Those born in the 40's - 70's

[Robin]

A friend of mine sent me this email and I thought I'd share it with you!! Really brings back memories - I was born in 1969.

Those Born 1940-1979!

TO ALL THE KIDS

WHO SURVIVED the

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 koolade 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 computers, 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.

And 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?!

[SuzyQ]

That is so true Robin, What happened to those good old days?

[KathieB]

This is especially interesting in light of the blurb I heard on the news yesterday about a school that has forbidden the children to play tag. *sigh*

[chesterfieldzoo]

Can't play tag? Whyever not? I still play tag with coworkers (we just don't run) I remember the days with no cell phones and sharing a land line with 3 other families because only rich people had private lines. Kids would scuffle, not shoot each other. Your first car was a beater, not new out of the showroom. And you paid for it yourself with lawnmowing jobs or babysitting. You'd borrow dad's car to go to prom. Only the president had a limo or hollywood stars.

[SuzyQ]

This is especially interesting in light of the blurb I heard on the news yesterday about a school that has forbidden the children to play tag. *sigh*

Yep I saw that too Kathy, scared they would skin their knees. Lawsuit waiting to happen. What is this world coming too?

[Charlene]

Boy that really sums it up, doesn't it? Haven't we come a long way.

[Robin]

My six year old said a few things recently that reminds me just how far technology has come.

We've had Tivo for quite some time now. We went to my mom's the other day and he had to go potty and asked Grandma to pause his show. It was regular tv and he doesn't get it that you can't pause live tv everywhere!

My husband was going through a bunch of his old records and Logan asked him why his dvd's were so big and black! OMG!!

Just yesterday, I was entering in a website address to visit and before I could even finish, he said "Mom, don't forget to put .com at the end!" He's only 6 and he knows this?!?!

[heidiiiii]

Hey robin, I was born in 1969 too..

I have a memory of riding in the back seat of the car at like 4-5 yrs old and standing on the hump and holding onto the backs of my parents seats!

Or riding your sled down the middle of the street after a big snowstorm

We had a backporch that my mom would yell from for me to come home. I would be gone ALL DAY.

We are turning our kids into big physical and emotional marshmallows.

[Steve_in_PA]

When I see articles like this, I often wonder if we are moving forward or backward ???

Have a nice day.

[luvdolls]

Hi, I was born in 57 and boy do I remember the good ole days. I still refuse to get a cell phone and many other new inventions. Now kids are on pills for being to active... and they call it ADD or something like that. I remember a good ole spanking would straighten you out for days (that is why we has butts) and grounded to your room that had nothing in it but a bed and a few toys was if you were lucky. Now the goverment has all the control.

[Irene]

I was born in 58...and I never thought I'd see the day when I missed the good old days...that was for old people...I'm not old...am I??? It's kinda sad to see how drastically things have changed...we may have advanced light years technologically, but at what price?? I too refuse to get a cell phone...they couldn't give me one for free...I have friends who have them and I can't tell you how many times that I have been "put on hold" when I am with them so that they can carry on a conversation with someone else...sorry, but I think that is so rude! And don't get me started with people who chat on cellphones while driving, grocery shopping or very loudly, on public transportation...guess that makes me an old fart!! Don't get me wrong, I think that some of our modern "conveniences" are great...like computers for example...how else would one be able to find a group of people as wonderful and diverse as the ones on this forum, others are not...and it makes me wonder where we will be in another 20 years???

[shutterbugkc]

One more to add to that list: we were probably all started on solid foods too early!

I remember my mother freaked when I told her that my son's pediatrician had warned us not to give him anything (not even rice cereal) untill he was at least four months old. She said "I started you on rice cereal when you were two days old!"

[CJEP]

I know the school with no tag was near me and it also had no dodge ball and a few other games on the list. I thought those poor kids. When we were in sixth grade I remember every recess we played freeze tag--boys against the girls. The teachers loved it because it kept us busy and not bothering the younger kids. There were no picking of teams since it was broken down by gender and we had a ball.

As the youngest of three I always had the seat with the hump and like Heidi remember standing and holding onto my parents seats (usually to get away from my sisters who were hitting me).

