TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1940's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they
carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored
lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we
rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took
hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up 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 and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but
we weren't overweight because
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

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 O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down
the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the
bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no
99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell
phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat
rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
lawsuits from these accidents.

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.
We 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!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers
and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them! 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 our lives for our own good.

And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

I hate how us kids born after 75 get lumped in with todays lazy generation.

I'd throw a crabapple at you if I could!

I grew up in the 80s and you have no clue how many warm memories you just brought back.  I guess I'm the last of dieing breed huh?

Quoted: I hate how us kids born after 75 get lumped in with todays lazy generation. I'd throw a crabapple at you if I could!

+1

A lot of truth in this.
I know a lot of younger people who aren't very versed in basic life skills and it's great to see members of the younger generation who have their s**t together.

At the same time, it's NOT entirely a generation thing.  My 60 year old neighbor sorta figures that because she cooks & cleans, the oil in her car is magically always good, unless the light is blinking or a buzzer is going off.
Also that if she throws out stuff all the time, like the little plastic straws for WD-40, that someone will always have one AND want to give it to her.   Oh, yeah and my 55- y/o cube neighbor calls it "W-40".

Man,ain't it the truth.I was up with the sun,scarfed down a quick, sugar-coated breakfast,(except on Sundays-then it was heaping plates of sausage,eggs,pancakes,bacon,etc) and back home at 6:00 for supper.We biked,swam in the creek,hunted,etc,all day,most everyday (except for the aforementioned Sundays).This was in the '60s/early 70s.I SWORE I'd raise my own the same way.Didn't happen.I somehow turned into one of those overprotective nitwits I ranted about.Don't get me wrong-they all have their share of scars,etc,but I HAD to know where they were and what they were doing-at all times.Have times changed so much that we have lost all our innocence,or have we all become overprotective worry warts? Seems to me that there's a lot more evil folks lurking out there nowadays.Or we are just hearing about it now.Dave

+1

Funny, I raise my kids like that.

Ah the wonderful taste of bright colored
lead-based paints. MMMMMM

As of 10 hours ago my wife finally gets it and we are moving out to BFE to raise our daughter (and any other kiddies that come along) the right way.  We should be able to make it happen in the naxt year.  I am a happy man.

Quoted: As of 10 hours ago my wife finally gets it and we are moving out to BFE to raise our daughter (and any other kiddies that come along) the right way.  We should be able to make it happen in the naxt year.  I am a happy man.

Should we know what & where "BFE" is??

Wait -- I think the first word is "bum"

yea yea parenting before nintendo, that must have sucked.  Seriously, I limit the amount of time my kids spend inside.  They hate me for it but it keeps them healthy.

I can't believe though how much more complex life is now.  When I was a kid, all we had was baby asprin and asprin.  Now if you even thought of giving a baby asprin someone will have heart failure.

I was raised by my grandmother.  She gave me brandy for teething.    Yep, started me out right, gran did!

I grew up hearing "Ah shut yer trap, that's a long ways from your heart."

It was nice and peaceful growing up, I wish things were that way again.  Patty

Baby aspirin tasted like candy, you could eat a bunch of em and not OD.

I miss those days of playing outside all day long and being on the front porch when the street light in front of our house came on. Even then our parents came and sat on the front porch and watched us play Ghost in the Graveyard or some damn game. Those were the days....

I still believe that video games have killed a vital part of kids minds, We had Atari and after about 2 hours it was boring. We used to build forts, play football, baseball, ride bikes and shoot BB guns(at each other most of the time ). All the neighborhood kids banded together and spent everyday around each other and in other family's homes. I hate that it makes me sound old but those where some nice times and the kids around here now are removed from each other on a day to day basis. I think people are alot more isolated now.

BFE=Beyond freaking Egypt, as in, out in the sticks on a few hundred aceres where I can raise my kids the way I was raised.  I fear that my kids may be one of, if not the last generation where this is able to happen in this country.

Quoted: BFE=Beyond freaking Egypt, as in, out in the sticks on a few hundred aceres where I can raise my kids the way I was raised.  I fear that my kids may be one of, if not the last generation where this is able to happen in this country.

Good on you, for doing it right.

I wish it was still that way.  I'm embarassed of my generation, they're such whiny brats.