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 Maria DiGiorgio is a lifelong New Yorker, who currently resides in Commack, with her family. She is a devoted wife and mother, an educator and designer. Maria is active in her community, as a PTA mom and Girl Scout leader. She has a passion for interior decorating and loves to garden. She is an avid reader, and enjoys writing about life experiences and parenthood, as well as her personal observations about the world around us. |
| There’s nothing like a difference of opinion to make one feel old or out of touch. The problem is, I’m the ONE! Although I wasn’t born a hundred years ago, I may as well have been, since the times have changed that significantly, since I was a kid. Just about everything is different in the way people do things. I can’t help feeling that Rip Van Winkle and I are, somehow, kindred spirits. When I was growing up, there were many children in my neighborhood. We could walk out our front doors and down the block, across the street or even around the block, without the need for parental or adult supervision. Our parents knew where we were going, with whom we were spending time and the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the families we associated with. There was a feeling of being connected as a community, but also, as fellow human beings. People genuinely cared about our well being, and took an active role in helping shape the way in which we would conduct ourselves. The notion of “play” was very imaginative. There was no need for electronics (and other than stereos or eight-track/cassette players) there weren’t any to be had. The constant stimulation came from your imagination and the imaginations of the friends you actively engaged with. While necessity may be the “Mother of Invention”, resourcefulness, it could certainly be argued, is the “Mother of Creativity”. In order to have fun and keep from being bored, you had to come up with interesting and captivating things to do. Storytelling, via reading aloud or acting out familiar tales, gave new meaning to expressive play. Language and motion coupled to make a favorite story come alive. Yes, there were board games, dolls, toys of all sorts, but without imagination, they would not be very appealing. A child’s ingenuity was the secret ingredient. Conversely, in today’s world, these notions have largely disappeared. Parents have had to become social directors of sorts, arranging “playdates” or providing a place, in which our children can safely engage with one another. No longer are sidewalks or yards a viable option. We must be willing to open our homes, our kitchens, our very pocketbooks, in order to properly “host” one of these soirées.We must also be willing to socialize with the parents or caregivers of the children our children are socializing with, at the times in which they are meeting. Waving from the front door or calling down the block (as our parents often did) is not considered proper decorum, these days. Alas, we can hearken back to days gone by, in choosing to get to know our neighbors, being involved in our children’s day-to-day activities (knowing their whereabouts, the people they are associating with, both in actual and virtual reality) and taking an active role in bringing imagination, creativity and resourcefulness into the day-to-day activities we engage in, both in play and work-related settings. We don’t have to settle for less, because it is in striving for more, that we can glean a glimmer or two of things the way they used to be, not even a hundred years ago! |
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20 lucky winners will win $500 each in prizes totaling $10,000. 