to all the kids who survived the 1930's , 40's , 50's , 60's , 70's , and early 80'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 didnt 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 helmuts. not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking.
as children we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags.
riding in the back of a ute on a warm day was always a special treat.
we drank water from a 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 soft drinks with real sugar in it, but we werent 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 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 cowboy guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes.
we rode bikes or walked to a friends house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them !
the town football club had tryout for the junior team and not everyone made the team. those who didnt had to learn to live with the 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 ofinnovation and new ideas.
we had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned:
HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL !
and MOST UF US 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, read 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 ?
Today we can't let our kids walk to a friends house. There are too many child molesters out there anymore. It's sad. I used to always leave my house as a child and walk or rid emy bike to a friends house as long as I called or was home before the street lights were on I was OK. I can't even let my children play outside alone.
i can relate to how true so many of those were when i was a child growing up. not true today. it just goes to show how much things have changed since then. nowadays we have to worry about our children from the minute they walk out that door until the minute the come back through it. so sad
When I was a kid, we would walk a mile into the empty desert to a cat-tail hidden lake, where we caught fish, and tarantulas, or hunted birds. Our parents only comment was to throw in some rocks and send the dog in first, in case there were rattlesnakes. Every once in a while, there was a snake there.
I can certainly relate. When I was in fourth grade, a neighbor's cockapoo attacked me--ripped up my new sneakers good but only scratched my foot. Nobody called animal control because the dog had his shots, and nobody sued anybody because the neighbors bought me a new pair of sneakers (not that my parents would've sued over the price of a pair of sneakers) and agreed to keep a closer eye on the dog. I didn't even go to the doctor. I was traumatized for all of about fifteen minutes, got bored, changed shoes, and went back outside to play.
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"Thought is an invisible and subtle power that mocks all the efforts of tyranny." Alexis de Tocqueville
"Thought is an invisible and subtle power that mocks all the efforts of tyranny." Alexis de Tocqueville
