To Those Born 1930-1979! (lawyers, house, neighborhoods)

[B'Goshboy]

Those Born 1930-1979!

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 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 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 koolade 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 or CD's, 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 as
kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives

for our own good

And while you are at it, forward 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?!

[Nea1]

Oh I loved that, brings back such great memories!!!! I for one do not give my kids the video games or cell phone, I dont let them sit on the computer ( like I am) they have to go see if there friends can play not email them!!!! I think it is sad we live in a world today where you cant let your kids play outside and not worry, or where you have to be PC all the time when it teaches nothing. I love your post!!!

[Marks]

That was great! I was born in 1963 and remember all those things!

Thanks for reminding me.

[tkx7]

dont even begin with the music then compared to now... It's getting so much worse- even though I was born post 1980

[whitney]

B'Goshboy, GREAT post and one I will pass on. It brings back some good memories....seems a shame that they are "memories!"
tkx7, I agree with YOU about the music.
Thanks for starting this thread....

[Adream]

So much TRUTH in this - it's just great!

My DH (1953) and I (1957) have said for years that when we were kids we played games that we organized ourselves because we wanted to play them. We did not have everything orchestrated by our soccer moms, baseball dads, coaches, etc. We did not play to hear our parents yelling "Good hustle! from the sidelines." We were - and are - 'self motivating.' We had some organized sports (PAL Little League, etc.) but not like today.

Hey - we're guilty, I was a soccer/karate/piano lesson/horseback riding lesson/basketball/t-ball/baseball/softball mom, and my DH was a t-ball/basketball/baseball coach.

We didn't live in one of those great knock-on-the-door neighborhoods, so we had to work to get the kids outside and running around. By the time we moved to a great family neighborhood, they were teens so it wasn't the same.

If I complained to my mother that I was bored, I would get a chore list as long as my arm. I used the same tactic with my kids - it's great. THAT will never change.

We did not allow video games or t.v. during the school week until they reached 13, cell phones only in the past couple of years. ("But MOM!! All my friends do it / have it / are allowed!" )

This brought back great memories. I think I'll go outside for a drink of water from the hose.

[Nea1]

I have to agree about the music also, music back then was fun and light now it is all gangsta rap and political, no fun at all anymore, probably why my Ipod is full of 70's and 80's music!!!!!

[grammy164]

My Dad e-mailed me this and I loved it. I actually thanked him for having me when he did, so I could enjoy growing up in the 50s and 60s. I'm really so sad that my grandkids will never be able to experience that same kind of innocence.

[StampinTami]

I think this is great! I was born in 79 and so much of it applies to me. I too agree with the music. I can't beleive how bad a lot of it is. Then people wonder why kids are the way that they are. My kids are little and we are moving to another state to get some land so that they can go out and play. I was always outside as a kid and I would not let my kids out how I was. Its scary now days...

[MoMark]

That pretty much describes my childhood! We played outside from morning to dusk and then we'd hear different fathers do their distinctive whistles and run home. I remember when my sister and I stuck an evil letter into a neighbor's mailbox and they told our parents. OH MY..I couldn't sit for a week. I never did it again! We ate lunch at whoever's house we were at, white bread sandwiches, mayo, and bologna, or peanut butter and jelly. Moms were around during the day for the most part, but busy and telling you to stay off the wet floors they just mopped, not to let the dog in, and go back outside! Our forts were world-class and it's a wonder we didn't kill ourselves with our construction techniques. Neighborhoods were definitely neighborhoods and schools, though we had bullies, were safe. We never heard of knives or drugs or weapons. Kids quaked in terror of being sent to "The Principal's Office". I started kindergarten in 1968 and graduated high school in 1981. I thought we were so sophisticated then. Our music BY FAR was better than the crap they play today. People actually had talent and could sing, and you could hear the words, the lyrics were clean and any dirty stuff was cleverly hidden in metaphors I never understood until I was older (like Franky goes to Hollywood... I listened for years to that and didn't realize it was naughty), not in your face filth, and everyone listened to the same Kasey Kasem Top 40 hits. The world has changed so much though since...yet... I find myself surprised sometimes by the kids growing up now who have managed to stay respectful and balanced despite all the distractions. Many of them prefer the music of the 1970's and 1980's as well, even though they weren't born yet when it was popular and they know Disco as well as I do. I assume they're ALL screwed up, but it's only a small percentage. The cigarette smoking toking rebels of the 1970's are still around in this time and place, but so are the good kids.