Getting out the door--then and now

Remember summertime when you were seven- or eight-years old? The freedom factor?

I would like to think that I, as a seventy-three-year-old, have as much freedom (or more) as I did when I was seven. I’m doubtful, however, when it comes to getting out the door on a summer morning.

 

 That 1947 little girl would wake up,

 

• leap out of bed,
• throw on her clothes,
• eat breakfast,
• brush her teeth, and
• GO OUTSIDE TO PLAY!

OK, she was supposed to wash her face and wait for her mother braid her hair, but what stood between her and the joy of the day really didn’t amount to much. Now look at what it takes to leave the house on a summer morning.

This 2013 old woman has to wake up:

• stagger out of bed,
• drink coffee, 
• read parts of two newspapers,  
• check three e-mail inboxes,
• eat breakfast,
• brush her teeth,
• take a shower,  
• rub on body lotion,
• select an outfit,
• blow dry and style hair,
• check chin and eyebrows for straggly hairs,  
• apply lipstick,  
• swallow assorted over-the-counter vitamin and joint supplements,
• wash her eyeglasses,  
• insert her hearing aids,  
• switch orthotics into the appropriate shoes,  
• hunt down a hankie or tissue packet,
• locate her sunglasses,
• check the stove burners and the front door bolt,  
• gather belongings—purse, cell phone, keys, and finally,
• GO OUTSIDE TO PLAY!

WHEE!