Born before 1980? You are a survivor
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930’s 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s…
# First, we survived being born to mothers who 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 child proof 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 infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, 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 kool-aid made with sugar, 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 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD’s, no surround-sound, CD’s or Ipods! No cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or 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,
# 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 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!
If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives so much, than for our own good.
And while you are at it, share it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn’t it?!
Good Stuff! Explains a lot. And well it gives you a lot of insight on how to raise your kids.
Well, and then there are those of us who died in car crashes because they weren’t buckled in… who are not lucky enough to read this post.
And there are those who died of lead poisoning. Don’t believe me? Ask your doctor.
And there are those who were born with birth defects, asthma, only one kidney etc. because our mothers smoked and drank during pregnancy.
Yes, there is some good stuff to the good old times. And I very much enjoyed my childhood without computer etc… but there are reasons we are now using child restraints and lead free paint… to produce more risk-takers, inventors and winners.
My baby brother died from getting into a medicine bottle that wasn’t child proofed in 1972.
the people born before 1980 with all of those things are raising the children of today. if you disagree with xboxs and playstations dont buy them. make your children use school computers to do their homework. buy basic cable. your kids will find things to do.
The main problem I have with most of what goes on today with all the regulations, laws and frivolous lawsuits is that we are becoming a society that does not take blame for our own actions.
In the 70’s, before it was a law to buckle up, my mother was insightful enough to realize the benefit and had us kids BUCKLE UP.
She placed medications up and out of reach of us kids. I did like those little orange baby asprins and she wasn’t going to take the chance on my getting in them.
If people don’t have brains enough to know how to protect their children in most cases without there being a law to tell them to, they don’t need to be reproducing.
My children are farm kids, they’re being very neglected by our not letting them spend hours on the computer. We make them swim a LOT during the summer and not let them hang out indoors. They’re in 4-H and they actually do take care of their projects, unlike most kids in our local groups.
It takes time and effort to raise kids. I don’t believe in allowing daycares and babysitters to raise kids and instill morals and values in them. I believe it’s up to the people who have the most vested intrest in the adults those kids become.
Call me harsh, but parents need to raise their own kids, stop blaming other people for their shortcomings.
I was born in 1956. I went to college in the mid 70’s and quit when I had children. Still married, the kids in school, I went back to finish my degree in 1988 and graduated in 1991. The major difference? I was not allowed to use a calculator in the 70’s and I did not want to use a calculator in the early 90’s. I aced stats in the 90’s without a calculator and the “kids”, they would have bombed their exams without calculators. What is real knowledge? I live each day thanking God for the wisdom that I can teach my 3 grandchildren. Day Care? Don’t get me started! I would rather live on welfare than leave my children or grandchildren in a hell hole.
Yeah – that’s when moms stayed home to take care of kids.
I would not trade my childhood for anything. both my parent are looking down on me from heaven, because the only places they went and took me was to work, shopping and church.
AMEN AMEN AMEN for the old time religion
i have mixed emotions after reading this piece and the comments which follow. i grew up just fine, in spite of all the dangers of a normal american childhood back in the 50’s. but, as a parent, with the knowledge available to us today, i believe that allowing a child to roam free with an admonishment to return home by dark is irresponsible. don’t get me wrong, i am saddened that i never see children playing outside on sunny days. we have gone too far with all the sedentary computer games and restrictions we’ve placed upon our kids during their journey to adulthood. but taking precautions such as lead free paint, child safety seats, tamper proof medicine bottles and safety helmets is just common sense. we all want to protect our precious offspring. don’t we? sure, we want them to grow up with a fulfilling sense of independence and self confidence! let them ride horses and bikes- run, play and swim- compete, win or lose… to learn how to plan, to cooperate, to respect others for what they have to offer- and yes, to accept defeat. in other words, to become fully integrated human beings. but to cling to “the old ways” just because of some ill defined sense of “tradition” is nothing short of folly. just as “modern convenience” and over litigious attitudes tend to stifle the spirit of freedom, there is a danger of lashing out blindly at perceived restrictions. a true sign of maturity would be to find the balance between protecting our children and scorning any “device” designed to shield them from catastrophe. (and as for the woman who would rather become a welfare mom than allow her children to attend child care for a couple of hours a day, i suspect that you’ve never had to turn to welfare to get you through a bad patch… i doubt that any self respecting woman would purposely become a welfare mom if there were a decent child care facility available.)