firemalt 10 Posted January 16, 2009 TO ALL 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 ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest fivestar Posted January 16, 2009 How true that is. With that being said, I am 39 yrs old and I blame my generation for making kids what they are today. We spoiled the hell out of them and as a friend of mine said "we treat them as a friend, not as a child". Today is a perfect example, it was -11 here today and when I was a kid we'd be out playing in the snow or playing ice hockey until we got so cold we could barely take it. Then we'd go home put on some different clothes and go right back out again. My kids won't even take the dogs out because it's too cold outside. How times have changed, damn now I sound like my dad (GOD rest his soul). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Buggie Pilot 4 Posted January 16, 2009 Proud to say.... Been There Done That 1957 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jfought 120 Posted January 16, 2009 i'm 35 and remember all that stuff. that was the good old days. makes me want to build time and go back. ppl say if i new then what i know now. i'm glad i didn't i would not have had as much fun. Cheers To all us go gettin old farts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Can-Am 1 Posted January 16, 2009 1960 ALREADY AN OL FART, EH Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ms_sign 5 Posted January 16, 2009 1967 and dead on that list Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Primal Rage Outdoors 0 Posted January 16, 2009 1971 and I remember all of it and miss it dearly, hell I can remember playing snow football as a kid with 15 or 20 of the neighborhood kids and coming in at dark with pants so Frozen they stood up on their own, damn good memories, lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rhino 0 Posted January 16, 2009 1960 growing up working on the farm, gas station my Dad owned driving dump-trucks with my grandfather who taught how to drive before i started 1st grade. MEMORIES Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yoginaranjo 0 Posted January 16, 2009 1975 barely made the list but very proud i did. Cause i remember going to the beach here in southern california with about 15 of the neighborhood kids in back of my dads 1969 chevy truck what a blast we had. Playing street football scrapping knees and breaking bones,riding bikes,climbing trees and kissing your first girl.you just took me back to memory lane with that subject thank you firemalt.............i could go on and on like i know everyone here can............ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cre8tiveCutter 7 Posted January 16, 2009 1960 ALREADY AN OL FART, EH Hey! I resemble that remark! LOL!!! wow that was some great reading! Made me chuckle and laugh out loud! I remember all those things!I have to add something to that list though, Nothing ever bad happened to us when our parents would go into the grocery and leave all us kids in the car! I also remember going to the liquor store for my mom at the age of 13 with a note giving me permission to buy her beverage of choice for that day. ( was a 30 minute walk) I also remember when i was in middle school and missing the bus alot of mornings and having to walk my butt to school a good 5 miles! Did that one alot! I actually got my butt beat alot for missing the street light curfew1 hahahaha Renee Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SmallSigns 23 Posted January 16, 2009 1957 and proud that I made it this far!!! How many remember when teachers were allowed ENCOURAGED to discipline kids. I remember being introduced to many a wooden paddle at school! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HySpeed 1 Posted January 16, 2009 1957 and proud that I made it this far!!! How many remember when teachers were allowed ENCOURAGED to discipline kids. I remember being introduced to many a wooden paddle at school! Me too. I saw the wrong end of the paddle more time than I can count. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Primal Rage Outdoors 0 Posted January 16, 2009 yup I remember the paddle and when teachers actually told your parents to discipline your ass cause he wont listen in school, lol, now you have teachers tellings kids its okay to tell them if their parents paddle them and they will get their parents in trouble. First teacher that knocks on my door with that crap better learn to chew with their ass cause that's where their teeth are gonna end up ! my opinion folks, lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Can-Am 1 Posted January 16, 2009 We had the old leather strap at school, and then you where afraid to go home because you would get it again. And the whiny do-gooders wonder why we have the problems we do now and the crowded prisons. Dave Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tory 0 Posted January 16, 2009 '62 I agree with Fivestar, we would play outside kickball or kick the can then complain when the streetlights came on because we didn't want to go in. Now I can't even get my kids to enjoy being outside. Of course we never had what they do now to lure us back in either. Love that Tim McGraw song "Back When"......puts it all into perspective. