About an hour ago a White guy from our neighborhood rang our doorbell. He tells me that he doesn't have his son for Halloween, so he is taking him around the neighborhood tonight. His son, dressed as Scooby-Doo is roughly the same age as my middle child.
Lucky for them, my wife chose to get Halloween candy a week ago. I grab the bag and my wife asks who was at the door. Told her the scenario and she seemed annoyed that someone would trick-or-treat on an unofficial day.
The kid ended up grabbing two Twizzelers and gave me a grin. Dad was grateful and shook my hand.
Maybe its just a guy or dad thing...good on him for trying to make fun memories with his son. Shoe on the other foot, I surely would not want some bitchy response while trying to do something special for my kids.
The hardware store in town started selling those pull-start lawnmower engine go-karts and minibikes one year about 1969-70.
That's pretty much how our big fenced pasture on the other side of the road from the house got to be the unofficial go-kart/ minibike track for all the kids in our area when I was just a sprout.
Mom: "Is it safe?" Dad: "Sure. The fence will stop him. Probably." So, as a nod to safety, Dad put big stacks of hay bales in the corners of the turns.
One kid turned into two, then two into four, and so on. And that was it. No charge. Just park by the road on a Saturday and run what ya brung. You could ride by yourself, but where's the fun in that?
Moms would bring picnic lunches and talk, and Dads would sit on the tailgates, drink beer and talk , and watch the "race" (which never really started or stopped, just kept going in a circle) so there was an audience/cheering section. The Mom's made it social and the Dad's kept it more or less organized and maybe not "OSHA" safe, but safe-ish.
If there were any mechanical problems there were more than enough Dad's and tools to get it sorted out and back on the track in no time.
And we'd just keep making circles in the dirt until the gas ran out (thems what had gave to thems what hadn't because it's more fun that way). Some of my best memories from childhood.
There were more than a few "Dad Races" (alcohol may have been involved) which were always fun.
BulletStopper 1 points 1.5 years ago
The hardware store in town started selling those pull-start lawnmower engine go-karts and minibikes one year about 1969-70.
That's pretty much how our big fenced pasture on the other side of the road from the house got to be the unofficial go-kart/ minibike track for all the kids in our area when I was just a sprout.
Mom: "Is it safe?" Dad: "Sure. The fence will stop him. Probably." So, as a nod to safety, Dad put big stacks of hay bales in the corners of the turns.
One kid turned into two, then two into four, and so on. And that was it. No charge. Just park by the road on a Saturday and run what ya brung. You could ride by yourself, but where's the fun in that?
Moms would bring picnic lunches and talk, and Dads would sit on the tailgates, drink beer and talk , and watch the "race" (which never really started or stopped, just kept going in a circle) so there was an audience/cheering section. The Mom's made it social and the Dad's kept it more or less organized and maybe not "OSHA" safe, but safe-ish.
If there were any mechanical problems there were more than enough Dad's and tools to get it sorted out and back on the track in no time.
And we'd just keep making circles in the dirt until the gas ran out (thems what had gave to thems what hadn't because it's more fun that way). Some of my best memories from childhood.
There were more than a few "Dad Races" (alcohol may have been involved) which were always fun.