To All The Kids Who Survived Growing Up In The 30's thru 60'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, no safety locks on 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 seatbelts or airbags and riding in the back of a pickup on a warm summer day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with our friends from the same 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 ok!
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 didn't have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-Boxes, no video games, no 99 channels on cable, no cell phones, no personal computers. no internet. We had friends, and we went outside and played with 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 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! How did we survive! By the way, you might want to forward this to your kids so they can see just how brave their parents were!!!
E-Mail Story
Print Story