I used to know how "to hang" when I was younger.

"Hanging" was easy — especially in the summer. After you finished your chores, you went outside and found a couple of neighbor kids. And then maybe you rode bikes together or climbed the foothill at the end of the street or walked to Harper's Market to get some penny candy.

Or maybe you didn't.

Maybe you played the game of Life instead, and pretended that the two pieces of the game in the little cars were you and that boy you had a crush on in the third grade. Maybe you made some cookie dough and ate it on the front porch while looking at Ripley's Believe It or Not magazines. Maybe you counted the mosquito bites on each other's legs or hiked up to the cemetery where you told scary Weeping Mary stories.

Or maybe you didn't.

What you did or didn't do was beside the point. The point was to be there and then make it all up as you went along. Oh yeah. And the other point was to have some fun while you were at it.

I still knew how to hang in high school and college. I even knew how to hang the first year or so after my marriage. (Yes! A bowl of popcorn and an episode of "Dynasty"! What could be more fun than watching women in shoulder pads pull out each other's hair?)

But somewhere along the line my "to do" lists took over my life. I had TO DO this. I had TO DO that. And when I wasn't doing, I was pretty much anxious, because, duh, THERE WAS ALWAYS SO MUCH MORE TO DO! Come on. Who had time to just sit back and hang?

Except that my kids kinda like it when I hang with them. Sometimes. When their friends aren't around and they're pretty bored and there's nothing else to do except stupid chores.

Maybe your kids are the same. Maybe they want you to stop what you're doing and watch "Walker, Texas Ranger" with them because they love the show's unintentional humor. They love the way that Ranger Cordell "Cord" Walker (played by Charles "Chuck" Norris) can level an entire army of evil bad guys with his flying roundhouse kicks, while his faithful friends James "Jimmy" Trivette, "Alex" Cahill-Walker (assistant district "D.A." attorney) and Uncle Ray Firewalker (played by Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman) stand by in awe.

And then after the show's over, maybe your kids will share with you the following tidbits about Chuck Norris they recently discovered on some wacky Internet site.

1. "Guns don't kill people. Chuck Norris kills people"

2. "There is no Theory of Evolution, just a list of animals Chuck Norris allows to live."

3. "The leading causes of death in the U.S. are (1) heart disease, (2) Chuck Norris, and (3) cancer."

4. "When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn't lifting himself up, he's pushing the Earth down."

5. "Chuck Norris can lead a horse to water AND make it drink."

6. "Every night before the Boogeyman goes to bed, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris."

View Comments

7. "Some people wear Superman pajamas; Superman wears Chuck Norris pajamas."

Stuff like that.

Of course you totally have better things to do than thinking about Churck Norris (or what Superman wears to bed), but hey! Your kids had fun! Meanwhile, you guys had an impromptu chance to talk some, to connect some. And suddenly you realize that, oh, yeah — maybe it's time to master the fine art of summer "hanging" all over again.


E-mail: acannon@desnews.com

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.