THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED

TO ALL the THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED
1930s '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, 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, white bread and real 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 okay.

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, Nintendos, 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 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!

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!



.

quote:

Originally posted by fpczyz



First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

And unfortunately, possibly because of some of those things, my Mom never saw 68 and my Dad never saw 70.

Hell I use to jump on the rear bumper of the bus and ride that to school to save the car fare {bus money} for the pool hall. Get up at 4am to deliver news papers before school Boston use to be a 4 news paper town with morning and afternoon additions. Build or own rafts to go exploring evan went camping in the woods with a few buddies at the age of 12 not the back yard. Smoked Indian cigars that came off a tree, broke into a old funeral home big old victorian mansion type that had been abandoned for some time it was still fully firnished that was neat didn't do any damage just looking for gosts did'nt find any but put a buddy in a display casket and scared the bejezus out of the cops that came inside looking for us got a beaten for that one when the cops gave me the complimentry ride home. I could go on but this trip down memmorie lane made me think I should call someone. Thanks Jim

Those were carefree days and we had the time of our lives then. Kids today don't seem to enjoy life as we once did.

quote:

Originally posted by emsmom

Those were carefree days and we had the time of our lives then. Kids today don't seem to enjoy life as we once did.

Our parents' generation said the same about our own generation.

I've seen that post before in a chain email. I'm not a big fan of it. Sure, it brings back some vivid memories, but the message implies that today's youth is lacking certain life skills because their childhood was different than ours.

Let's be clear... the nintendos, Xboxes, personal computers, Internet, cable t.v., surround sound, and other inventions that the message implies has ruined our youth, was invented by the very people who grew up in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's who seemingly had this great childhood.

Why did these people, who had such great childhoods, invent so many things to escape real life?


(I know I'll, get blasted for my response, and that I seemingly always end up on the opposite side of the table on stuff like this. But in this case, I'll take my lumps...with sugar please. I'm just trying to defend today's youth. Our kids, who we are responsible for.)

Hello All,
Thank You, Fpxzyz, for this thread.
You remind me of what I had and what helped make me what I am.
I have passed some of it to my children, and they have accepted some
and rejected others. That is their right, just as it is my right
to find joy, comfort, and respect in who I am and what made me who
I am.
We have become a very harsh, judgmental society. We seek safety and
sterility to avoid pain and death. We are so afraid of others that
we lose the wonder of being different. Oh, yes, you can be diverse,
but only if you are a part of a group. A group gives you power.
But once, and yes, it is nostalgia, you could be different and the
neighborhood or your peers accepted you as you were. Yes, it could
hard to be different. I was called a "queer" too many times in my youth
because I wore my hair long. There was ignorance in the past. But every
generation has it's brand of ignorance. The children of today are no wiser
than the children or adults of the time I grew up with. But I respect them
all. Why? Because I have learnt from and loved them, (some begrudgingly loved).
What option do we have? To learn and try to love, or turn away and be ignorant
and hate? You can learn much from those that do not understand you. Sorry, I am
going on a tangent.
Thank you, Fpczyz. I am a liberal and you are conservative, (I believe). Yet, we
share more than labels and fears. Real life involves people exchanging and sharing with real
people. And sometimes, computer games etc. is an expression of new hopes and methods
of sharing with each other. Of course, as in our past, new hopes and methods often fail,
go bad, and do the opposite of its intentions. Individually, we can make good with what we have or do
bad.
Talking too much...
Take Care,
Fieldthistle

Fieldthistle, you are right on the money. What an insightful person you must be. I am proud to be a Roadfooder with you.

I was always a little in awe of my grandmother's life. She started off in a horse and buggy and flew on the Concorde. An amazing life.

Before we end up having to watch fpczyz wreck his shoulder while patting himself on the back I think it's important to point out that his post was lifted, without attribution, from any of some 400 places on the web. I got 411 hits when I Googled it.

Yes, many of us did survive the fifties.

When I saw this type of list a while back, it brought back a lot of good memories. It also made me remember and reflect on the ones who didn't survive. The girl I knew from church who stubbed her toe running barefoot, got blood poisoning (that's what was said), we were both 5, and hers was the first funeral I attended. First grade with Tommy Todd who had leukemia, he didn't make it; Laura who was older, came to church on a "rolling bed" (she had polio).

Another new buddy in first grade was hit by a semi when he ran back across state road 136 to hear what his mom was yelling from the other side.

The list goes on and on. Frends in high school who didn't survive car wrecks (what are seat belts?). And on and on.

quote:

Sure, it brings back some vivid memories, but the message implies that today's youth is lacking certain life skills because their childhood was different than ours."

