Its a miracle I survived my childhood. I wonder how my parents could have been so neglectful and this exactly one week after we celebrated Fathers Day. Gasp. Roll eyes. Tsk. Tsk.

After reading the Dakota Estates news this week, one thing became abundantly clear Dakota Estates cares more for its residents than my parents did for their children. Dakota Estates residents played lawn darts, not to be confused with the lawn jarts we often played when I was a child. Seriously, any excuse my dad could manufacture, he pulled out the lawn jarts. Now I wonder if he was just trying to kill off a child. He had five of us. Wonder which one was expendable? Im betting on the youngest, my brother Tom.

Lawn darts are caricatured versions of a plastic bomb, while lawn jarts could never be mistaken for anything else, not with the sharp metal tip on one end so the jart could sink deep into the earth. Lawn jarts was fun, an evil form of horse shoes.

We played lawn jarts all the time, and lived to tell the tale. No one was injured or maimed. Not even a little scratch. I remember those deadly tournaments with fondness.

It was fun, during an era that posed other obvious safety hazards as children routinely drank from the hose. I remember eating carrots straight out of the vegetable garden without thought to pesticides or dirt. We didnt use Clorox wipes every 15 minutes in case an itinerant germ suddenly sprang out of the air with the speed of a President Trump tweet.

I survived childhood and rarely visited my childhood pediatrician Dr. Dooley, unless it was for stitches that resulted from a dare. I had a lot of stitches in my youth since recklessness and being foolhardy often walk hand-in-hand.

On one hand, I can appreciate that lawn darts are safer, but on the other, I dont like the way they bounce when tossed. Lawn jarts stuck, unless you missed and they skittered across the grass. I understand theres less likelihood of death when playing lawn darts, but I really do miss lawn jarts. Political correctness has its place in the world, but there is always a cost.

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There is always a cost for political correctness - Wahpeton Daily News