TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN 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
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, 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 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 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 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 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 waterguns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks,
tennis and chopping balls and
although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bicycles or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or
rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
Little football games 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!
That generation 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! And 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 our lives for our
own good…. and while you are at it, forward 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?!
