When the chores were completed, we had fun.
We swam behind the barn in the old swimming hole. The swimming lessons? The older kids pushed the younger kids in and let them sputter for a while–thinking they were drowning. Then they would ?rescue” them. They said that was the only way they?d ever learn to swim. My initiation was at age 11. I sure did not like that! To this day, I cannot swim. My philosophy was, ?stay out of the water until you learn to swim”.
There was a cave in the pasture, and we played there on weekends. What a treasure trove for youngsters!