Definition: The magical state of existing beyond parental radar between breakfast and streetlights, achieved by simply leaving the house pre-cellphones. Kids operated like analog ghosts—building forts, crashing bikes, and acquiring mysterious stains with zero check-in texts or Find My Friends alerts. This freedom came with the sacred responsibility of remembering which friend’s garage you promised to return from, and accepting that “missing” just meant “probably eating stolen popsicles behind the bowling alley.”
Example: “Our Off-Grid Childhood meant coming home caked in mud with a squirrel in a shoebox. Mom would just sigh and hose us down on the lawn. Try that now and you’ll get Amber Alerts and a wellness check.”