Posted on 09/12/2020 4:32:04 AM PDT by sodpoodle
First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank - while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then, after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets, and, when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps, not helmets, on our heads.
As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no airbags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.
Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren't overweight.
WHY?
Because we were always outside playing...that's why!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day and, we were OKAY.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, Only to find out that we forgot about brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not Have Play Stations, Nintendo and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CDs, No cell phones, no personal computers, no internet and no chat rooms. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and lost teeth, and there were no lawsuits from those accidents.
We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand, and no one would call child services to report abuse.
We ate worms, and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, 22 rifles for our 12th, rode horses, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and although we were told it would happen - we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.
Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of... they actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors ever.
The past 60 to 85 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.
If you are one of those born between 1925 &1955, CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?
~~~~~~~ The quote of-the month by Jay Leno:
"With hurricanes, tornadoes, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of coronavirus and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"
For the rest of us... please pass this on.
ping:)
To all the atheist out there.
I would rather put my life and my country in the hands of a non-existent god than in the hands of the Democrat Party and Joe Biden.
What kind of kids did you raise?
I was born in 1960 and share some of those with my mom born in 1918.
Although it was lots of fun to hear her childhood stories. The rag man with his mule-drawn cart. The ice man that when the kids gathered around was a bit sloppy in cutting the cubes that would perfectly fit the ice box (from memory) so the kids would have some cold ice shavings on a hot summer day. (”Growing up - we never had ice cold drinks!”)
I used to go skinny-dipping in the same creek that my old man did. Of course we had to be careful as there were suburban homes nearby when we did it!
Jay Leno said
That?
I used to love him just
For His Car collection!
I never liked Jay Leno. And now I know why. He’s an active liberal and a supporter of Byedone.
I was born in 1969 and pretty much all of those things applied to my childhood as well. I think the use of lead based paints was on the wane when I was growing up. The Atari 2600 came along in my childhood, but that was something you or your friends got at Christmas and you’d play inside over the holidays, before going back outside in the snow to play football, hockey or go sledding...all Without helmets.
This is so true! We have wrapped kids in cotton, over protected them and lowered expectations. Look at all the rich kids smashing windows and rioting.
I hear ya. I was born in the early 60s & experienced a lot of that too. Had a babysitter that smoked like a chimney. Built a treehouse and fell out of it more than a few times. Rode everywhere on my bike without a helmet. My parents usually had no idea where I was until I came home for dinner. Stood out in the rain & snow for the school bus without a chaperone.
Nostalgia aside, the fact is that the child mortality rate has fallen by a lot, even in the last 50 years (see below link). In 1970, it was 26 out of a 1000 children not making it to their 5th birthday. Today it is 7 out of 1000 - a nearly 75% decrease. I don’t know about you, but the though of the thought of infants riding in a car without a car seat makes me cringe.
So while I do think it was BETTER to be a kid back then, it is also SAFER to be a kid today. It’s up to everyone to decide if they think its worth it or not.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1041693/united-states-all-time-child-mortality-rate/
The ice man
She never owned a refrigerator (or a TV).
ate blue cheese dressing
I recall blue cheese dressing to be an 80s thing.
I can remember going into the woods and using scap lumber and bent nails to build tree houses (and even a wooden bridge between trees) it is a wonder I did not break my neck.
I can relate......lovely time to grow up.
I was ‘67.
Yea the Atari 2600 was something else first my bud got the early 10 pound Sears version and soon after we all had one with hundred of games between us.
STILL...even that awesome device failed to keep us indoors very much during the daytime.
We spent our youth OUTSIDE from dawn to dusk.
I really MISS those days.
I hardly ever see kids riding bikes, playing stick-ball or shooting hoops outside anymore.
Sad...
Hitch Hiking - I started hitch hiking when I was around 12. I got my first job as a caddy but it was miles from my home so I had to hitch hike to and from all summer.
I think hitch hiking was a left over from the depression and WWII when people who had something shared with those that didn’t. Giving someone a ride did not cost you anything.
My mom was a child of the Depression. Growing up she would wash out tin foil and bread bags to reuse. “Why - I've been recycling before that word was even invented!”
Cleaning out her very nice home after she died - we ended up throwing out about 20 sheets of clean used tin foil stashed in the drawer under the oven. Along with old butter containers and such that she used for left-overs.
For years my mom and dad had a very nice second home. Mom would always plan out the last few weeks before heading down there what meals they would have (using the left-overs in the freezer) so she wouldn't have to throw anything out.
I'm always very ashamed when I throw out a half-full container of something that is way past its expiration date.
What’s wrong with blue cheese dressing?
Nicely said. The same sort of logic could easily be applied to any of a number of current situations. Thanks.
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