Me and my brothers usually sat in my mom’s lap and chewed on a toy painted with lead paint. She would hold us tight with her left hand while she smoked a Camel non-filter with the right hand.
That is, unless it was sunny outside. Then we would ride in the back of the pickup.
With so many things that researchers say can kill us nowadays its a miracle we are still alive.
Your Mom and ours must have been good pals.
We'd practice with our Daisy BB rifles from the front seat, and hand Mom canned Daquiris from the cooler (a huge Coleman aluminum jobbie kept conveniently right behind the passenger seat) and light her Pall Malls. The back seat was mostly for our empty KFC boxes.
Actually, if you poll enough of a sample, you will find people who lost siblings who were riding in the back of a pickup.
In high school I made a comment about being in the back of the pickup and standing. A classmate said that was what his sister was doing before she died.
LOL! My parents carted us around in those tin-can Volkswagon Beetles. We used to put the baby in that far back cubbie-hole right above the engine block. It was nice and warm there, and since we were never rear-ended, that “baby” is now 45 years old. :)
We rode our bikes, rollerskated, skateboarded, etc. without the least hit of helmets and padding.
My folks smoked like fiends around us kids. We ate a lot of red meat and lard. I had a slingshot and an air rifle and a pocket knife.
Go figure.