Of course, a happy thought is that for all the toys my 4-year-old nephew has his favorite things to do is be outside and find some sticks to pretend they are something or another. Last time I visited him they were firehoses so we could put out fires. The creativity is still there as long as we don't stifle it along the way.

Carrie

[wenlaine]

You have to wonder if, as a teacher, being outside supervising the kids at recess isn't in their job descriptions. And who gets to choose which teacher goes out with the kids??? And if the child falls or gets pushed and hurts him/her self, would that teacher be the one sued along with the school???

Lots of questions!

[Minis On The Edge]

Of course this brought back memories for sure!! So cute!! I sent it to some of my friends & family. Thanks for sharing it!

Regarding the tag thingy and teacher supervision, I can see how at times a teacher that personally may not like a kid and may see that child being picked on and turn there head and let it happen.

It sounds absurd but I worked for the Public Schools for almost 8 years and I saw it happen.

It ticked me off too and I would not let it happen on MY watch but I couldn't be everywhere all of the time. Also, kids single other kids out and can be cruel and if an adult is not there to turn the game back to a fun positive thing I have seen these games turn ugly then the parents get involved (talk about family fued ) and school should be fun & educational!

It is sad because when I was a kid we had 8th & 7th graders watch us (They were called "Play Leaders") and we had so much fun playing games during recess. Now, teachers don't want to be involved with the kids playing outside because they have so much more to do and they are stressed out because school is not focused on just teaching kids. There are schools without teacher Assistants or teacher aides and they are needed at every school. These teachers have so much paper work that they have to do to PROVE they are teaching. Then they have to actually do the teaching and workshops and deal with each kid personal issues.

When we were kids, the teachers could hit our hands with rulers if we acted out or they could make us stand in a corner. Now, it is considered crule and kids curse teachers out bring weapons and use them in school so things have changed drastically in the past 20 years........It's really sad :sweat:

[ilovecats]

Hmmm, what an interesting thing to read!

Makes a person reminisce (spelling? to lazy to check and figure that word out) about the good ole days....some of the conveniences we have now i wouldn't part with, but things did seem more simple when i was growing up!!!!!!!

[havanaholly]

Because DH & I remembered how little fun it was to get thrown onto the floor of the car with a sudden stop when we were little we always got seatbelts installed in whatever car we had and when the boys were too little to sit in the seatbelt we used the booster seat with a seatbelt (and with the last two, the infantseat with the seatbelt), predating the government safety requirements by about 20 or so years.

That said, between the litigiousness of modernday society and the government-imposed educational requirements that put so much more into school curricula that there's no longer time for kindergartners to have a nap time I'm still pleasantly surprised schools have a PE program (no time for regular recess!). Then, so many parents fill their children's remaining day with extra classes & organized activities ther's just no room for unstructured, unsupervised play and allowing imaginations to run wild.

Oops <scrambling down from the soapbox>, I'm about to launch into a "we didn't have as much childhood obesity and its attendant problems" rant.

[Irene]

I totally agree with you HavanaHolly.....It's a shame...kids don't get to be kids anymore....

[havanaholly]

The other side of the coin is that with a more sedentary schoolday and parental fears of letting kids play alone & unsupervised is the growing rate of obesity & morbid obesity in our children, and their attendant problems. Whilst I was still a school nurse and we had begun assessing BMI along with visual & auditory acuity, I was finding children who had already developed Type II diabetes mellitus and had heart problems and even strokes!

[heidiiiii]

On the news yesterday there was a story in our state about a middle school kid who was suspended because they said he had a hit list. I started to listen. What the child had was he listed all of the kids in school he knew and he wrote next to their name whether he liked them or not.

Now that is all they said. I think if he had written he was going to hurt them, the news would have added that. Is it me or does that sound like a child isnt allowed to have personal feelings? Nat has a notebook where she writes her personal thoughts (i started both girls early to write in journals to express their feelings). I remember being in middle school and sometimes hating a particular person. You write it down and express it. Now I would have to worry if they would send me to jail for it!

[Color Me Holly]

I totally agree with you HavanaHolly.....It's a shame...kids don't get to be kids anymore....

