the Filipino children of the 60's, 70's and 80's

I've been missing my childhood years recently, as I see some children in hospitals with some accute diseases or diagnosed as having such. As I enter the lobby and hospital corridors, where I see them in pain or recovering from the dilemma has turned on my curousity on what these children in this generation is been up lately? I mean, most of the children now get sick...unlike our times.

I remember when I was a child (I was born in the Philippines and spent the rest of my years) in a busy and crowded street in Manila, running in barefoot where the fun begins playing with my friends the all time favorite game...the "tumbang preso". It's a children game with this tin can in the center and you have to knock it down and hit it with your slipper, there's a "tin guard" that would stop you from knocking it down buy touching you when you go against the line. It was so fun and actually dangerous game cause you might never know where the can goes when you hit it. Yeah sometimes it hits on someone's head, or shoulders, you can even get scratches and bruises when you slip. But it's all part of the game and everyone was enjoying it!

Some other games like the "luksong baka" where you have to leap the "it" way above his head. Haha... I remeber I lost my temporary tooth when I accidentally landed on my mouth! But it's ok, no one has to be blamed, it was fun. And we were all crazy for the game.

My friends and I can play and run and be wet for playing the whole day without or sometimes skip meals just to be with the guys. We share and drink from the same softdrink bottle and eat street foods yet we don't catch hepatitis.. We even air dry our sweaty shirts and yet we outstand pneumonia and colds.

We make our toys from tin cans, some wood scraps, we play dirty marballs and kneeling on dirts, we didn't care. Everyone was happy and contented with the simple toys and games we had when we were kids.

We just have fun outside the house and stay out till the street lamps are on. We didn't have cellphones before for our parents to check if we were OK? But were were OK. We didn't have the playstations, the x-box or the internet games just to be happy? We were with most of these simple games and we were really playing with real friends. No text messages to meet to confirm the time and place where to meet, but a promise made last playing time was good enough to confirm.

We don't mind if we can't make it the basketball team or in any league, but simply we accept the fact that some are better than us and just enjoy the company of each others. We don't take it too seriously and too competitively.

Accidents happen in most games and play but all was well and ends well. We don't engage in too much fights nor put our parents to non sense arguments with neighbors. We just ask the injured " are you ok?" or "can you still play?" and no rooms for blaming or sueing.

These are just some of the simplicities we had when we were kids. Being tough, strong and healthy by experiencing the "real world" outside not like of today's youth. And these guys have been very successful in their own ways as of today, CEO's, Doctors, Lawyers, Military leaders, Financial consultants, Teachers and dignified professionals. Able to know what is real and what's not, decide what's right or wrong and take the best way to compete without hurting others.

I wrote this not just to refresh my childhood memory but also to tell everyone that the children of the 60's, 70's and 80's are not the ones who are left behind, we were the one's who experienced only the truth in childhood.