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 nolawsuits 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 yelled for 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!
This generation has 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 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?!

Wow, looking for my scissors now!

AAhhh yeah, the good old days. How I miss being young.

Yeah. When I was a kid of aboot 12 or 13 my best friend in the whole, wide, world and his family moved to Kansas City, which is 150 miles from where we grew up. We had made plans to get together during summer break, but since both of my parents worked and his did too, alternative travel arrangements were made. On a hot and steamy July morning I boarded a Greyhound and headed north to see my friend.

The trip was good, except every time the bus would just get to the posted speed limit, off we'd go down an exit ramp and into another small burg along the way. The coach would roll to a stop in front of deserted buildings with a greyhound sign swinging in the breeze, and a forlorn pop machine looking as if it had seen better days. That two hour trip by car took about four hours by bus.

Upon arriving, finally, we had a grand reunion! During that visit, we rode our bikes all over town all day long, everyday, only stopping for lunch and a coupla cola slurpees along the way. We even attended a Royals game and since there were so many of us going, we all rode in the back of their pickup truck! (common practice for us kids back in the day) It was so much fun to be riding along, hair whipping your face and yelling to each other just to be heard over the roar of the wind, tires on the highway and other cars, as we traveled the interstate to the stadium. (I know, sports complex now.)

As our visit ended, I rode that same bus home and I remember thinking what a "traveled person" I thought I had become, almost "worldly" in my adventures.

As they say, "aahhh, the good old days". LOL. Just thought I'd share, thanks for reading.

heheheh "aboot"

I miss those days

90s are where it's at... *makes random gang sign*

I still did all those things. Hell my brother broke his arm falling out of a tree, I broke my arm jumping off a fence.

Yeah, 'cept nowadays (generally speaking) they would go out and cut down the tree soz no one else could injure themselves on it, and the fence would have to be rebuilt to code with anti-climbing technology installed and the proper warning signs posted.

Dude, we used to jump off the house onto mattreses. Dig holes, fill them with water, and jump in them. We tried building a tree house but only did the ladder, so then we just climbed to the top of the tree. We had a compost pile and built contraptions out of sticks.

I don't think you have to be in the time period to do all those things, I think it depends on how much money your family has. Growing up I didn't have much toys. We made our own in the backyard. We'd even run across the street seconds before cars drive by.


You guys ever play Hot Box?

agree with harry, i did a lot of that stuff, well maybe not the first 3

I don't agree with you, as i have done plenty of stupid and unsafe stuff in my 15 years.

But if you believe that we have been coddled (right spelling) and don't take risks and all that, you have to ask yourselves who are parents are. Because we're your generation's kids, you've raised us this way.