This Used to Be Our Childhood

My daughter Naya, at 5-years old, is a pro in using the laptop. She knows how to turn it on and shut it down; she knows where to locate the folder for her favorite videos; she knows how to search the internet for Barbie, Dora, and Blue's Clues games. I am really amazed with her and the other kids of her generation. Some kids her age now knows how to play Dota! But, honestly speaking, I am not happy with my daughter spending so much time playing with the laptop. It's difficult to totally not allow her to use it since she sees her Tatay and I use it too.



I want my kids to be tech-savvy. To know how to use these gadgets wisely. However, at their age, I'd rather they play with other kids than with techie gadgets. But, here in our neighborhood, I no longer see children playing in the streets. My kids basically has no playmates except their classmates at school. And I find it very different from our childhood days.

In my childhood, we had playmates from school, and also in our subdivision. During my elementary days,  I look forward to going home from school at 4:30 or 5:00 in the afternoon so that I can play with the neighborhood gang. We would play habulan (tag), Chinese Garter, jackstone or tumbang preso. Tumbang preso is a game similar to tag but slightly modified to include the "IT" guarding a milk can from being struck down by the other players (to know more, click here). We always look forward to playing tumbang preso every afternoon. My mother used to scold me and my younger brothers because we would all come home at 6:00 PM, drenched in sweat, knees scratched, and our white shirts soiled heavily with dust.


On weekends, we try to finish our chores in the morning so that we can play the whole afternoon. My younger brothers would go to our neighbors' house around 2:00 PM. They would scour the nearby trees for spiders and other bugs, while I make our afternoon merienda. Our afternoon snack would be boiled kamote (sweet potato), boiled cassava tubers, boiled saging na saba (plantains), or, if we are lucky, Nanay would let me cook guinataan. It is a Filipino snack made of cubed kamote, sticky rice balls, semi-ripe saging na saba, cooked in coconut milk. Sometimes, we add slivers of ripe jackfruit or shredded young coconut to make the treat extra special. This is usually accompanied by very cold Kool-Aid or Eight-O-Clock orange juice. 


Our backyard was the favorite hangout of the neighborhood gang. We had a few fruit-bearing trees like jackfruit, Indian mango, santol, apple guava, and coconut. We also had kamote in our backyard. I would ask my brothers and some of our friends to dig up for these tubers and they would oblige. Kamote-digging sessions would turn into a game itself. On really hot afternoons, we would gather under the trees and tell tall tales. Sometimes, our eldest Kuya would join us. He would take out his guitar and play for us his own version of Jim Croce, England Dan and other acoustic songs. Our Kuya's voice served as background music while we play card games, spider-matches and other stuff.


On moonlit nights, you'd find the neighborhood kids on the streets again. We would play tag or tumbang-preso, or just lie down in the middle of the road and watch the stars. My elder sister could name the constellations and she would point this out to us. I could only recognize the big dipper and the Cross.  Most of the time, we would just scare each other with scary stories we heard from our grandparents or those heard from the popular local radio program "Mundo Mystico". Curfew then was at 8:00 PM or else, the "tiktik" (scary nocturnal beings) would come by at 9:00 PM and take us away. We would all troop back to our houses tired yet happy, and looking forward to another day of games and fun with friends. 


In our childhood, there were no PSPs, Ipads, laptops, or Gameboys. But we managed to have fun. As in real, sweaty, physically-exhilarating fun. I want my children to experience this too. A few weeks ago, I tried to interest  Naya to play tumbang preso with us. She was interested but it was not much fun playing only with me and her Tatay. I wonder now: where are the neighborhood kids? Why can't I see them playing in the streets in the afternoon? We still live in the same house, same neighborhood where we used to play. The only time my kids get to play with other kids is in school or when they go to these commercial Fun houses at the malls. 


Before, we are so concerned of the television replacing our nannies. Now, we should be concerned with the computer gadgets replacing our children's playmates. 

“A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.” 
                                                                                                                                                  ― Paulo Coelho