I watched one of my favorite Christmas movies the other night, 'White Christmas' with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Mitzi Gaynor. I am sure those names don’t mean much of anything to people younger than fifty. It is a musical tied lightly to a romance and a tribute to a WWII General by his soldiers. Certainly, by today’s standards it would be considered corny and a little silly. But it made me feel good and I even cried a bit at the tear jerk moments.

We were recently in Hawaii visiting our son, daughter-in-law and especially our grandchildren. One night we went to see “Sleeping Beauty” a musical for children that was being put on by a local group. After the show, we took one of the mother's home, her children were going in another car and there just wasn't room for everybody. The mother and I were sitting in the back of the car and got to talking.

When our nine-year-old niece visited us here on the Cape this summer she confided a frustration to my wife. She told my wife that every time she goes to stores to look at toys or at clothing, she is always directed to the girls section. Although she is not a tom boy, she still likes many of the toys and clothes for boys more than she does those for girls. That is where the frustration comes in.

Over the last couple of decades many books and articles have born witness to the changing nature of childhood in contemporary society. Childhood has been hurried, over-programmed, over scheduled, commercialized, sexualized, overprotected, and overly focused on academics. Not surprisingly there is now a contemporary backlash to these trends.

I spent the last few days visiting my older brother who lives in Culver City California. When he first moved there, more than fifty years ago, it was a quiet town, known mostly for its MGM movie lots. I recall, as a boy, driving down Culver Blvd and recognizing the sets for many of the westerns I had watched on the screen. The town and the movie business have undergone a metamorphosis since then.