Escaping the Backyard Banishment

What what .. more than 10 days since my last post .. oh this is not good! I have so much to say. .. how will I say it in one blog post?? Well I'll just stick to recent developments.

What ever happened to front yard interaction? I remember when I was little my sister and I played in our front yard, neighbors front yard, friends' front yards, FRONT YARD. All while my parents sat on the porch talking with the neighbors, young and older. It was a different time I suppose.

Why have we, as parents during this day and age, been banished to backyard exile? I have a wonderful front yard and driveway, as well as a kid friendly backyard. But recently, as we have been engaging in activities in our front yard, i.e. chalking and riding bikes in the driveway, climbing the tree, playing tag, usual kid sport, we have been getting some awful stares from the drivers of cars SPEEDING around the corner only to quickly realize there are children in the yard.

Seriously, people, why do you have to SPEED through a neighborhood? Don't forget that because I'm out front with my kids, this must be MY fault that they have to slow down. Even my neighbors, who are interesting people, give us weird looks because we are in the front yard. I don't get it.

Soon we will be putting a swing on our porch, which will only mean MORE front yard living. Why is this a phenomenon? What happened to neighborly conversations in the hot hours of the day? What happened to innocent front yard playtime? Biking riding in the street without fear of some nutso speeding around the corner? Hopscotch by sidewalk chalk? Kick the can in the dusky hours of the evening? Yelling down the street to let your kids know it was time to come in?

Are these activities really a lost time in our lives? Has technology and fear of your neighbor really taken over the personalization of community? Are you really in that big of a hurry that you can't slow down and smile at your neighbors when you're driving by just to say a friendly, "hello." Or wave at the kids that are so anxiously waving at you?

I refuse to be banished to my backyard because I'm causing some sort of inconvenience for you when you are talking on your cell phone driving 35 mph in MY neighborhood. Yes I will yell "SLOW DOWN" because my children DESERVE the right to have a childhood filled with innocent front yard play!

I am curious, where did front yard neighborly kindness go?