My husband and I were just discussing this. I think my they are lacking certain life skills. At my daughter's age I was with my friends exploring most of So Cal on foot, bikes and bus. I was in the mountains somewhere most of the time. Todays kids tend to sit and have media blasted into their brains. They don't go ANYWHERE because of DVDs, cable and video games.

It is the fault of the parents, but none of my daughter's friend are even allowed to take a walk down the street. We used to explore forests, vacant lots and abandoned buildings.

When I was growing up, we had one fat kid in our class/grade (90 students). Now. more than half are obese. They also have little real imagination.

One time I pretended the power was still off after it came back on. We read and played games like madlibs, dominoes, backgammon and cards by candlelight. We all had so much fun!


Yeah, I think we are raising media dependent kids short on real life skills and experiences.

It is the fault of the parents, but none of my daughter's friend are even allowed to take a walk down the street. We used to explore forests, vacant lots and abandoned buildings.
------

OK, as a parent of three, aged 8, 13 and 14, I can't stand it, I have to pipe up. Whose fault is it, exactly, that if I google "sex offender" for my rural west TX location, I come up with no less than three in a ten mile radius of my home? How am I supposed to deal with that as a parent?

quote:

Originally posted by txtwister

It is the fault of the parents, but none of my daughter's friend are even allowed to take a walk down the street. We used to explore forests, vacant lots and abandoned buildings.
------

OK, as a parent of three, aged 8, 13 and 14, I can't stand it, I have to pipe up. Whose fault is it, exactly, that if I google "sex offender" for my rural west TX location, I come up with no less than three in a ten mile radius of my home? How am I supposed to deal with that as a parent?

I don't think that it is anyone's fault that you google "sex offender" and come up with three in a ten mile radius. But, we can probably debate whether or not the easy access to such information now (as it was not when many of us were children or the parents of younger children) is helpful or a hindrance.

I am one who believes that some convicted sex offenders (yes, some -- there are different types, some more harmful than others) should never see the light of day outside of prison walls. I know that there have been studies that say that the highest crime recurrence rate is in that of child sexual abusers. That basically means to me (and I am one of the more left leaning fellows on this site) that there is little hope to rehabilitate such folk into society.

On the other hand, not everyone that is a "sex offender" is a "child sex offender." And, still, not every child sex offender abuses every child in the neighborhood. Are the chances good that I lived in a neighborhood where someone else resided who might have been a sex offender? My guess is yes. Were my parents neglect in not finding out who these people were and making sure I was not in harms way every minute of every day? I don't really think so.

I know that you were just making an example, and I am certain that I would no more like to hear that *I* am living near a sex offender than anyone else, but the original point of the first post was isn't it amazing that we are all here today without knowing that there was a sexual predator living next door?

quote:

Originally posted by Catracks

quote:

Sure, it brings back some vivid memories, but the message implies that today's youth is lacking certain life skills because their childhood was different than ours."

My husband and I were just discussing this. I think my they are lacking certain life skills. At my daughter's age I was with my friends exploring most of So Cal on foot, bikes and bus. I was in the mountains somewhere most of the time. Todays kids tend to sit and have media blasted into their brains. They don't go ANYWHERE because of DVDs, cable and video games.

It is the fault of the parents, but none of my daughter's friend are even allowed to take a walk down the street. We used to explore forests, vacant lots and abandoned buildings.

When I was growing up, we had one fat kid in our class/grade (90 students). Now. more than half are obese. They also have little real imagination.

One time I pretended the power was still off after it came back on. We read and played games like madlibs, dominoes, backgammon and cards by candlelight. We all had so much fun!


Yeah, I think we are raising media dependent kids short on real life skills and experiences.

as long as you realize that it is "we" (us) who are raising them this way. "We," the ones who played outside, etc. Let your ten year old walk SoCal by foot now, if you wish. Some parents would call that nuts. It all depends on perspective.

Maybe, these kids will one day and have kids of their own who they are calling crazy and they'll say, "we never did unsafe things like walk So Cal by foot, bike and bus. We never walked mountains without a guide. these kids are wreckless and do things are are borderline dangerous and deadly. When we were young, we stayed home and played with our friends indoors where it was safe. We never rode a bike without our helmets and we always had to keep in check with our parents by using our cell phones to call home constantly."

See, it's all perspective.

you made a good point, Scorereader, but the thing is that most kids seem to be alone on their video games, etc. while they are indoors.
I'd like to know just how many are "playing indoors" with a friend/GROUP of friends.

My niece has about 200 fellow teenage schoolkids on her e-mail "buddies" list.........all that instant messenger, (IM) stuff .
too much time on their butts, and not as much time outdoors taking walks , etc...

