I get 30 of these a day and in the 3 years I've been on this site I bet I've passed along no more than a half dozen...

This one is definitely worth a read/reminiscence in my humble and possibly worthless opinion...

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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, Nitendo'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, 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, 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?!

...and laugh a bit at lawmakers and those others who assure us they know best for us...

J_9

Oh, I just LOVE it!!!!

And to think, I still raise my children with most of those life's lessons so that they can pass on the good ole times!!!

RickJ

I see now that spanking is not mentioned. It should have been!

Curlyben

How true.

J_9

That's the one thing I don't do.....my children are intimidated enough by the sound of the wooden spoon hitting the kitchen counter top.

RickJ

haha, I know that one too!!

Or the phrase, "Honey, go get me the belt"

firmbeliever

I was born in the 80s but it seems my family was old fashioned in the sense that many in your list seems so familiar.

J_9

"Mommy, am I gonna get a spanking?" Can be enough punishment!!!

WVHiflyer

ok if I start e-mailing this around?


You forgot about trying to see who could get their sled as far as the creek - the winner went it....

And spanking was a good deterrant. Sometimes all Mom had to do was fold the belt and then SNAP it. That was the last warning....

And we played ball in the street.

RickJ

haha hoo hoo, good additions!