Those of You Born 1930 - 1979

[delta22]

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 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 ?

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 swine 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.

A Small Prayer!

God determines who walks into your life....it's up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go.

I need this back. If you'll do this for me, I'll do it for you.

When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out that God is all you need. Take 60 seconds and give this a shot! All you do is simply say the following small prayer for the person who sent you this.

Father,

God bless my friend in whatever it is that You know they may need this day!

And may their life be full of your peace, prosperity, and power

as he/she seeks to have a closer relationship with you.

Amen.

Then send it on to five other people, including the one who sent it to you Within hours you will have caused a multitude of people to pray for other people. Then sit back and watch the power of God work in your life.

P. S... Five is good, but more is better.

[fnbplanet]

I remember getting out of a chair and walking across the room to change the channel on the television set also.

[endeavor1]

I remember building longer spider bikes with other bike parts, we also received Bibles at school in the hallway. I remember getting in trouble for chewing gum in class, and we used to get spanked..o.wow.

[MARINES65]

GOD BLESS!

[BradyBear]

Oh those terrible, horrible dangers times when a kid just had to be and learn what Fun was all about and how to deal with hard knock when they came about! Yes, that was what made us who we are today, Pray for overly protected of today, who think only of themselves.

[wealthhound]

Amen Delta!

My prayer for YOU today is that God will pour out a blessing for you and those you are serving with today!

[brbrlocke]

I remember selling koolaide (using my Mother's coffee table for my stand ) with no ice and people would come and buy some from me. Neighbors loved each other.

I made the best Mud Pies ever....

[reveldog]

I remember getting out of a chair and walking across the room to change the channel on the television set also.

i had to do that for my dad , i would stand next to the TV and listen to my dad give orders ,,, switch it -- switch it -- switch -- go back --- switch it -- ok wait ---switch it , thank god we had only a few channels back then 2-- 4-- 5-- 7 ---9 ---11 and 13

[betty1970]

Ah yes those were the days Delta. I used to spend my entire summer holidays out on my pony, with no cell phone, no riding hat and no money. Just jam sandwiches and a bottle of fizzy orange, from the age of about 8 to 16, then boys kicked in

I think it's a bit sad that now children have to be virtually electronically tagged. Sounding like a real old grumpy now.....

[DinarLSU]

I remember those days well,, We had to learn from our mistakes and became stronger because of it.. Parents didn't have to worry about their kids being bad at other homes, cause if you were, your friends parents would whip you.. Had no fear of leaving your window open on a breezy night.. All parents looked out for all the kids not just theirs and if you got hurt at their house, your parents would tell you to be more careful not who can i sue..Bring back the good ole days before the government decided what is best for us, the days when people still cared about their neighbors and helped each other without (what is in it for me) attitudes.. Merry Christmas.. God Bless and Geaux RV...

[pattyangel]

I remember going to sleep at night with our windows open and doors unlocked.

I remember sharing our Christmas toys with my brothers and sisters. The sisters share one doll and dishes and the brothers shared a baseball and bat. One day our doll was missing her head and low and behold one of my brothers was using it for a baseball. There's got hit over the fence. I cried for days, cause her little face was all bruised up.

We made up and they let me play ball with them, in fact I think I was pretty good at the sport.

But we bonded as a family like no other.

Oh, the things the kids are missing out on today.

[smee2]

Those were the days. I remember that girls wore skirts to school, and boys wore trousers, and no one wore blue jeans, not even the country kids who came in on the bus. By the time they caught the bus in to the city school they had already done an hour at least of chores and had to bathe and change out of their jeans into school clothes.

I remember when mom would holler out the window and ask us to go to Mrs. So & So for something like Creme of Tartar, and if when we got there she had none she would tell us to to go another neighbour. At some point we would find what mom wanted. It always got returned over morning coffee. Morning coffee at our house was like recess for moms. They would all show up, about five of them, about ten o'clock or so for coffee and someone would bring something like brownies of cookies.

We only locked our front door when we went away on holiday. We would have the neighbour come in and feed the cat because we usually took the dog with us. And if we could not find the key for some reason when it wasn't holiday time, we could always get one from that neighbour who took better care of our house keys than we did. We just never used them. And the car key stayed in the ignition all the time. We didn't have to grab the keys on the way out ... the only one we needed was for the car and that was in the car already. Dad did carry one of those wallets with a chain on it and a part of the chain that pulled out and held the key to his office and workplace, a lumber yard and hardware store. But house key, nope.

I am amazed that today kids are being taught to be afraid of things. Wear a helmet you might hurt you head. Wear your mouth guard you might break a tooth. Don't play with so and so who sneezed. Never share the same fork or straw or even a handful of chips from a bag someone else has been digging into.

Society is turning our kids into whimps. Fortunately there are enough families out there, with moms and dads who understand the difference between over protecting their kids now, and preparing their kids for the future. It is with those kids I place my hope for the future.

Thanks for the post. I enjoy any post that actually gets me thinking.

smee2

[Bull Dog]

This does bring back alot of memories. I remember taking off to the ball park with friends on the weekend and never made it home until the sun went down. Practicing my pitching on the gargage door with a tennis ball. My Dad had to replace the gargage door twice. Having ny best friend over for lunch durinng school and eating all the cheese sandwiches we could put down and then walking three miles back to school. Compared to today, thoughs days were fun, alot of fun and we were care free in that our parents did not have to worry about us kids getting shot or mugged. Drugs did not exist in our eyes. Not as kids anyway. The families would get together for a big dinner and we kids would just run allover the place without a care in the world. It really is to bad we could not take our kids back to thoses time for just a minute. They would be blown away.