The good ol' days of indoor games like Scrabble and Monopoly!


We were so thrilled that my 16 year old nephew just got a part time after school job at Foodtown. Cause that's 4 hours a day less that he will be in the basement playing his "Warcraft" video game.
He's addicted.....

When I come to visit, I almost always hear my sister giving the late night yell downstairs "get to bed , Andy, or I'm going to unplug the computer!"

And they live in one of those typical suburban neighborhoods where you "arrange" playdates, etc...

my thoughts,
ellen

I wanted to reiterate in a humorous way on your antedote, Scorereader...

reminds me of an old joke about a rock band pulling into a small town on a cold winter night........
and one of them could'nt help peering into a window of a nearby home and saw a complete family (mother , father, and all the children) eating a meal together...

and he says to his buddies "you mean people actually live like that?!!"

ellen

quote:

Originally posted by ellen4641

And they live in one of those typical suburban neighborhoods where you "arrange" playdates, etc...

What's this arranging playdates? I've never heard of this concept.

That term "Playdate" really disturbs me. Parents now have to make "appointments" for the children to play together.

I, too, used to run wild, but I also had my limitations. I wasn't allowed to go to the next block, and had to be in when the streetlights come on. Of course, I did crazy things like ride on the back of the gardening truck's bumper, and if I saw my nephews doing that today I would have a heart attack.

I'm not a parent, so I really can't say anything, but I think, like everything, there has to be a balance with calculated risks.

My strangest item that I survived was getting bit by a copperhead, using my pocket knife to cut it open (too much Gunsmoke TV time) and suck out the poison.

Left a nasty scar that no one noticed for a few months. Still got it forty years later.

quote:

Originally posted by ellen4641

I wanted to reiterate in a humorous way on your antedote, Scorereader...

reminds me of an old joke about a rock band pulling into a small town on a cold winter night........
and one of them could'nt help peering into a window of a nearby home and saw a complete family (mother , father, and all the children) eating a meal together...

and he says to his buddies "you mean people actually live like that?!!"

ellen

that IS funny, Ellen! lol.


a note on play dates for those who don't understand it.
The play date is a way for kids to play together in a safe environment. For two years, while in grad school, I nannied three kids. Play dates were a near daily event for all the kids. The only reason not to have a play date was because the kids had some other after school activity, i.e. sports, dance, music lesson.

While on the one hand, the term play date suggests some sort of planning, most play dates were conspired by the kids on the playground that very afternoon. You'd pick them up from school and they'd say, "can I have a play date with so and so right now?"

Sure, admittedly, some play dates where scheduled in advanced. But usually because the kids or the friends were over involved in other activities and they foudn it hard to get together.

Sure, I'm sure there are kids who basically only do computer games, but in my experience with kids in NW, DC (a very affluent area) most kids are way more over booked with orgnaized active activities than I was.

As a kid, all that unstructured time I had was certainly spent outdoors, but I had a lot more unstructured time than these kids, who sometimes have two activities after school on the same day. Which, IMO, is equally unacceptable as the kid who has nothing after school so he/she plays video games or blogs all afternoon and into the night.

While inactivity may attribute to some overweight problems, I think diet is the bigger reason. The foods kids eat today are significantly more processed than the foods we ate. Fat content, carbs, sugar (through corn syrup), are all higher than our snacks. We can blame inactivity for a part of the problem, but by and large, diet is the main contributor to over weight youths.

Again, this is all from my observations as a nanny for three kids and prior to being a nanny, I was a high school teacher for 6 years. I didn't see everything. So, I respect the viewpoints of those who have had other experiences.

quote:

Maybe, these kids will one day and have kids of their own who they are calling crazy and they'll say, "we never did unsafe things like walk So Cal by foot, bike and bus. We never walked mountains without a guide. these kids are wreckless and do things are are borderline dangerous and deadly. When we were young, we stayed home and played with our friends indoors where it was safe. We never rode a bike without our helmets and we always had to keep in check with our parents by using our cell phones to call home constantly."

God, I hope not. What a dismal life. A guide LOL. Glad I think that perspective is warped.

Okay, most of my friends can look back on childhood and talk about things that would have given most parents heart attacks. My husbands parents actually knew most of what their kids and friends were up to. Imagine playing war in the San Gabriel River and riding your bike on single track mountain trails.

Neighborhood's would be full of kids tying ropes to trees and building skateboard ramps (not to mention wall hoping and skating in empty pools).

My thing was rollerskating. I used to fly backwards down hills. Helmets were for when I rode my dirt bike. The only kids wearing helmets were those who were dropped on their heads as children and lacked coordination.

