# The joy of watching my son play with the neighborhood kids **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 24, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-watching-my-son-play-with-the-neighborhood-kids/540519 "2010-05-24T00:10:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-watching-my-son-play-with-the-neighborhood-kids/540519/21 "2010-11-05T23:38:50Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > To be fair, even before the Internet became big and video games and computers got as popular as they are now, there were kids who hated being outside. I was one of those kids who preferred to sit inside and read a book. And now I’m one of those adults! > > I also can’t help feeling there’s a bit of self righteousness in all of these, “When _I_ was a kid, we stayed out from morning to night and NEVER had to rely on electronic devices” threads/posts. It’s nice that some of you enjoyed being outside all the time, but is that necessarily better than kids who don’t do that? Yes, it is better. You missed out. Just like the kids who _always_ played outside and never read books missed out. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-watching-my-son-play-with-the-neighborhood-kids/540519/22 "2010-11-05T23:57:22Z")
I don’t think I did. It’s not like I never played outside–I did on occasion, but it just wasn’t really for me. Even today, I’m really not an outdoorsy person, and for me, doing stuff outside just isn’t my idea of a good time. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-watching-my-son-play-with-the-neighborhood-kids/540519/23 "2010-11-06T00:10:53Z")
A little mind-boggling that a kid wouldn’t want to play. Hell, I’m an adult and I still like to play. Tag! You’re it! \ ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-watching-my-son-play-with-the-neighborhood-kids/540519/24 "2010-11-06T13:54:48Z")
Good on the OP. That’s the way a child should grow up. My neighborhood was full of kids–mostly boys, but there were a few girls who could sometimes be drafted to fill out a baseball game or some such. Other times, one of the dads would play with us, usually pitching or playing QB (depending on season) for both teams. There were several vacant lots scattered around, one of which had a large ditch we promptly dubbed “Snake River Canyon” and jumped (or sometimes crashed spectacularly) on our bikes. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-watching-my-son-play-with-the-neighborhood-kids/540519/25 "2010-11-06T15:22:38Z")
I happened to run into a friend today at a nearby park. I was with my 2-year-old, and he had his boys, 7 and 4, and the older boy had a friend along. The park has a play area which the kids can do anything. Dig holes, cut and nail boards, and even build fires. The boys wanted to build a camp fire, and so this old eagle scout got to show some city kids a few tricks. It was just a lot of fun watching their energy. Good stuff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-watching-my-son-play-with-the-neighborhood-kids/540519.md?page=1)