ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED.......
1930-1970
>
> 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 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.
>
> 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?!

good to know... sounds like some good times back then..heh heh heh

Pretty ironic how some of those things can apply to me and I was born in 1981. =P

I do know for a fact (and my mother as even told me this), if I ever got in trouble which resorted in my having to go to jail, unless it wasn't my fault, she wouldn't bail me out. I don't blame her either. If you're stupid enough to get yourself tossed in jail, oh well.

I was thinking the same thing. I was born in 1978.

I work as a counselor in a juvenile jail (Most states won't put juvenile offenders with adults) and it's actually safer there than your average school nowadays. Ironic, isn't it?

I have a book called "The Good Old Days, They Were Terrible" by Otto Bettmann. This book talks about the Victorian times and how they sucked!

I was born in 1980 and I guess it's a miracle I'm alive with ego and body fully intact.

I played on rusty metal and wood playgrounds, I rode a bike, bigwheel, go cart with no helmet.

I rode in a car with no carseat once I was 2 at the very most.

I got shafted for several plays, was last chosen for teams in gym, had my name written on the blackboard for goofing off, and repremended in front of the class was given time outs in the time out chair in the corner and threatened with spankings and soap in the mouth, grounded, sent to my room. I was told NO, I had things phrased to me in a non-positve way: "Stop running, Don't do that, NO eating chalk!"

I was TOLD when my bedtime was, no choices there, if I didn't like dinner, I either ate it or went hungry...

I enjoyed Cookie Monster eating COOKIES ALL THE FRIGGIN TIME, didn't HAVE to learn spanish (until I was in second grade) could freely say MERRY CHRISTMAS without getting a dirty look, could sing happy songs like "Three Blind Mice" and "Ring Around The Rosey" without having to learn the new, less violent lyrics.

I could celebrate birthdays, christmas, and hannukah in school without worrying about stepping on someone's toes, I watched Mr. Rogers and his non cyber-computer, bi-lingual, flashing, exploding puppets.

I too, was put to bed on my tummy- had a mom who drank and chain smoked when she was pregnant with me and when I was a little kid (ok, granted there are some residual health issues in me from that).

So, yes even in the 80's my classmates were all pretty much psychotropic drug-free. No made up disorders out there... (I beleive in ADHD, but I don't beleive that half as many kids out there that are being treated for it actually HAVE it. There's so many disorders out there that I think are just fancy words for "I can't punish my kid because it's not PC" I can't take them across my knee because it's pretty much illegal now!")

I was born in 1986. My neighborhood was old-school.

My playground had rusty swings and slides, no problems with them.

Lots of Christmas stuff around my area, still have the flags that say "JOY JOY JOY" hanging up every year. Nobody complains.

I also have seen Mr. Rogers, a show about as old-school as you can get. Plus I have a soft spot for it as a Pittsburgher!

I rode in the front seat, no carseat, when I was 5.

I always slept on my side. No back sleeping for me.

I chewed sugary gum, had Kool-Aid made with sugar, and actually ate burgers and fries at McDonald's, none of these apple dipper things. When I was six I could eat an order of large fries and two cheeseburgers (the old #2 extra value meal)...no problem with it.

I swam in a public pool and used a public basketball court (until I got my own hoop).

At the mall I could freely roam wherever, my mom could be at the cash resgister and I could be out of sight without fear of abduction (even though it seemed to happen more back then).

When I was outside, I got bitten by bugs and played with ants. Nobody cared.

I guess the only modern things you could say about me is that I always wore a bike helmet no matter what and that I was big into computers.