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I was born the same year you were. I remember the air raid drills where we'd have to get under our desks, but I don't remember being upset or scared about that. The nuns' stories about the "end of the world" were much scarier to me, and seemed more real!

Anyway, I'm glad I had a chance to grow up in the '50s and early '60s. I think we were the last generation of kids who truly had freedom. You could leave the house on Saturday morning and have total freedom all day! Sure, your parents told you to look both ways before crossing the street, don't talk to strangers, and be home by supper. But aside from that, we were were free! We could go to a friend's house, the playground, or the candy shop. Ride our bikes and pretend we were riding horses or motorcycles. Go exploring. Whatever we felt like.

Kids now seem to be chauffeured everywhere...to soccer practice, or to dad and his girlfriend's house for the weekend, or whatever. They can't just show up at a buddy's house and say, "Hey, Mrs. Jones, can Johnny come out to play?" No, they have prearranged "play dates." Or they sit on the computer or in front of the TV all day.

Despite all their "stuff," and the fact that kids doing "chores" seems to be a quaint old custom of the olden days, (or perhaps because of this,) many of my friends' kids seem bored, snotty and demanding.

I think back on how well behaved we were in our classrooms back then and it amazes me, compared to today. The worst thing that ever happened was if the teacher had to raise her voice to get us to stop talking amongst ourselves. You never heard about things like "ADD" or "dyslexia" or "emotionally disturbed" or all the things that three-fourths of the students seem to be afflicted with now. Maybe in the '50s, such kids had to go to "special schools"? I don't know, but either they weren't in the public schools or their problems weren't tolerated.

I know the '50s weren't perfect, but I'm still glad I grew up when I did.