I broke my arm in 5 places once skateboarding down a hill. I missed baseball season :-( Came close to death on more than one occasion. Got banged up a bit. Wouldn't trade it for the world.

Oh yeah. Our kids also shoot and ride dirt bikes and climb mountains and rappel. They are so much more in tune with life than their Jessica Simpson, Black Eyed Peas listening, video game addicted peers. Fortunatley they like to hang out with their beer drinking, motorcycle riding, mountain climbing, surfing, 4-wheeling parents and friends.

Am I the only one to notice that these pathetic, sedentary, over-pampered, overprotected children are the direct offspring of the fabulous children celebrated in the original post?

Memory is a wonderful/terrible thing, cleansing us of all the ugliness and awkwardness of youth, leaving only the good times to play on that endless video loop in our brains...

Buddy

quote:

Originally posted by BuddyRoadhouse

Am I the only one to notice that these pathetic, sedentary, over-pampered, overprotected children are the direct offspring of the fabulous children celebrated in the original post?

Memory is a wonderful/terrible thing, cleansing us of all the ugliness and awkwardness of youth, leaving only the good times to play on that endless video loop in our brains...

Buddy

nope. It's the first thing I noticed:

quote:

originally posted by scorereader

Let's be clear... the nintendos, Xboxes, personal computers, Internet, cable t.v., surround sound, and other inventions that the message implies has ruined our youth, was invented by the very people who grew up in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's who seemingly had this great childhood.

I bow down in your general direction, oh like-minded one.

Buddy

quote:

Originally posted by V960

My strangest item that I survived was getting bit by a copperhead, using my pocket knife to cut it open (too much Gunsmoke TV time) and suck out the poison.

Left a nasty scar that no one noticed for a few months. Still got it forty years later.

Good lord! My 8yo daughter was recently bitten by a western diamondback rattlesnake (there goes MY "Overprotective Mother Of The Year" award) and it earned her a lifeflight helicopter ride, a week in a burn ICU unit, and about 15 vials of antivenin. We did learn that most bites aren't "hot" or envenomated, but still, it's amazing that you didn't have a worse reaction!

It's funny, I keep thinking about this post for some reason. Several years ago I'd have tended to agree that we probably have the same risk now of living in the same neighborhood as a sex-offender as we did then, the information available now just highlights the fact. But now I wonder. I think the internet has made pedophiles feel more comfortable with their sickness, as they can hop online and be in the midst of their "community" in moments.

My kids are lucky in that we live in an area where they can ride their horse, dirtbike, bikes, etc without us worrying too much about it (up until that snakebite, anyway - now I have a whole new thing to freak out about), but they'll definitely never have the type of freedom childhood offered me.

Then again, neither will the kids in China who are outperforming our kids academically in every category. The world is different, but it's hard for me to say it's somehow a worse place than it was when I was a kid.

Or maybe it is - what do I know? Which is kind of the point - as a parent, I believe my job is just to do the best I can based upon the information at hand.

well, you said it better.

Txtwister,
Rattlesnakes are a bit more dangerous than Copperheads. I hope your daughter recovers in good shape. She may have numbness in the limb where the bit occured for up to a year. Infections may also not heal as quickly in that limb for a while.

Thanks. She's doing great, not a scar on her. It's pretty amazing, really, because she received a full envenomation (in her calf) and now - wow, six months later - you can only barely see a shadow of where the bite occurred. Occasionally she complains of a growing-pains type pain in that leg, but nothing out of the ordinary. Sometimes it's hard to imagine just how bad it was, and how dangerous those darned rattlesnakes are.

great thread! enjoyed reading your response back to me, (and all fellow roadfooders)........glad you got a laugh!

good point-------we seemed to have much more "unstructured" time back then.......

and more old fashioned fun..

there is actually a "soccer mom" type of driving service up in my sisters area (by Freehold, NJ) that for $5.00 each way will pick up your child in a van and take them to soccer or dance class, etc...
..it even stops at the nursery school for pickups...

then it shuttles them back home

quote:

Originally posted by enginecapt

quote:

Originally posted by ellen4641

And they live in one of those typical suburban neighborhoods where you "arrange" playdates, etc...

What's this arranging playdates? I've never heard of this concept.

A playdate. How awful!

Pretty simply, a playdate is when a few women bring their kid(s) over to play with other children. All it is is prearranging for kids to play with each other. No big deal, and no different than when parents would plan for kids coming over in advance, and doesn't preclude kids from getting together spontaneously as well.

Ellen, what's your anti-suburban bias? Do you have kids?