Some things about getting older stink. The last two summers my right knee decides when the kids are here from Texas that it's too old to go out and play. Something as simple as going up and down the ladder on the boat throws a kink into my fun. I hobbled around for several days after their visit over the 4th.
My generation may be the last one who wants to play outside. I don't really see kids doing that anymore. We jumped rope, we played with our hula hoops or drew a hopscotch on the sidewalk. If we had enough kids for a game of Red Rover Red Rover, Mother May I? or Red Light Green Light we'd be on top of the world. Recess meant monkey bars and swings, a slide and someone would always be around to push you on the merry go round.
We''d sing...The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one,
The little one stops to suck his thumb
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching two by two,
The little one stops to tie his shoe
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching three by three, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching three by three, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching three by three,
The little one stops to climb a tree
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching four by four, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching four by four, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching four by four,
The little one stops to shut the door
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching five by five, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching five by five, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching five by five,
The little one stops to take a dive
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching six by six, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching six by six, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching six by six,
The little one stops to pick up sticks
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching seven by seven, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching seven by seven, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching seven by seven,
The little one stops to pray to heaven
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching eight by eight, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching eight by eight, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching eight by eight,
The little one stops to shut the gate
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching nine by nine, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching nine by nine, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching nine by nine,
The little one stops to check the time
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching ten by ten, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching ten by ten, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching ten by ten,
The little one stops to say "THE END"
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one,
The little one stops to suck his thumb
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching two by two,
The little one stops to tie his shoe
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching three by three, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching three by three, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching three by three,
The little one stops to climb a tree
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching four by four, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching four by four, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching four by four,
The little one stops to shut the door
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching five by five, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching five by five, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching five by five,
The little one stops to take a dive
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching six by six, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching six by six, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching six by six,
The little one stops to pick up sticks
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching seven by seven, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching seven by seven, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching seven by seven,
The little one stops to pray to heaven
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching eight by eight, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching eight by eight, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching eight by eight,
The little one stops to shut the gate
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching nine by nine, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching nine by nine, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching nine by nine,
The little one stops to check the time
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching ten by ten, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching ten by ten, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching ten by ten,
The little one stops to say "THE END"
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Now go off and plan a fun weekend and try not to sing this song... just try!
*A re-run from this time last year!
I remember playing all those games and hope my memory holds out to teach our grandkids. ;-) so far, they love being outside and that is their "druthers" at the ages of 1, 4 and 6. I suppose that may change as they grow older. I never knew the ant song. Hope your knee is better by now. I know the feeling.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nonnie, this was actually a post from this time LAST year! I used to love that song and once it gets stuck in my head... uh oh! So good your grandkids love the outside..
DeleteNooooooo - a song worm - now it will be in my head for the rest of the day!
ReplyDeleteOh sorry, me too and it's stuck right now!
DeleteThat is y little grandson, Levi's , MOST favorite song!! But since we are such a high tech generation now - he sings along to the You Tube video of it!
ReplyDeleteI have had my right knee replaced and as soon as I get on Medicare I will have my left one done.
It made a WORLD of difference!!
That is good to know, my husband is so afraid of surgery and someone told him recovery was miserable. This blog is from a year ago and I went to a physical therapist who had me do exercises to strengthen the ligaments of my knee and the pain went away completely! No reoccurence this summer so maybe I'm fixed!
DeleteI miss having small children around. This just makes me more lonesome, but good memories!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. Even our grands are older now :o(
DeleteThose grands sure can wear one out, but oh so much fun making memories. Good luck with the knee!
ReplyDeleteIt's all better now, thanks!
DeleteI remember the excitement of hide and seek at dusk. And how I loved my paper doll collection and faithfully played with them. They had great wardrobes for sure. Childhood was a different world back then, and now electronics have captured us all...don't you think so? Good and not good, I think.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I spend way too much time with my tech toys. But they have made our lives better in many ways. I think we don't ever need to forget the pleasures of the outdoors. Nothing like a summer picnic!
DeleteOh did you conger up memories. I played those games. I was in 5th grade when the one room school houses were shut down. The big city school was so different. Hope your knee is better. Have a nice weekend too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nancy, I found out it was the ligaments around my knee that needed strengthening so no surgery needed! I have a lot of happy memories of my childhood too, played those games with friends or cousins after supper!
Delete