First Fourth
Marcus celebrated his first 4th of July. Every year the neighborhood where I grew up throws a block party. My sister and I were talking yesterday and decided that this year was the either the 34th or 35th block party. I grew up in a unique neighborhood but of course, I didn’t know it at the time. The houses in my neighborhood were built in the early 1970’s and many of the people who built their homes still live there. Several of these people have known each other since they were children. My parents went to grade school with a few of their neighbors. Not only do the people in my old neighborhood throw a block party every year, they also all go out to dinner for Valentine’s Day and up until recently, celebrated New Year’s Eve together. All the kids in the neighborhood (that’s me) ran from one house to another and we were all great friends. Once I remember falling and scraping my elbow a few houses down from home. A neighbor saw it happen and took me into her house, cleaned me up, put on a bandage, and sent me off to find the rest of the kids. As I started to get older I was quite befuddled that other people didn’t have block parties, or even know their neighbors! When I got married, about a quarter of the guest list was filled by my neighbors.
The block party has changed forms over the years. For quite awhile it was held on Labor Day. About 15 years ago it was changed to the 4th of July because less people had conflicts and we always ended up getting together on the 4th anyway to watch fireworks. The very early parties, the ones before my time, had games for the kids and bicycle decorating contests. The early parties that I remember mostly consisted of us playing the annual parents vs. kids volleyball game (a tradition that ended after the parents started getting rather brittle and one parent slipped on the grass and broke his ankle). One of the big highlights of the block party was that once it got dark we would all have a massive game of Jail Break. The parties have always been held at the same place. They have always involved lawn chairs, hanging out in our neighbor’s garage and yard, and good food. The parties have always been BOYM (bring your own meat) and there have always been long lines at the grills for people cooking their burgers and hot dogs. My family always avoided the lines at the grills by bringing a bucket of KFC.
The biggest change throughout the years has been our age. A few years ago we all sat around and stared at each other. There were no kids anymore running around. There were no games or contests and not even a mention of Jail Break. Then something changed. All of us kids started having kids. Even though most of us have moved off the street, we all come back with our families for the block party. There must have been 25 kids at the picnic all under the age of 8. This is the first year in a really long time that there were lots of organized activities for the kids. There was a sack race and a game involving water balloons and pin-the-eye-patch-on-the pirate and bean bag toss. There were several Power Wheels type toys that all the kids seemed to share quite nicely. We can’t forget the temporary tattoos! There was a whole station set up for getting tattoos and by the end of the evening, most of the kids and the adults were covered from head to toe.
There was also lots of confusion on my part as to which kids belonged to the kids that I grew up with. Oh, there was lots of good food, long lines at the grill, and my family with a big bucket of KFC.
Marcus had a great time. He played on the slide, climbing up with a little assistance and going down all by himself. He had a great time playing with his cousins Maria and Scott and just laughed and laughed. Maria took him for a ride in the electric powered Jeep that was roaming the property. He took a break and hogged the kid’s swing that hung from a tree for quite awhile. He ate Jell-O squares and fruit salad and, of course, KFC. He drank Hug drinks. He got a tattoo on his arm. By the end of the evening, he sat like a lump in my arms exhausted.
I was just so happy that he was there. The block party the last few years just hasn’t been much fun for me. Two years ago we were struggling to get pregnant. I watched all those other kids running around and thought that I would never be there with my own child. Last year, everyone was trying to be cute, saying that next year (which was this year) I would be running around after my child. That just made me sad because last year I kept thinking that Marcus should have been home then and I shouldn’t have to wait until this year. So finally, it was this year. Finally, Marcus was there. Finally, I wasn’t one of the only kids at the block party who wasn’t there with my own kid.
Things were winding down at the party last night and I was sitting around with my mom, sister, and brother in law. We were starting to get board. It quickly became evident that we weren’t the only ones. We looked at the table beside us, filled with some of the men of the neighborhood, and saw that one of them had brought out there shiny new leaf blower to show off. Several of the older men took a turn trying to get it started and finally a younger guy stepped in and got it going. Then all the older kids lined up to get shot with bursts of air. My brother in law said all we needed to make that party complete was for my dad to go get his tractor!
The block party has changed forms over the years. For quite awhile it was held on Labor Day. About 15 years ago it was changed to the 4th of July because less people had conflicts and we always ended up getting together on the 4th anyway to watch fireworks. The very early parties, the ones before my time, had games for the kids and bicycle decorating contests. The early parties that I remember mostly consisted of us playing the annual parents vs. kids volleyball game (a tradition that ended after the parents started getting rather brittle and one parent slipped on the grass and broke his ankle). One of the big highlights of the block party was that once it got dark we would all have a massive game of Jail Break. The parties have always been held at the same place. They have always involved lawn chairs, hanging out in our neighbor’s garage and yard, and good food. The parties have always been BOYM (bring your own meat) and there have always been long lines at the grills for people cooking their burgers and hot dogs. My family always avoided the lines at the grills by bringing a bucket of KFC.
The biggest change throughout the years has been our age. A few years ago we all sat around and stared at each other. There were no kids anymore running around. There were no games or contests and not even a mention of Jail Break. Then something changed. All of us kids started having kids. Even though most of us have moved off the street, we all come back with our families for the block party. There must have been 25 kids at the picnic all under the age of 8. This is the first year in a really long time that there were lots of organized activities for the kids. There was a sack race and a game involving water balloons and pin-the-eye-patch-on-the pirate and bean bag toss. There were several Power Wheels type toys that all the kids seemed to share quite nicely. We can’t forget the temporary tattoos! There was a whole station set up for getting tattoos and by the end of the evening, most of the kids and the adults were covered from head to toe.
There was also lots of confusion on my part as to which kids belonged to the kids that I grew up with. Oh, there was lots of good food, long lines at the grill, and my family with a big bucket of KFC.
Marcus had a great time. He played on the slide, climbing up with a little assistance and going down all by himself. He had a great time playing with his cousins Maria and Scott and just laughed and laughed. Maria took him for a ride in the electric powered Jeep that was roaming the property. He took a break and hogged the kid’s swing that hung from a tree for quite awhile. He ate Jell-O squares and fruit salad and, of course, KFC. He drank Hug drinks. He got a tattoo on his arm. By the end of the evening, he sat like a lump in my arms exhausted.
I was just so happy that he was there. The block party the last few years just hasn’t been much fun for me. Two years ago we were struggling to get pregnant. I watched all those other kids running around and thought that I would never be there with my own child. Last year, everyone was trying to be cute, saying that next year (which was this year) I would be running around after my child. That just made me sad because last year I kept thinking that Marcus should have been home then and I shouldn’t have to wait until this year. So finally, it was this year. Finally, Marcus was there. Finally, I wasn’t one of the only kids at the block party who wasn’t there with my own kid.
Things were winding down at the party last night and I was sitting around with my mom, sister, and brother in law. We were starting to get board. It quickly became evident that we weren’t the only ones. We looked at the table beside us, filled with some of the men of the neighborhood, and saw that one of them had brought out there shiny new leaf blower to show off. Several of the older men took a turn trying to get it started and finally a younger guy stepped in and got it going. Then all the older kids lined up to get shot with bursts of air. My brother in law said all we needed to make that party complete was for my dad to go get his tractor!
posted by Annie and Greg @ 3:12 PM
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