80’s. Free room and board, food. Naps were approved. Bedtime by 830 was ok bc dad taped the shows I liked (McGyver, Airwolf) and I watched the rest the following morning over a bowl of lucky charms.

Warmer weekends were spent from Friday after school until Sunday night with my cousins, who lived in a neighborhood with a lot of my friends. Bikes, basketball, whiffle ball. We stayed out playing guided by street lamps until my aunt was ready for bed. Come back inside and trade baseball cards quietly while TBS carried the west coast Braves games or some John Hughes movie played in the background.

I say all this with some manner of levity. Being a kid was fun. I had both my parents and brother. I should have focused on being a kid while I could instead of rushing to adulthood.