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Those of You Born Between * 1930-1979 *
- Nov 6, 2009 at 12:17 PM
- By
- Comments (95) Total Views (2191) Everyone can see this journal post.
TO
AL L THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED 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 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-base paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,
Locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode
Our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.
As infants & children,
We would ride in cars with no car seats,
No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.
Riding in the back of a pick-up truck 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, real butter and bacon.
We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar.
And, we weren't overweight.
WHY?
Because we were
Always outside playing...that's why!
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 them 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 and X-boxes.
There were no video games, 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 and no 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.
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 so much of our lives
for our own good.
While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know
how brave and lucky their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house
with scissors, doesn't it ? 
Comments:
Exactly....
I remeber being outside ALL DAY LONG....
not coming home until Dinner time :)
I have always felt bad for my kids because with all the nut cases out there, we have never been able to allow them the freedom to just go out and be kids that we had. We used to run all over town and no one worried about us....these days, sadly, to allow a child the freedom we had, could very well mean that child's life would end.
I remember getting up before dawn, packing a lunch, leaving a note, and going off riding my horse....many times did't get back till dark.
I wish I could find this funny but growing up with someone who had Ryes syndrome from taking asprin as a kid and a friend who was covered in scars for going through her windshild cause they didn't have a car seat takes the 'funny' out of it :-\ I get the point.. but those things changed because they weren't safe then and aren't now..
I'm only 16 but I spent most of my childhood in DR and alot of these things ring true for me too!
great post
While I agree with most of it......we have gone on to have better safety and technology. Everything happens for a reason!! It is because of our choices as parents and adults that our children do not go outside as often as we did and play their video games and computers more often.Our adult world has gotten sooooo busy that we also are not as active outside with our children.
I agree with all at the going outside part forward... but I hate the first part.
Dont you realize that the majority of people you address have had SOME MEDICAL ISSUES? Whether its now depression, on tons of medications, for it, cancer, diabetes, and the list goes on... do you honestly believe that mothers smoking and drinking while pregnant had nothing to do with that, or all the sugary disgusting processed foods you were glorifying. And you dont even begin to address the parents of people who LOST kids in car accidents BEFORE carseats were required by law.
So the begining of this SUCKS.
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Great post!! Those were the days when kids were actually allowed to be kids.