Grumpy Grandpa’s Daycare is now open for summer registration! With 24-hour care that includes fun activities and educational games; nature hikes; field trips to local splash pads, play parks, Fernbank, the Atlanta Zoo; and three well-planned nutritious meals along with healthy snacks sprinkled throughout the day, a space at Grumpy Grandpa is in high demand.
Unfortunately, due to fire marshal regulations, space is limited to just two, and The Wife has informed me that those spots have already been filled by our granddaughters: Little One and Sweet Caroline.
But have no fear! Even though parents throughout this town are now scrambling for babysitters, the world’s best babysitter is still available. Even though she is quite old, she will never grow tired, frustrated, or angry while taking care of your child.
There’s plenty of room in her daycare, and don’t worry how rough your munchkin is on toys, playground equipment, or even sitters. This daycare is virtually unbreakable.
I should know; my three brothers and I tried most every day during those seven years we spent growing up on Flamingo Street. And don’t worry about the cost either. Then, like now, kids can stay at this daycare all summer long for free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If the kids get hungry, food and healthy snacks are provided in abundance. That is, if you know where to look.
Mother Nature is the world’s best babysitter, and the outdoors is the greatest daycare ever invented. Even as good as we are at Grumpy Grandpa’s, there’s just so much inside whining we can stand.
When the whining gets to a feverous pitch and Big Papa here is about to blow his top, the girls line up and it’s outside we go. Once outside, they are set free to run, kick, scream, and throw things to their hearts’ content.
They’ll soon find out no matter how hard they try, you just can’t break Mother Nature. Even on their worst days, they won’t come close to what my brothers and I did.
Back on Flamingo, the trees we climbed up and then rode down to the ground during the summer never stayed permanently bent over. By Christmas, they had always straightened back up like none of us had even taken a ride “skinning trees.”
Except for a few eaten by Goofy Steve, all dirt clods were returned to the ground at the conclusion of all dirt clod battles. Likewise for any sticks utilized for sword fighting, failed boomerangs, javelins, or stilts.
Countless rocks flung by slingshots, boulders rolled down Flamingo, flat stones tried but never skipped across the clear fishing lake above the swamp behind our house, and all-sized rocks that went “kerplunk” before disappearing beneath the green waters of said swamp were all returned unharmed to Mother Nature when us kids were finished playing.
We never broke her, but a few times, we left our marks.
We built dams in failed efforts to divert Cripple Creek and cut through the dense bamboo forest on its banks, only to have it grow back even thicker over the summer.
Over the seven years we lived on Flamingo, I can recall three forest fires: one caused by lightning, one caused by a campfire not extinguished completely, and the largest one caused by the Great Marshmallow War of ’69. In all instances, the forest grew back without permanent scarring and the fires were long forgotten.
The Cliff Condos Complex was not so lucky.
Cliff Condos was the three-year dig on the unbuildable lot next door to Neighbor Thomas. From the street, it stretched flat for about 20 feet before turning into a huge sandstone cliff. We carved Cliff Condos into the face of that cliff. Most every kid living on Flamingo at the time helped with the excavation.
To say we left our mark on Mother Nature after three years of digging would be an understatement. And it truly would be. You see, the very night we all were going to sleep in the condos for the first time, Dad said no. It was too dangerous. He was right.
The next morning, we checked, and the entire six-room condo was buried under a huge boulder the size of a school bus. Seems the entire time we had been digging underneath it, we never knew. After all our digging and the eventual collapse, the unbuildable lot never looked the same.
So for all those parents out there still struggling trying to find a summertime babysitter, Mother Nature is waiting. She can even help with an early bedtime. After spending the entire day out in the sun playing, we kids never had a problem going to bed. Maybe that’s why our parents told us, “You kids get outside and play. Don’t come back ‘til dinner time.” If we woke up arguing, Mom even said that before we had our breakfast.
During the summer, outside was our classroom. From Down the Street Bully Brad we learned how to deal with the bullies of the world, skills I still use to this very day. From the other kids on Flamingo we were taught how to interact and play with others. Our many tree houses, the three-year dig of Cliff Condos, giant human sling shots, stilt walking, and forts that were built on the ground and up in trees all taught us problem solving and construction skills. These are skills I’ve used all of my adult life to provide for my family.
But most important, being outside during the summer I learned about life. Whether it be ants, bees, worms, and butterflies, lightning bugs, squirrels, chipmunks, or the hundreds of other insects and animals we found, I grew to understand that every living thing, no matter how small, has a purpose. It’s a lesson that I’m now passing on to our granddaughters. And, hopefully one day, they will pass it on to their children – and grandchildren. The world is outside this summer and kids should be too.
Have a fun-filled and safe summer, but be sure to take time and check back here each week. You never know what those kids from Flamingo will be doing next.
[Rick Ryckeley has been writing stories since 2001. To read more of Rick’s stories, visit his blog: storiesbyrick.wordpress.com.]
