Looking out my mother’s window, I am reminded of the "dad" next door who said, "After spending hours putting up the simple ladder slide and climbing wall structure for the kids so they could enjoy playing outside, guess what they enjoy the most?” 

Answer: the swing. And not even a “boughten” swing, unless you count the rope he threw up over a branch in the tree high enough to swing high, wide and free. The children have spent hours on it and are the envy of anyone who happens to see them fly!

What they may not realize, is that it’s more than the swing their dad made just for them. It’s the dad who goes with it. 

Here is a dad I see during the summer swinging (yes, he is out there swinging), playing ball or building a "coop" for a few pet chickens for the kids to take care of and watch grow. 

Here is a dad who is not above sliding down the mini hill, wading or playing in the snow with the kids.  No motorized vehicles or fancy stuff - just his love and attention. 

Sometimes we forget life’s simplest pleasures.

While I was growing up, we enjoyed swinging on a swing at my Grandma and Grandpa’s house. The swing was attached to a rope that had been thrown up high enough in an old boxelder tree so that it gave us a good swing. It had an old tire for a seat. 

The swing at my mom and dads' house consisted of two ropes over a boxelder limb with a wooden seat, and we could go ever so high, pretending we were flying. And look, Mom, no batteries, electricity or talking in that machine. Just laughter and screams of delight as we used our legs to pump the swing and "fly" ever so high.

Remember stilts? Usually made of wooden 2x2's with a foot piece on the side, sometimes made with a piece of inner tube to help a beginner get accustomed to walking up high.

Then there was the "hoop," which was a metal ring, probably from an old piece of machinery or a wooden rain barrel.

The power was provided by us kids with a lath strip with a cross piece and our legs to run and keep it going so it didn't tip over. No walls to climb, but trees aplenty, and only a "monkey’s uncle" could have been more of an expert.

Sitting on a tree branch out of sight in the green leaves left a great deal of space for daydreaming or pretending, or just plain thinking.

Did you ever hypnotize a chicken by putting its head under a wing and maneuvering the chicken around, which more or less hypnotized or left the chicken dizzy enough to have to stand or wander like a drunken sailor. Did it hurt the chicken? I don't think so, and why it was a fun thing to do, I don't know.

My mother tells how the little grove of trees in the orchard on the farm was an outdoor playhouse back in her time. Hours were spent raking the ground clean - picking up branches and leaves. 

Grandma always tricked us, when she asked us to see who could pick up the most twigs or branches from the lawn. We did have fun seeing who could pick up the most, and Grandma got her lawn clean so that she could mow the grass.

I remember how part of a front frame from an old car became a make-believe fireplace, and any number of cans were "cooking utensils" in the make believe stove. I  also remember my sister Kaye and I made mud pies in the back yard of the house I still live in here in Geneva. 

Decorated with flowers from weeds, we put the mud pies on our swing set to dry. One swing that was up high was used as the oven, but when one of the containers of mud pies came down on Kaye’s head, it caused a big mess. Maybe that mud pie was an "upside-down cake" instead. 

I can remember some afternoons when we shared lemonade and cookies with the neighbor kids like so many "old ladies" at a coffee party. 

Taking a trip through the toy section of the supermarket is like going through fantasy land. There is little there that isn't cute and colorful enough to gain interest in the most discriminating child. One needs to carry a thick billfold and realize that many of these things will be short lived when the next wave of manufactured toys and extensive salesmanship comes into play.

It is not a great secret that some of the pretty packed boxes on the shelf retain children’s interest as long or longer than the toys within. 

I have yet to see a child who wasn't intrigued by Scotch tape. I know it's "bite your tongue" when you see them enjoying it and might be quick to say, "don't waste it," but considering the price, imagination and education gained by Scotch tape, paper, pencil or crayons, it really isn't that expensive. 

Toddlers love colored measuring cups, a bright colored bowl and a spoon to stir and pretend. Even an older child finds a purse with an assortment of goodies to explore an interesting and exciting play project long after its original contents have been replaced by other objects of their choosing.

Spring will arrive, soon I hope, and I recall Michelle from Sonshine Gardens in Clarks Grove would say how fascinating it was for her, when she planted those first dry seeds and waited impatiently for little green shoots to make their appearance. 

The same is true for children. What kid doesn't like dirt? The miracle of growth is always something to anticipate, and being a part of watching something grow, and learning its need for water and loving care is all part of life’s cycle. Consider having your kids grow a garden, even if it’s just some seedlings on a window sill. There are a lot of lessons to be learned in growing a garden, watching life develop, learning responsibility. 

How many of you threaded a button onto a two foot length of string  and then tied the string into a loop? 

Holding each end of the loop we twirled the button around to wind up the string. Then we pulled our hands apart to let the string go slack, and then we would spin and wind the thread, only to see the button spin, again and again. We kept repeating the process and got the buttons spinning faster and faster like a buzz saw.

I can remember taking a comb from the bathroom drawer and a piece of tissue paper to make a kazoo, and would hum, and made beautiful (?) music.

I also remember many days spent drawing pictures with chalk on the sidewalks, as well as playing hopscotch.

One doesn't always need big expensive toys to have fun. A child’s intelligence and imagination is hard to match.

Not only are these toys inexpensive, but play encourages activity. Perhaps if more kids were more active, we would have less childhood obesity.

Birthdays and anniversaries:

• Thursday, April 25th: Ed Deml, Nicole Langlie La Tourneau, Nicole Nielson, Evie Toft, Christine Davidson, Jeff Kunkel, Janice Morreim, Stan Reichl.

• Friday, April 26th: Jim Arends, Lester Casterton, Teresa Deml Sisler, Beverly Harpel, Jean Larson, Pat Motl, Ashley Bangert, Mary Peterson, Pat Pichner, Steve & Judy Christensen, Bob & Gerry Flim, Allan & Darline Jensen.

• Saturday, April 27th: Brian Schember, Norma Robertson, Heidi & Christopher Olson.

• Sunday, April 28th: Martin Rossing, Rodney Peterson, Mildred Flugum, Jamie Cameron, Jean & Chuck Groth.

• Monday, April 29th: Derek Anthony Kubicek, his 6th; Jane Brocker, Roberta Dettman, Angie Hall, Mitchell Jensen, Pat & Linda Goodnature, Jennifer & Steve Schultz.

• Tuesday, April 30th: Nancy Williams, Jeff Misgen, Paul Moen, Dawn Cooper, Kevin Cooper, Jonathon Lein, Karey Dufresne, Judah Ashton, Jonathon Lein, Rick & Melonie Miller.

• Wednesday, May 1st: Carter Levi Titus, Jim Hanson, Shirley Pichner Helgeson, Christopher "Critter" Johnson, his 11th; Luke Dobberstein, Gene Budach, Sandi Otto Glenn, Richard Helmers, Sue Kasper Anderson, Tim Kasper, Norma Long, Cari Jensen, Thomas Van Riper, Veronica & Jim Graif, Heidi & Ryan Baldwin.

God bless you and have a great day!

Birthdays and anniversaries are for reflecting ... dreaming ... enjoying. Have a wonderful day!