STORM2K

TO THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 30's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's
> > >
> > >First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while
> they
> > >carried us.
> > >
> > >They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing and didn't get tested for
> > >diabetes.
> > >
> > >Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were 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 children, we would ride in cars with no 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, bread and butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it,
> 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
> > >
> > >99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell
> > >phones, no personal computers, no internet or internet 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 made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms and
although
> we
> > >were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did
the
> > >worms live in us forever.
> > >
> > >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!
> > >
> > >This generation has 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!
> > >
> > >And 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 our lives for our own good.
> > >
> > >Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't
> it?!

Thank you,thank you for bringing back memories of my childhood.Everything you said was so true.We actually (gasp) went outside and (gasp) used our own imaginations.Whenever we wanted one of our friends we'd go outside and "holler" for them.We could go all over town and never have to worry about someone doing us any harm.You could leave the door to your home open and leave and nothing would happen to it.There were no gangs,no homeys,just us crazy kids doing kid things.They say everything is so much better now with cell phones,computers,video games and all that stuff.No,kids do not have it better.Why? They can't be kids in this day and time.Too much coming at them from all sides.Robbed of a childhood they all need.

I made my own Barbie furniture and clothes! Sure some were store bought but I remember covering Pop Tart boxes with construction paper, drawing circles on top for a stove. Going to the fabric store for squares of felt which became carpets for rooms. So I sure used my imagination.

And when I was a teenager, it was cool to sew your own clothes. And now a bunch of younger S2K members are ROFL their heads off right? LOL I'm being serious!!! I even made my own midi length coat once, out of wide wale corduroy. It was such a hit a dance once, I never took it off!

Thanks for the memories too Karan. We had it made back then didn't we? And didn't even know it.

Mary

Not to mention that kids all over America went to Scout rifle ranges, had guns in their homes (parent's guns), and it simply never occurred to us to pull off a Columbine-type bloodbath.

Why not? Becuase we had CLEAR standards, and lines beyond which we KNEW we couldn't go...and didn't.

streetsoldier wrote:Not to mention that kids all over America went to Scout rifle ranges, had guns in their homes (parent's guns), and it simply never occurred to us to pull off a Columbine-type bloodbath.

Why not? Becuase we had CLEAR standards, and lines beyond which we KNEW we couldn't go...and didn't.

We did have clear lines, ones we knew we couldn't cross.

We could carry aspirin in our purses, cough drops to school. Little Tommy could have probably brought a squirt gun to school, filled at after lunch at the drinking fountain and had a blast getting all the girls wet at recess. Would he have been expelled? NO! Probably made to stand in a corner or paddled a few times. But probably not even suspended. And for the rest of the year, he would have been the class clown. Not the delinquint!

Times sure have changed.

Wait are we starting to sound like our parents did? Oh my......

Mary

It's great memories that i wish my kids could have had - i tried desperately to give them the ones i still could but so many were under the control of others such as the schools and the reality of those wanting to harm children. As well as neighborhoods do not socialize and take care of each others kids like they did in our day. If you did something wrong - your parents were told and you faced the consequences! Now so many parents won't admit to their childrens wrongdoings! It is as if children have been given the role of parent rather than the other way around! What they say goes! It's sad.

Oh, yeah. I definitely grew up in "Mayberry"


We built tree forts.
We took short cuts through other people's property.
Other adults could scold us and we'd show respect.

On a saturday, we could be out all day doing nothing in particular. Go to a friends house unannounced just to see what he's doing. If he's not there, just go somewhere else. Didn't have to "check in."

We settled our own fights. Once when I got into a fight, my fathers response was "Did you win?" It was actually more of a draw. Today, parents would be calling the other parents or the police!

Bullies were a fact of life. You learned to stay away from them or to deal with it.

We swam in creeks and rivers and no one got sick. It probably made our immune systems stronger.

We'd tresspass on other peoples land to go fishing.

Sadly, the times have changed. I'm glad we moved from the city to a small town. I can get glimpses of how things were.

We made up a game called Search. Search is like hide and seek but you have the whole neighborhood to hide out. We also played with 3 or more people on a team and used bicycles. When someones was captured we had a jail and someone from the other team had to be a guard. You could also escape if you were fast enough on foot and the guard wasn't looking. That game lasted a whole day, sometimes longer if we continued the next day.

HG - we played a game called Kick the Can. Usually late at night after dark. A version of Hide & Seek. Someone was 'it', guarding the 'can'. The rules are fuzzy but you could run up and kick the can, releasing someone that was caught already. And if you caught a few people then you were no longer 'it'. We absolutely loved that game!

We also played badmitton in the street, under a street light in the summer. Our parents sat out on porches (remember those?) with other neighbors, socializing. And the kids played nearby. Since we lived on a culdesac, there was very little traffic. We just drew a line on the street with chalk for the net and played badmitton for hours. And I mean hours!

Another game we loved on rainy days was Monopoly. In fact my best friend at the time and I had an arrangement - one of us would have Boardwalk/Park Place and the other would get the green ones (I'd have to go dig up our game to get them correct). The side before you hit go. If I landed on one of her properties, that wasn't purchased yet, I didn't buy it. And we never argued about this - it was just understood!

I don't recall watching many TV shows back then either. Probably b/c there weren't many on.....LOL I was into Dark Shadows, which worried my mother terribly. Because she thought I was going down the wrong path, I wanted to watch it more! We also enjoyed the Mickey Mouse Club. But that's about it, from when I was really young.

Mary

Those were the good ole days Mary.. I had a great childhood and our front yard was the biggest so our house was were all the kids came over to, especially to play football and baseball. My poor dad couldn't get the grass to grow where pitchers mound and home plate were.

The only thing we didn't have was a pool, but alot of our neighbors did. We used to go "pool hopping" late at night when we got a little older and more daring.

HurricaneGirl wrote:Those were the good ole days Mary.. I had a great childhood and our front yard was the biggest so our house was were all the kids came over to, especially to play football and baseball. My poor dad couldn't get the grass to grow where pitchers mound and home plate were.

The only thing we didn't have was a pool, but alot of our neighbors did. We used to go "pool hopping" late at night when we got a little older and more daring.

They were great! I remember summers endlessly dragging on. So much so that I think kids were secretly excited about school starting up. Since you'd see friends that didn't live in your neighborhood again. But we never admitted that!

Another great memory I have is we would have a huge sleep-out. That is what we called it. We just picked a yard, dragging sleeping bags, chaise lounges over. And all sleep out under the stars - coed. Boys and girls. Today parents would flip out over such a thing - w/o adult supervision. But if you'll remember, most homes didn't have A/C, at least in my neighborhood no one did. So nearby was Johnny's parents' bedroom window, open so we couldn't get into much trouble. LOL And I remember needing the bathoom in the middle of the night a lot so I'd go home for that, but walk past my room/bed that looked so comfortable at 4 a.m., and not go back to the sleep-out. I caught a lot of grief for ditching them. I did make it thru the night a few times! We all just mosied on home when the sun came up and slept until noon probably, since we didn't even fall asleep until 1 or 2 a.m.

Mary