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glowingfishA lot going on, so this might seem pretty random:
You probably know this old sitcom plot/trope, even if you can't think of a specific example:
Elementary school kid is in a play or has a ballet or piano recital or some other young person activity. Workaholic father (and yes, usually the male parent) promises to come, but suddenly something comes up with work so kid is crushed, looking out at the audience and searching for an absent parent.
Did this ever really happen? Was this something kids actually worried about or would have been harmful?
For context, I was born in 1979, and I might have been one of the last cohorts of free-range children. I wasn't part of any organized activities, and I didn't have any lessons, as a child. We played in the woods or dug holes or played indoors with action figures. Also, my parents divorced when I was 5. So my prime elementary school years, 6-8, were spent happily inventing and playing in my own world, sometimes by myself, sometimes with neighborhood kids. As much as there were big events at school, I would have seen them as a chore or a bother.
I guess the reason that this is important is that as a child, I formed my sense of self around my imagination, and around spontaneous games. But I guess for some children, that was formed around a more formal social world, and having parental/social confirmation was important?
Obviously, of course, this is a plot point, but is it/was it close to reality for some children?
You probably know this old sitcom plot/trope, even if you can't think of a specific example:
Elementary school kid is in a play or has a ballet or piano recital or some other young person activity. Workaholic father (and yes, usually the male parent) promises to come, but suddenly something comes up with work so kid is crushed, looking out at the audience and searching for an absent parent.
Did this ever really happen? Was this something kids actually worried about or would have been harmful?
For context, I was born in 1979, and I might have been one of the last cohorts of free-range children. I wasn't part of any organized activities, and I didn't have any lessons, as a child. We played in the woods or dug holes or played indoors with action figures. Also, my parents divorced when I was 5. So my prime elementary school years, 6-8, were spent happily inventing and playing in my own world, sometimes by myself, sometimes with neighborhood kids. As much as there were big events at school, I would have seen them as a chore or a bother.
I guess the reason that this is important is that as a child, I formed my sense of self around my imagination, and around spontaneous games. But I guess for some children, that was formed around a more formal social world, and having parental/social confirmation was important?
Obviously, of course, this is a plot point, but is it/was it close to reality for some children?
no subject
Date: 2026-03-19 09:04 pm (UTC)In comparison, my friends who did music and ballet because they wanted to didn't really care about if their parents could make it (but they did expect a decent excuse).