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 room
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 ?
~
The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:
'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides,
flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one
end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist
attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the
Pledge of Allegiance?'
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