<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Aleo, Georgia, serif; font-size: 2rem; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">Kid Stuff</span><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>by Brian Bendall</div><div><br></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 18pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Many, many years ago<br>When I was just a kid,<br>And I had just began to grow,<br>There's stuff I had and did.<br><br>I'm thinking back on all those things<br>That life saw fit to give me.<br>If I can't remember everything,<br>I hope you will forgive me.<br><br>Chocolate candy cigarettes<br>And big bubble gum cigars.<br>Mini Bricks and Red Ball Jets,<br>Hopscotch and Dinky cars.<br><br>Mercurochrome and iodine;<br>Band-aids in a can.<br>Your watch required a daily wind,<br>And Etch-A-Sketch was grand.<br><br>In school, the teacher had to see<br>Just what you had to do.<br>You held one finger up for pee;<br>You held up two for poo!<br><br>Marbles, Slinkys, Lincoln Logs,<br>Ker Plunk and Pick Up Sticks,<br>With Yo-yos, you could "walk the dog,"<br>And ice cream came in bricks.<br><br>Arrows all had suction cups<br>And guns had rolls of caps.<br>Paddle Balls and Tonka Trucks<br>Big red lips were wax,<br><br>Bumps on heads, being black and blue,<br>Was minor when compared to<br>Being sick with cold or flu!<br>Have fun? You're not prepared to!<br><br>Measles, mumps, and chicken pox<br>Always seemed to flare.<br>They opened up Pandora's Box<br>And caught us unaware!<br><br>With medicine and care from mom,<br>Our time in bed was cut!<br>But I can't remember anyone<br>Allergic to a nut!<br><br>Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys<br>And also Brothers Grimm.<br>But Mark Twain was my pride and joy!<br>I never could resist him!<br><br>Hide and seek and tag were there.<br>New energy we found!<br>No more teacher scorns to bear<br>When summer came around.<br><br>PF Flyer running shoes,<br>Steel roller skates had keys.<br>There were phone booths we could use<br>If there's emergencies.<br><br>Rolling down a grassy hill<br>In parks was a delight.<br>Nicky Nine Doors was a thrill,<br>But only played at night!<br><br>We rode our bikes with playing cards<br>Flapping on our spokes.<br>We played in all our friends' backyards<br>And told our "Knock Knock" jokes.<br><br>Climbing fences, climbing trees<br>Were common things to do.<br>Getting bruised or skinning knees?<br>That was nothing new!<br><br>Two wheel scooters, kiddy cars,<br>We had Soap Box Rallies.<br>Baseball teams and monkey bars<br>And close by bowling alleys.<br><br>In winter, there were snowball fights<br>And snow forts for protection.<br>And when a bitter wind would bite,<br>Few kids raised objection!<br><br>Speeding down a snowy slope<br>On sleds and blown up tires.<br>"Is it too steep?" We all said, "Nope!"<br>We wanted to go higher!<br><br>In our teens were Levi jeans,<br>Duck and pony tails.<br>Sock hops were a common scene<br>Where dancing would prevail.<br><br>Bobby socks and poodle skirts<br>And continental slacks.<br>White buck shoes and fancy shirts,<br>Guitars and wailing sax!<br><br>Computers? What on Earth were they?!<br>Well, they would show up later.<br>And none I knew could dare display<br>Cell phones or calculators!<br><br>Many things I've mentioned here<br>Are still with us today.<br>But lots of kids, it does appear,<br>Ignore this great buffet!<br><br>What happened to the world I knew?<br>Have kids today stopped growing?<br>If time machines were really true,<br>I know where I'd be going!<br><br>Dick, Jane, Spot and Puff<br>Are nothing now but jokes.<br>But maybe I have said enough,<br>So I'll say, "That's all folks!</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><br></div>————————————————-<br><br><div dir="ltr"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/">http://www.moscowcares.com/</a></div><div><br></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I’m a Card-Carrying, Bleeding-Heart Liberal”</span></div><div><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Songs/Im_a_Card_Carrying_Bleeding_Heart_Liberal.mp3">http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Songs/Im_a_Card_Carrying_Bleeding_Heart_Liberal.mp3</a></div><div><br></div><div>“A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met.”</div><div>- Roy E. Stolworthy</div><div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>