Just because it made me think of how true it is.

I Can't Believe We Made It!

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were
kids in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's or even the early 80's,
probably shouldn't have survived.

Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint.

We had no childproof lids or locks 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 children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special
treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors!

We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it,
but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.

We shared one soft drink with four friends , from one bottle, and no one
actually died from this.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode
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 would leave home in the morning and play all day , as long as we were
back when the street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all
day. No cell phones. Unthinkable!

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at
all, no 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound,
personal cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms.

We had friends! We went outside and found them.

We played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt. We fell
out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no
lawsuits from these accidents . They were accidents. No one was to blame
but us. Remember accidents?

We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned
to get over it.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told
it would happen , we did not put out any eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home 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.

Some students weren't as smart as others, so they failed a grade and
were held back to repeat the same grade. Horrors!

Tests were not adjusted for any reason.

Our actions were our own.
Consequences were expected.

The idea of parents bailing us out if we got in trouble in school or
broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the school or the
law. Imagine that!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem
solvers, and inventors, ever.

We had freedom, failure, success, and
responsibility --- and we learned how to deal with it.
And if you're one of them!
Congratulations.
5,007 views 22 replies
Reply #2 Top
My wife has got to see this. She is such a pansy when it comes to raising kids I fear for them when it's time to be on thier own.
Reply #3 Top

Sheesh, DWM, you'd better copy and paste it so she doesn't see your pansy comment.

Good points Keila.

Reply #4 Top
Feels like yesterday
Reply #5 Top
Er.. good point there Mike... hmmm how do I recall an email?
Reply #6 Top
My daughter's crib was one that was handed down from generation to generation.  It was originally my father-in-laws crib, then all his children had it as a crib and then they let the neighbors use it for their 4 kids.  Everyone worried that the slats were too far apart.  My response: "8 kids used this crib and none of them died from it...why would I worry now?"
Reply #7 Top
Keila, although I'm British I would say that we did exactly the same things when we here we're kids and it never harmed us one little bit.



Powered by SkinBrowser!
Reply #8 Top
MY sons and eventually daughters crib was like KarmaGirls. We stripped everything back to wood and stained it Cherry.

It was made by my great grandfather two times back, in Calias Maine out of drops from Clipper Ship masts and such.

wish they had left me up there with my gram and gran instead of playing tol with me as a kid
Reply #9 Top
As a 5 year old, 1959...in Mildura [North West Victoria - hot], I remember playing in the old Nissan huts at the aerodrome...[my father ran the Airport [Flight Service/ATC]...they were made from asbestos cement....and were old and crumbling to dust.......
Reply #10 Top
you go Karma...
Heck, I remember watching my brother fall out of trees(Yes plural,he was a slow learner) not to mention my many scrapes and bruise. Still can name a few scars
Reply #11 Top
...I remember being sent to my room as punishment and the only entertainment in there in those days was to talk to myself.........



Powered by SkinBrowser!
Reply #12 Top
Still can name a few scars


in some instances, those are the best memories

#11 by yrag - 7/9/2003 3:04:20 PM ...I remember being sent to my room as punishment and the only entertainment in there in those days was to talk to myself.........


I feel for you, I find that would be one of the more grievous punishments one would have to deal with at such a tender age.
I'd much rather have the Hot Wheel track across the legs, body and face and be done with it.


....
Papa was a rollin' stone.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
And when his died,
All he left us was alone.

....

[Message Edited]
Reply #13 Top
Damm, one of the best editorials I've read in a long time. I happen to agree with Keila and have said that many times at work. How did I live this long to have a heart attack. Should have been dead 40-50 years ago.(by todays standards)



Powered by SkinBrowser!
Reply #14 Top
WOM totally...

by the way, TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!

your good people in my opinion, no matter anything else, like or dislike doesn't matter and doesn't change that fact, You are good people.

Fuzzy too along with so many others.

really really...

for what it is worth I mean it inside..
Reply #15 Top
#11 by yrag - 7/9/2003 3:04:20 PM ...I remember being sent to my room as punishment and the only entertainment in there in those days was to talk to myself.........


talk schmalk...try climbing walls, or whatever was in the room....now that was fun!!!
Reply #16 Top
Keila...such a great 'note'! I grew up with a large family (6 of us kids) in British Columbia,Canada out on a farm...and I can say that we all did pretty much most of what you mentioned above! What memories were generated reading that! As for the comment about how our parents sided with the SCHOOL...I was petrified to come home if I thought that my mom knew about certain 'events' that went on at school that day (and she ALWAYS seemed to know before I could tell her!). But as a teacher in today's high school...I wish the parents WOULD side with us teachers a little more often like ours' did! That part of your 'note' particularly hit home with me!
Reply #17 Top
Wow Keila now that brings back memories of the good ol' days

The flashbacks...you're right! I probably should have died. I NEVER forget my mom ALWAYS telling me about how we went through 7 cribs because I chewed holes RIGHT through the paint and wood and got out

I'll probably get some serious illness within the next year or so
Reply #18 Top
You know when I think about it... ALL I had to play with was a tin can and a sharp stick when I was a kid. I'd talk to them and stuff. But I forgot what I named them. I think it was Grass and Mud or something like that.
Reply #19 Top
i remember shooting my dads 22 in the house when i was a kid. when i got older i found out i almost shot my sister. missed by 2 feet. how did we ever survive?
Reply #20 Top
my mom also told me i used 30/30 shells as nails when i was a kid and they didn't go off.
Reply #21 Top
Robby pierced his nose while beating 22 rifle long shells on rocks one afternoon



and I thought it would be funny to throw a couple of 22 shells into a fire out on the lake when I was about 6 years olc. nothing funny about it though
Reply #22 Top
You know what I realized. I worried more about my kids because of the stupid things I did when I was young. To this day my mom wonders how I survived and never broke and bone or had stitches to boot.

P.S. this was sent to me by my sister-in-law. I did not write this myself.