Some thoughts for an older generation
This has been making the rounds, but I ran across a printed copy of this tonight. For those of us born in the 40’s and 50’s it strikes a chord.
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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 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 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
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Chery wrote:
Amen! …. fron an older one. I survived, too!
Posted on 02-Dec-06 at 6:54 am | Permalink
KarenK from OR wrote:
Yes! And my kids survived the same things. They lived in the country on a farm and they played outside, in all kinds of weather, in the barn, or in the woods, out of my sight! And quite happily, they’re also raising their children the same way, with sense and practical knowledge. There do seem to be more dangers out there in today’s world, but they don’t go overboard on protecting the children from the consequences of their decisions. Good post!
Posted on 02-Dec-06 at 4:08 pm | Permalink
Marcia in Austin wrote:
Although I totally agree with the overall point this is making, I feel I must point out that it makes it seem as though everyone who went through those times survived just fine. Whereas in truth, those of us who are now reading it are the ones who *did* survive.
Posted on 02-Dec-06 at 5:14 pm | Permalink
chittavrtti wrote:
For some reason this post reminds me of Ray Bradbury. Must be all that imagery of children playing outside***CV
Posted on 02-Dec-06 at 6:51 pm | Permalink
Jerry wrote:
The world has changed in the past 40 years. Heck, it’s changed considerably in the past 5 years.
But we’ve all become too protective, for ourselves and our children. Let them go out and eat a bit dirt once in a while.
Posted on 03-Dec-06 at 7:49 am | Permalink
bev wrote:
I am one of those survivors as well. When I was a child we lived in Willits, CA; right on the banks of Mill Creek. My brother and I were enamored with Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, so one day we built a raft out of tree branches and rope borrowed from our father’s work room. The raft worked just fine, thankyou very much. We got about 6 miles down stream when our neighbor, a policeman, happened across a bridge and saw us. We were escorted home and lectured about the safety, or lack thereof, in making a homemade raft and expecting to make it to the Pacific Ocean. I will never forget that day and the fun we had. But I often wonder how we did survive our youth!
Posted on 03-Dec-06 at 8:51 am | Permalink
Polly wrote:
Amen!
Posted on 28-Dec-06 at 7:15 am | Permalink
Sheila wrote:
Part of my childhood was spent playing ouside on the sidewalk in San Francisco, and the only sad/bad thing that happened were skinned knees. Then, we moved to Pocatello, Idaho. By the time I was 7, we spent summer days gathering our lunch, which included some raw potatoes, heading to the very dry foothills, digging hole and making a fire so we could bake the potatoes. We never set those hills on fire. I still remember the wonderful flavor of those potatoes.
Posted on 16-Jan-07 at 4:15 am | Permalink