To All Of Us

[dla4079]

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 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?!

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?"

For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us....go
ahead and delete this.
For the rest of us.....pass this on.

[adroitcuffs]

I always love reading that one!!! I get a kick out of telling my DARE kids that I never had video games in my house when I was a kid, and that doing research for school meant actually reading the encyclopedia... the looks on their faces and things they say are priceless, lol...

[Virginian]

I'm 26 and research meant the good old Encyclopedia all the way until I was a senior in high school and we got internet. It's amazing how much my life has changed in just that short amount of time. Now kids in middle school have myspace pages and spend half their lives on the Xbox.

[Hannibal]

Remember Jarts, the yard dart game?? Natural Selection at its best.

[dla4079]

I remember coming home with books for homework, my kids come home now with a folder with a couple of peices of paper. When I tell them to do their homework, they fire up the computer.

My 10 yr old son come to me the other day and said: "Dad, I need to get a laptop."

I told him, "Son, you have a lap. Put a book on top of it."

He looked at me like I lost my mind, lmao.

[Willowdared]

Ahhhhhh, but it's our kids and grand-kids raising the kids that you're bitching about - think about that!

[dla4079]

Thank you for depressing me PDawg, lmao.

[Willowdared]

Sorry dude!

I was lucky enough to leave paid employment when my son was born, and his development became my vocation. When he started school, I became a full time volunteer, which turned into a paid assignment. I was able to see how parenting has evolved (or maybe devolved) but I also see how society has changed.

Yes, we got to roam the neighborhood, ride our bikes, and play kick-the-can in the streets. Today, kids playing in the street means a call to 911 - I know - I take them. And cars used to slow down on residential streets for us, not anymore. G-d forbid they should go 25mph, let alone 15mph!

I love explaining to RP's that California state law and the education code specify that school playgrounds are neighborhood playgrounds when they call in kids for tresspassing. Oh yeah, we have dirtbags planting glass in those playgrounds.

The first things that get cut during economic slow-downs are library hours and rec center hours. And these days, the rec center's cater to seniors and adults more then kids. We've also seen recess and P.E. cut or eliminated in schools, along with art and music.

It's okay for people to say "I hate/don't like kids," most people don't bat an eye. Doesn't that strike you as odd? If someone said, "I hate cripples, old people, deaf people" we'd think they were the problem.

Kids learn from what they see happening around them, so work on showing them the best.