I guess it depends on who the parents are. Winter is here so we have forced inactivity(my hallway has become a runway). During the summer the neighborhood kids(my kids included) play organized games like kick-the-can, tag, red light, hackey sack. The kids have boundries as to how far they can go. My kids need to ask if the can go somewhere off the street. Sher and Ella are allowed in our fenced yard with the front door open so I can hear them. Otherwise they have to have a big sister or parent to play on the street with the other kids. Cute story we had sod put in in August. Sheridan, Ella and my nephew were outside play after the lawn established. I stuck my head out to check on them and they all sitting around the dogs' water tub arms inside. I went to see what was so interesting. They had pulled up part of the grass and the dirt underneath and were mixing it in the water dish to make "Egyptian Mud Bricks." That is their story and they're sticking to it.

[dollshousegirl]

Me too, i was a 1969 baby too, i was born just as they splashed down from the moon. I too remeber sitting right between the front seats in the car, WOW and i am still here, you know they've just brought out a new rule here in the UK, any child under 135cm, has to be strapped into a child car seat or a booster seat, now my youngest as she has turners Syndrome is smller than your average 12 year old (she is 127cm) I cannot see her succuming to being strapped in waht she would call a baby seat Eeek !!!

how times have changed !!

Talking about turning kids in marshmallows, i think a lot of it is what they get bombarded with on tv etc, now i never had a second thought about riding up in the middle of the car seats when i was a kid, my 12 year old almost has a panic attack if the car starts moving and she hasn't managed to clip her seat belt in !!!

Hey robin, I was born in 1969 too..

I have a memory of riding in the back seat of the car at like 4-5 yrs old and standing on the hump and holding onto the backs of my parents seats!

Or riding your sled down the middle of the street after a big snowstorm

We had a backporch that my mom would yell from for me to come home. I would be gone ALL DAY.

We are turning our kids into big physical and emotional marshmallows.

[sarahnaylor]

Hi everyone!

I agree with most of what is being said. However I had the horrific experience of seeing an accident where a little boy was asleep in the backseat of a car without a seat belt on. He flew through the windshield and died. It's the most tragic thing I have ever witnessed! Now that I have kids I check twice if not three times that their seats are buckled in. I'd rather be overly cautious than the mother I saw screaming at the site of her poor little boy.

I am sorry I had to share that, but I really wouldn't want anyone else to experience that either.

[Peachie]

I remember those good ole days....we would go out and play all day.....parents didn't have to worry about someone taking us....because things like that just didn't happen then.....I worked in the school system for about 10 years.....I think the biggest problem is kids don't respect others.....I wouldn't even want to think what my parents would have done if I had been disrespectful to others......I always told my son treat others as you want to be treated.....and always respect others......

[hollyclyff]

Yep, we wonder why so many kids are overweight. Have you ever strapped on a bicycle helmet? Properly worn, those things are not at all comfortable. My daughter never rides her bike because she doesn't want to put on a helmet. It's no wonder kids don't want to play much. They have to get all suited up just to ride a scooter. Now, seat belts, I am all for. But I'm against laws that require them to be worn by adults. Here in NC, we now require children up to 8 to be in car seats. All because so many people have big SUVs whose seat belts don't fit small kids. Doesn't matter if you have a small car with seat belts that fit your 7 year old perfectly fine, you still have to him in a car seat.

It makes me sad sometimes to see the way the world is these days. Dodgeball was the only sport I was good at and now most schools don't allow it. I don't remember anyone getting hurt playing dodgeball when I was a kid.

And I just have to share this - we went to Washington DC this past week. I, of course expected all sorts of security checks, but the one at the White House Visitors Center really took the cake. Now this place is blocks from the actual White House and is basically just a room with some informational displays about the White House. There were maybe 15 people in it at any one time - hardly a prime terrorist target I would think. The security officer told me to empty my pockets. I produced a used tissue (there were no trash cans handy when I used it). I asked if I could just throw it away and he emphatically directed me to put it in the basket and then ran it through the xray machine. I think that is just a bit overboard on the security. Has anyone ever been hurt with a Kleenex? What on earth?