[KNTIME]

What a cool post Delta!! I read it about 10 minutes ago and have just now came out of a "memory trance". That brought back so many memories.. Thank you...

[Nadita]

Those were the days. I remember that girls wore skirts to school, and boys wore trousers, and no one wore blue jeans, not even the country kids who came in on the bus. By the time they caught the bus in to the city school they had already done an hour at least of chores and had to bathe and change out of their jeans into school clothes.

I remember when mom would holler out the window and ask us to go to Mrs. So & So for something like Creme of Tartar, and if when we got there she had none she would tell us to to go another neighbour. At some point we would find what mom wanted. It always got returned over morning coffee. Morning coffee at our house was like recess for moms. They would all show up, about five of them, about ten o'clock or so for coffee and someone would bring something like brownies of cookies.

We only locked our front door when we went away on holiday. We would have the neighbour come in and feed the cat because we usually took the dog with us. And if we could not find the key for some reason when it wasn't holiday time, we could always get one from that neighbour who took better care of our house keys than we did. We just never used them. And the car key stayed in the ignition all the time. We didn't have to grab the keys on the way out ... the only one we needed was for the car and that was in the car already. Dad did carry one of those wallets with a chain on it and a part of the chain that pulled out and held the key to his office and workplace, a lumber yard and hardware store. But house key, nope.

I am amazed that today kids are being taught to be afraid of things. Wear a helmet you might hurt you head. Wear your mouth guard you might break a tooth. Don't play with so and so who sneezed. Never share the same fork or straw or even a handful of chips from a bag someone else has been digging into.

Society is turning our kids into whimps. Fortunately there are enough families out there, with moms and dads who understand the difference between over protecting their kids now, and preparing their kids for the future. It is with those kids I place my hope for the future.

Thanks for the post. I enjoy any post that actually gets me thinking.

smee2

I miss those days...when we can go to the neighbor's house and knock at the door or just walk in... nowadays...you have to make appointments... lol

[emmet]

of course there are many things I remember when we were free as I call it. One that stands out is when dad needed a pack of cigarettes he would give me a quarter, and the weeds cost .17 cents, I got to keep the 8 cents, boy I was rich.

I remember while in grade school after school we would hop freight trains, ride for a while, jump off and grab a train going back toward home. Mom never heard about these rides.

[Slaydadea]

Yea Delta22, looking back, It's amazing for the most part we turned out pretty good. Well, after reading your're post I looked in the mirror and my left ear seems to be a little lower than the other one. Have a great 1 friend!

[umbertino]

Thanks.

[armondtoth]

I remember wanting to be evel knievel, we all built ramps to jump with our bikes. I think we crashed more than we landed

[fancy]

Thanks Delta,

Those were the days! I remember riding my bike down the neighborhood and finding my friends. We stayed outside and played till it was dark. Sheesh, I won't let my middle school daughter outside even in the day light if I'm not out there with her. What the heck is going on in the world today. Anyway all kids do today is text each other and even when they are all together they are still texting!!

[Biker]

alls i can say is AAAAAMMMMMMEEEENNNNNNNNNN

[leanonme]

That brought back the simple days. Although we didn't know it. We were broke too. That we knew but didn't know what it could be that we was'nt getting except that when we needed a part for the car we had to go to the junkyard to get it.

[fancy]

I remember wanting to be evel knievel, we all built ramps to jump with our bikes. I think we crashed more than we landed

I had an evel knievel action fiqure with cool bike when I was a kid....and I'm a girl

[jimmycat]

Oh man every post on this, exactly how we grew up what a memory. When my mom was pregnet she would sniff gas from a pop bottle and crunch bits of dirt haha. thanks for this post we all needed it..

[CrappieShark]

Great post! Great reading and nostalgia. I also thought about things. It's funny how you think of things you did that were a bit dangerous. I never realized it was dangerous but still. I used to go into the woods as we lived right next to the Sherwood Natl Forest and play until way after dark. I never was afraid but actually enjoyed it. There was a damn not too far from our house about two miles and I discovered after a good rain catfish would get caught in a washout at the bottom of the damn. I wold take my t-shirt off and tie one end up and scoop them fish out and take them home. One night I heard my dad tell my mom he was going to folow me and find out what I was doing because he said the catfish didn't have a hook mark in the mouth. After that I always took a hook. Never caught dad following me but he probobly did he was woods savvy. Was an old french fort about 5 miles from home I played cowboys and Indians there so many times. Man if mom had known that. I did get chased by people a couple of times but easily avoided them. I had a pump bb gun and brought many squirrels and rabbits home to eat and never a question or a raised eyebrow. Played golf, tennis, baseball, football and always walked to the park even to golf. My brother and I would carry our 12 gauge shotguns to the field to hunt pheasant right through town about a mile to the farmers field. Dont try that today. That old farmer let us boys hunt and we would do anything for him. We built tree houses, forts, caves and we fell out of them without dying. A few broke bones along the way and a few gray hairs for mom and dad (mostly mom). Those were definitely the days.