When I was still in primary school the most important thing for me seemed to be going for a drive in my father’s car. As my father had to work all week, the only time he could take the family out was during the weekends. On Saturday afternoons he would bundle all of us in his car and take us to visit places. Sometimes we would go to the beach. Other times we may visit the zoo or go for a picnic in the park. My father, mother, my younger sister and I really did enjoy these trips.
Some weekends we did not go anywhere. So my sister and I would play with our toys. At times we played catch, hide-and-seek or other children’s games. Life was one big round of playing and enjoying. After all, kids have no worries. We only knew how to play. The world centered around our family. Life was great.
Growing up has changed things a bit. My sister and I do not play catch nor hide-and-seek anymore. We just seem to have grown out of these games. We still play with toys but they are no longer building blocks nor dolls.
Weekends now seem mostly to consist of doing homework. Oh, that infernal homework does get on my nerves sometimes. If it is not mathematics, it will be an essay. If there is no homework then we have to study for the examinations. It is always something to do with school. I sometimes wish I were all grown up and did not have to go to school anymore.
However, it is back to reality. Fortunately, there are other things in life besides school work. Once in a while, I would cycle over to my friend Dennis’s place to play some monopoly or other games. When the weather is fine some of the neighborhood kids and I would play badminton at an open-air court nearby. If the weather is not as good, we play football or merely sit by the road and watch the cars go by.
All in all, I would say that I spend more of my weekends now with my friends than with my family. I suppose this is part of the process of growing up. My small world of the family is gradually expanding to include friends and other, activities. It seems inevitable that my world change and grows larger as I grow older. It looks as though the activities that I engage in also keep changing. Perhaps in the future, the pattern of my weekend activities will change even more. I cannot say for sure what they will be but I will be doing them when the time comes.