Today’s prompt from Long and Short Reviews is: what were you like as a kid? But first, WWW Wednesday!
WHAT have you finished reading recently? The Shaping of England, Isaac Asimov. And, technically, Public Libraries and their Communities, one of my textbooks for this semester.
WHAT are you reading now? When the Earth Had Two Moons. Also looking through a collection of substack essays published as an e-book.
WHAT are you reading next? Trying to get into Rebecca by du Maurier.
What was I like as a kid? Well, some things haven’t changed. I used to read through stacks of books every week: the children’s director joked that I’d read every book in the library at one point. Lots of history and nature books, of course, but I also enjoyed ghost stories and regular kids’ novels. I was raised in a home without television, so reading was my main entertainment — but I also spent a lot of time outside, telling stories with my toys and using whatever I had on hand as props. To use my G.I. Joe base as an example: some of it was cinder blocks, but the chrome panels of a fire engine, with all their dials and such, were the ‘controls’ of the base, and I used an empty wrapping paper tube so my Joes could slide to the ‘motor pool’. I also enjoyed jumping on a trampoline for hours on end, as well as shooting hoops when I got older. Although I did play outside with friends — we’d explore the woods, play ‘war’, play basketball together — I was fairly comfortable being alone. I’d also read outside, of course, and one of my fondest memories is using plywood and cinder blocks to ford my way across a swamp to a wooded area beyond where I remember reading Redwall. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I could have simply walked around the swampy area and gotten into the woody area from behind. Fording was a lot more fun, anyway. (I lived near two vacant lots that were used to store piles of sand, gravel, and cinderblocks. Young me yoinked these as he pleased, and he also tore ribbons off of trees that had been marked for being removed.) As you might guess, my parents were not helicopter parents: after school we’d be outside until dark, and on Saturdays and summers I was basically feral, drinking from a water hose and coming inside only to get a sandwich around lunchtime. I’d be covered in bites and scratches! Because of my odd religious background, I was an outsider at school and got on well mostly with other outsiders: my personality changed completely once I was home, as my best friend found to his surprise in middle school. He was startled to find that quiet bookworms can morph into class clowns in the blink of an eye.
Reading Freely 
I can’t imagine growing up without a TV. In our house during school holidays, the TV was often the babysitter when my parents were busy. I was also a huge fan of books and being outside. This was really interesting, Stephen. 😊
It’s something I resented when I was younger, but these days I appreciate the virtues of it. I didn’t miss that much — I’d watch programs with friends and family at their houses from time to time, and by middle school their church had changed preachers and the new one wasn’t as strict on that. He played computer games like Ghost Recon, too. XD
A feral childhood…! I remember that, but mine was city based.
I imagine feral in the city would be different!
VERY I would think! Zero natural spaces where I grew up except for parks. LOTS of demolition sites (and still some WW2 bomb sites that hadn’t been built on for some reason) to explore and get cut in…. Plus dodging cars and stuff. But it was pretty much out after breakfast (on weekends & holidays) and back when the street lamps came on.
We didn’t get a tv until I was 12 or 13 and even then, it was a VERY controlled substance. I’m glad it worked that way.
I don’t know what I would have done if I was an only child. I had a younger brother and sister and we were far enough apart that we couldn’t really play with each other, not easily anyway. But they were there. An obstacle to ditch or to be suffered through 😀
I had an older sister, but she was so much older than I was that our childhoods didn’t really overlap: by the time I was into playing outside, she was a teenager doing teenage things!
I’m with you on the TV. I resented it at the time, but if I had kids…I’d raise them screen-free, as much as possible.
Our childhoods share a lot of similarities! I played outdoors and in the woods a lot, too.
I guess it is a blessing not to be raised on television and it is interesting that you also read outside. I wish I read outside more. My childhood was spent as much in front of a TV screen as outside. 60 percent (outside)/40 percent (TV), I guess. I did enjoy a lot of outdoor stuff with friends, for which I am now thankful. What was not present in my life as a kid was a computer, which I now take it is much more addictive. I love du Maurier’s Rebecca, but I much prefer My Cousin Rachel, because of subtlety and more intriguing personalities.
My Cousin Rachel is also on my CC list!
And I know what you mean by the computer — we got one when I was in eighth or nine grade, and I was sucked completely into it. I didn’t start coming out for air until the mid-2000s!
What an interesting childhood you had, Stephen. No helicopter parents for me, but I wasn’t allowed to leave the backyard either. Your story of your G.I. Joes made me think of my son, who had quite a collection back in the day. Public Libraries and Their Communities sounds like a fascinating read.
https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2026/04/wednesday-weekly-blogging-challenge_01576190347.html
It had its moments! I don’t know that I’ll be reviewing it, but we’ll see.
Off-topic…. I’ve recently returned from my birthday Indie book shopping and picked up a few you might find interesting:
The Great Wave – The Era of Radical Disruption and the Rise of the Outsider by Michiko Kakutani
The Handover – How We Gave Control of Our Lives to Corporations, States and AIs by David Runciman
Policy of Deceit – Britain and Palestine, 1914-1939 by Peter Shambrook
The Carnation Revolution – The Day Portugal’s Dictatorship Fell by Alex Fernandes
Ohh, yeah. Especially The Handover. I’m planning on picking up “The Information State: Politics in the Age of Total Control”.
“I also spent a lot of time outside, telling stories with my toys and using whatever I had on hand as props.”
We almost always had a litter of kittens available to enact different stories – outdoors, the kittens were kept outdoors once their eyes opened. I even named the kittens after favorite characters and favorite author(s). I had a kitten named Laura Ingalls Wilder at one time.
Hah! I don’t think I ever tried to use our dogs or cats as props, though we did have a litter of kittehs at one point. 🙂
I felt that my parents were more overprotective than other people’s, but they were ahead of a trend! It’s a wonder today’s children survive. Sometimes I took books outside to read, too; would read in a shed or cache books under a rock ledge if rain threatened.
Pris cilla King
We had a TV but it was strictly controlled (1.5 hours a week and only when the parents were home). Books, playing outside, parents who mostly left you to your own devices… yep, sounds familiar.