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Topic: TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's
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yourfriendinspirit Moderator Posts: 2630 From: California, USA Registered: Oct 2006
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posted March 01, 2008 05:39 AM
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-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 infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, 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 Kool-aid made with sugar, 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 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computer! s, no Internet or 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, show 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?! IP: Logged |
CancerianMoon Knowflake Posts: 1084 From: Sydney, Australia. Cancer Sun.....Gemini Moon.....Aqua Rising Registered: Aug 2003
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posted March 01, 2008 05:47 AM
hehehe... i love this!! i got this one the other day...for those of you with teens!!Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world. Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it! Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself. Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both. Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity. Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them. Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room. Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life. Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time. Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs. Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
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Dervish Knowflake Posts: 332 From: California Registered: Nov 2006
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posted March 01, 2008 07:10 AM
quote: The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas
Which is why generations after grew up differently. :P IP: Logged |
Node Knowflake Posts: 1162 From: Crowded House Registered: Nov 2005
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posted March 01, 2008 10:10 PM
I love the Dennis Leary bit where he talks about being in the alley around back....where his brother was playing 'William Tell' with the required apple on his head. His buddy had live ammo -as in real arrows! I love that. What does George Carlin call it? Natural selection. My father said: "That'll teach you never to do it again" Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs. have you seen the mom's that spray the kids down with a hose of sanitizer every 2 seconds? That scares me IP: Logged |
yourfriendinspirit Moderator Posts: 2630 From: California, USA Registered: Oct 2006
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posted March 02, 2008 04:20 AM
hmm? thinking I may still have a scar on my upper thigh where my brother hit me with a dart or two... Yep! -Those momma's tend to have the sickest children of the bunch too... ------------------ Sendin' love your way, "your friend in spirit" IP: Logged |
Azalaksh Knowflake Posts: 6523 From: New Brighton, MN, USA Registered: Nov 2004
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posted March 02, 2008 11:58 AM
YFIS ~Your dart-scar brought back some memories There was about a 10-acre woods across the street when I was a child and all the kids played in there --- we built forts and tree-camps and played Army and whatnot. One day, some rival kids from way down the street showed up and we had a war for the fort that my brother and I were holding at that time. They were throwing dirtbombs with ROCKS in them, whereas our home-manufactured dirtbombs were only carefully-sculpted round balls of dried MUD. One hit my brother right over the eye and he started bleeding like a pig. So I grabbed his hand and dragged him home to Mom, where he was promptly dumped in the car and taken to the doctor's office for stitches. That night my mom and dad went to talk to the mom and dad of the kid who'd thrown the rockball -- but no lawyers were ever involved, we solved things between ourselves..... IP: Logged |
ListensToTrees Knowflake Posts: 3946 From: Infinity Registered: Jul 2005
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posted March 02, 2008 01:34 PM
Some good points, yfis.....Its one thing keeping kids safe, but its another being over-protective. What was life meant for if it wasn't for living? God, I wish I had been allowed to do those things when I were a kid. How many others I wonder, have suffered from permanent damage to their health or confidence as a result of fearful, over-protective parents? I know its not their fault though- Only trying to do their best. All parents want to protect their children. I'm just pointing out that here is one who has grown, and has suffered, confidence wise, for the damage of such protection. IP: Logged |
MoonWitch Knowflake Posts: 303 From: Somewhere Out There Registered: Jun 2006
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posted March 02, 2008 02:02 PM
My ex tends to be over-protective to the point of being anal. When my son comes over I actually let him touch rocks and play in the dirt. IMAGINE THAT!! I'll never forget when Hunter was about 4 years old and he was picking up rocks outside and his dad said "Don't touch those!! THEY'RE DIRTY!" Ugh... geez. I let him play in the dirt and mud and then just give him a bath afterwards. Dirt actually washes off!!! IP: Logged |
Azalaksh Knowflake Posts: 6523 From: New Brighton, MN, USA Registered: Nov 2004
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posted March 02, 2008 02:07 PM
Yes but MW, dirt is full of *E. Coli*!!!!!! What kind of a mother lets her children play in dirty dirt??? IP: Logged |
ListensToTrees Knowflake Posts: 3946 From: Infinity Registered: Jul 2005
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posted March 02, 2008 02:10 PM
Too right, dirt is great!The only thing I do worry about is toxoplasmosis from cat faeces in dirt. But certainly, in most cases dirt is fine- being over-protective will only do more damage. ------------------ "It's just a ride & we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings & money, a choice, right now, between fear & love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your door, buy guns, close yourself off, the eyes of love instead see all of us as one"..... ~Bill Hicks IP: Logged |
MoonWitch Knowflake Posts: 303 From: Somewhere Out There Registered: Jun 2006
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posted March 02, 2008 02:49 PM
I also let him play on monkey bars...Perhaps someone should call CPS.
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Azalaksh Knowflake Posts: 6523 From: New Brighton, MN, USA Registered: Nov 2004
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posted March 02, 2008 02:59 PM
MW ~Welcome to your new residence!! Monkey bars!!! I am so SHOCKED I can hardly breathe..... Gads, next it'll be: IP: Logged |
ListensToTrees Knowflake Posts: 3946 From: Infinity Registered: Jul 2005
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posted March 02, 2008 02:59 PM
------------------ "It's just a ride & we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings & money, a choice, right now, between fear & love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your door, buy guns, close yourself off, the eyes of love instead see all of us as one"..... ~Bill Hicks IP: Logged |
yourfriendinspirit Moderator Posts: 2630 From: California, USA Registered: Oct 2006
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posted April 16, 2008 01:59 PM
.Zala, we absolutely must swap notes one day, LOL! Do ya' have a boomerang story too? Now those dangerous wooden toys were the best! IP: Logged |
lechien Knowflake Posts: 56 From: Germany Registered: Apr 2008
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posted April 16, 2008 02:20 PM
having an over-protective parent can cause the opposite effect when the child is older as well? at my age, i'm covered in scrapes and bruises all the time...IP: Logged |
juniperb Knowflake Posts: 6851 From: Blue Star Kachina Registered: Mar 2002
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posted April 19, 2008 09:01 AM
I was one of the dirt eating puddle jumping kids of the era... a little e coli and I was good to go lechien, I no longer eat dirt but I work in it and get all scratched & bruised up too. I haven`t been sick in many years so something is working!
------------------ ~ What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~ - George Eliot IP: Logged | |