those parents who are sadly having to "take a stand" and be different because they let their kids run around the 'hood. The mothers who make their children play outside, don't buy them cell phones, or enlist them in so many camps and groups that Mom and Dad and family subsist on food to go and have family time in the car. Those parents know there is more to life. That kids get hurt. They get their front teeth kicked out but survive. They fall from trees, they eat dirt and pick their hard played scabs. It's called growing up and having a childhood.