Memories of Childhood

Nita did a nostalgic tag which I self assign to myself.
"What are the 7 favourite things you enjoyed doing as a child?" is the question.
1. Going to friends' house and playing in a group.
We were doing it everyday without fail right on time. We would gang up at one of the friends' house and play till the street lights would come on.
We would play 5-stones during the season- summer I think and kit-kit - hopskotch?!! With what expertise!!
2. Cycling.
I still get nostalgic everytime I see a cycle. We had a huge playground right opposite the house where I learnt to cycle. Our entire gang would cycle on the field and the roads of the colony. I remember riding right into a group of ladies walking in the middle of the road just out of spite because they used to never budge when we would ring the bell. My regret in a big city is that my kids will never get that same pleasure of long distance cycle rides, pedaling furiously uphill or relaxing and feeling the wind into the face downhill.
3. Walking
Once we got too old to play we used to walk the entire stretch of road in our colony with our gang. I still love to walk. You can really see and take in every little thing going around if you are walking. The remnant of my walking days is the long walks in a mall. I love walking at a slow pace and staring at each and every shop - what's thye deal, what's teh item on sale, evaluating whether I can live without it... Walking really enables a lot of thinking and imagining and talking. I do miss the late night walks in our complex with hubby which we were doing pre-babies days
4. Summer Holidays
At Patna- my grandparents' place. Strange we never did take holidays as per the modern definition- going to a resort or a new place. It was always to Patna and sometimes to Delhi. I do miss teh stability and predictibility of such holidays. You go for a month and a half to your native place and the holiday job is done- cheap and best and engaging with all the cousins gathered there at the same time. An advantage of having large families. So much of bonding!
5. Eating without worrying about weight gain
Not that the eating has stopped but it is accompanied by an ever nagging sense of guilt. Every summer holiday around 11 am I would fry a plateful of home made potato chips and potato papad and hog. Then there was this bread and malai with lots of sugar or just malai and sugar. Or fist-full of mixture...Gosh I feel fat just thinking of it now.
6. Studying/ Going to School
No I am not a snob. But I did like the reading out loud while studying for exams especially english or hindi or practicing sums. Imagining I am the teacher and teaching a class of idiots while studying for exam made it so much fun. I miss reciting poems and feeling like a much learned person. I just loved going to school. I am vicariously enjoying via the sons. I would feel guilty if I missed school and would be mentally picturing what would be happening at school at each hour and only around 4 pm I would relax. Somehow this habit continues and I do the same thing when I miss office. The only change is that I relax around 5.30 pm now
7. Family Outings/ Festivals
Going to relatives or friends houses in the evening and looking forward to the snacks that get served there. Festival days which meant Mom cooks an array of delicacies and you get to enjoy them unlike now that it becomes such a chore- you have to cook, you have to follow the traditions, you have to clean up and you have to store the left overs and the office gives you a holiday to slog at home.
I tag all the emotional ones out there who are sent on a nostalgia trip reading this.