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Primal Rage Outdoors 0 Posted January 17, 2009 I remember the strap, in the small town I grew up in, all my family lived there, if I got in trouble at my aunts, I got a woopin', then and grandpa and granny's and then at home. lol, but I never ever have been in jail other than the fact I was a corrections officer for over 15 years. I appreciated the discipline and wish I still had those loved ones here today. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kearn 0 Posted January 17, 2009 1957 educated in the cathlic school you didn't look cross eyed at the nuns or there were serious reprocutions. If you got in trouble at school was nothing compared to what you got at home. I remember when I wa 18 (leagl to drink then) I drove home after a nite of parting(to much) didn't make it to bathroom in time(hallway) 6:00 am scrubbing carpet for my mom- nothing compared to my dads punishment( running chain saw for 9 hrs) learned my lesson after only one time Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benr98 40 Posted January 17, 2009 WOW the good ole days!! Hey we had the street light curfew too! I have to say growing up in that time, was SO much more fun I think, then todays kids, who think they have it better. Definitely WAY more discipline in school and home. Those nuns were SCARY!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ursine 0 Posted January 17, 2009 1956. It all rings true. I especially like the one about teaching kids disapointment. My wife used to teach school in California. They were told not to single a student out for doing good work. It made the rest of the slacker kids feel bad. I couldn't believe it. And they wonder why our standing has slipped in the world... I was on the receiving end of the strap more times than I care to count, and I lived. Bring back corporal punishment! Dave Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Primal Rage Outdoors 0 Posted January 17, 2009 during parent teacher conferences, as my wife and I walked in to my 10 year olds classroom, his teacher was busy with a mirror primping her hair and makeup. I sat down, she said Ben has trouble with his math, I stated " do you think maybe you might quit doing your hair and makeup long enough to see if your students need extra help? " her jaw bout hit the floor, lol, my wife made me leave the classroom, I went to the office and sat down with the principal and told her, that if I have to pay three grand for a tutor from Silvan learning, that someone in the school district was gonna write me a check or there was gonna be hell to pay. Not very long after my son now seems to have a couple extra tutors and is doing wonderful math, I don't think they like 6 foot 4" tatooed guys.lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DTFuqua 0 Posted January 17, 2009 My age at the end of the year was the same aas my birth year. that being said, I was the rebelious one. I never felt it was OK to keep my mouth shut when abused just to avoid punishment and refused to allow some prick to hit me with a board or a strap when I was just taking up for myself. needless to say, I missed a lot of school at the request of school officials. I was the least cared for of the four kids in my family and grew up as an angry young man and don't seem to have changed a bit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nonabelle 5 Posted January 17, 2009 1962 in tha house. guess what? i raised my kids how i was raised. lmao! they thought i was the meanest mom in the world but guess what? two of them have thanked me for how i did raise em. being that they see some of their friend either dead, on drugs, or locked up. don't regret one day of my upbringing or the way i brought up my kids. thanks fm for the flash back. yeah miss those days. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
buddy 7 Posted January 17, 2009 1965 here and "Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end...lalalalala" Yea, thanks FM, unfortuantly we tend to forget those days, and you know somethin' ...I wouldn't trade them for the WORLD! We wouldn't be the people we are today without those days. OK, enough SAP! Who remembers School dances at the school gym and everyone to shy to ask eachother to dance? Having to stay after school cleaning all the chalk boards for the next day because you wrote notes to your friends in class? And why weren't we in car seats when we were babies. My parents had a station wagon and we just flopped around in the back. 8 Track tape in our CHEVY pickup was our music of choice (Kenny Rodgers) We had Horses, rode for hours in the hills with friends...didn't have to carry a cell to check in cause the hills were safe then. Someone on here said Parents of today spoil their children, well, back then I think we were spoiled as well with what we had. Economy grows and changes, it has to and we change with it, but hopefully we are still teaching our children right from wrong (as our parents did) and hopefully we grow our children up believing that it's what is in your heart that makes you SPECIAL not "things" Dazzel "I'm leaving, on a Jet Plane, don't know when I'll be back again, oh babe, I hate to go" test - Who is the artist? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Primal Rage Outdoors 0 Posted January 17, 2009 John Denver, lol man I gotta hear thank God i'm a country boy, lol, man I must be sick, I listen to hair metal and anything loud, thanks for the flashback Dazzle !, lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
