What ever happened to Saturday mornings?

Some things can only be understood when you're in a tree house. With a pile of warm chocolate chip cookies. And a book. ~Dr. SunWolf

 It's safe to say.. I'm now officially of  the generation that looks at things and compares them to the past.
I do understand that times are different. The world is a much scarier place today. This saddens me deeply.
This morning as I was on my deck.. sipping my hot chocolate and reading the newspaper..I suddenly realized... somethings wrong.
I put down the paper and listen. Silence? It's Saturday morning.. where are the kids?
Our neighborhood has slowly transformed from elderly couples to young families over the past few years.So why is it so quiet? Where are the kids?
When I was growing up ( here it comes).We lived in the Brass Capitol of the world. Scovill Manufacturing built townhouses for their employees in the early 1900. Over the years young ...predominately "Catholic" families bought the homes ..so needles to say..there were plenty of kids of various ages.
Every Saturday morning we would get up and watch cartoons..have breakfast and be out the door by 10 am to kick start the day.
Your Mom would call your name every once in a while to "check" that your were still alive...other then that you were left to your own imagination,
The coolest part of living in these town houses was the "Back". The houses were built on two streets..Wood and Ives streets  had private yards that opened up to a big playing lot known as the "Back".
 We never lacked friends to play with. There was always a baseball game going on.We rode our bikes..built tents..played games..jumped rope and went sliding down the hill in the winter. It was a safe and happy place to be a kid... as we got older we hung out on the wall by Deprinci's tree..it was a special time and a great place to grow up.
Times have changed. The world is a harder place. Parent can't just let their kids go outside. They need to have supervised play for their own safety and protection.
Parent's are under so much more pressure. Jobs security and time restraints have led to structured play groups and after school programs.I worry that imaginations are being replaced by modern technology.That IPads..video games and  mind numbing videos are being used as babysitters replacing children's creativity.
Kids are shuffled to baseball ..soccer ..dance..and all kinds of other "Activities".
I'm not delusional..I know that not every kid in my era lived the same kind of life we did.
We were lucky.. Scotty and Rosie Joan were exceptional parents.My brother in law always jokes we live the "Brady Bunch" life and I guess he's right.
As I sit reflecting on the past..I just can't help wishing times were different and the kids today could have a little of that carefree time too.
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