Carefree Week

JUNE 5 2026 Carefree Week

The happiest week of my life. There were 8 of us. We were getting away from the Mom's. My parents and the parents of our best friends decided to let just the boys and the Dads go on vacation together for some father-son bonding time. The women would stay home with the girls. Whenever I think of it, I'm often surprised that the wives let us do it. Away from Mom for a week. Now that would be a vacation. Being that Dad was always at work and Mom was always at home, it was nice not to have Mom telling me and my brother what to do for an entire week. Dad didn't care. As long as us kids stayed out of his and Don's hair, he didn't care. And we knew it. We were pretty much free to run and roam and do as we please for a week. No baths, no fear we'd get our clothes dirty, no bedtime, etc. Kids today have no idea. They have no clue. It was different growing up in the sixties than it is in the new millennium. We had rules. We had very strict rules. All for our own good of course. But Mom's were the disciplinarians then. Not like today where everyone lets their kids do whatever they want, whenever they want, and however long they want. For this reason and many other reasons, it turned out to be the happiest week of my life. Even as a young boy going into 2nd grade, I knew this was the chance of a lifetime. To get away from the rules and just have fun. And our Dads were happy to let us. Once we got to the campsite and set up the tents we had the whole campground to ourselves. We camped, went fishing, boating on the river, explored, and Dad and Don made sure we didn't starve. They had a better time than we did I think. They got to drink all the beer they wanted whenever they wanted. I never heard either of the Dad's complain about anything all week long. The only thing that made it not a perfect paradise, was when I suffered with a headache for a couple hours and had to lay down and miss the fun. That was me as a kid. I suffered from headaches and nosebleeds occasionally. It was probably from not stopping long enough to catch my breath or from dehydration from not drinking enough water. But other than the headache the only other bad time was when Dad made me and my brother clean all the fish for everyone. Don didn't make his kids do it, so they were off doing something else while Mark and I got stuck cleaning the fish. Other than that, every memory of that week is bliss. I feel like I could write a book just about that week. What made it like paradise? What made it the happiest week of my life until this day? First of all it was the lack of care and concern. As a kid I didn't have many worries to begin with but that week I felt so carefree and I was with my friends. Being with my friends 24/7 that week was what brought the enjoyment I felt. No adults around telling us what to do. Just the freedom to play with our friends. Freedom, completely carefree, no responsibility, spending time with friends, no school, no schedule, no chores, no constant yelling and supervision from parents. It's what made that week so much fun. I missed my Mother's cooking, but that's all. I of course was happy to see her again, but I knew she'd be there when we got home. So I enjoyed just being with my Dad and my friends. A boy needs to spend time with his Dad. All guys and life seemed so uncomplicated that week. And the stuff we got to do and the things we got to see made it even better. I wish all of my life had always been like that week. But life can't always be a vacation in paradise, or nothing would get done in the world. Work is a curse, but a necessity. Why did Eve have to spoil everything for us?