TO ALL THE KIDS

[Ironmen77]

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 phon es, no personal computer! s, 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 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?!

[OT]

Hey, you lived on my street?

[HilltopXJ]

The good ole days. Brings a smile.:)
The go-cart with no brakes, never fixed that problem.

[88flexj]

What I would give to be a kid again:)

[Ironmen77]

Wouldn't take a million dollars for the memories.

Wouldn't give two cents to do it again.

[RichP]

The bail you out of trouble part, that changed alot, in my neighborhood if you got caught doing something wrong by someone elses parents THEY whooped your butt then took you home for ANOTHER butt whooping.
Now a days the parents would get sued... maybe even by the kid..

Got caught doing something stupid by the police, they ripped you a new asshole for 30 or 40 minutes and made you feel like an idiot, a fool, a dickhead and all at once from an officer who knew how to be a professional ass ripper [most were WWII vets] but somehow when he was done you KNEW you werent going to do it again and that cop was now someone you could talk to.

Not anymore, now they have to do something and once you get in the system now a days it follows you forever. Back then it ended and it was over. Now a days it's compile data, build files, solve problems even if it's just a kid thing.

[planefixer]

Those were some good times.:sunshine:

[XJ Dreamin']

Hey, you lived on my street?

We moved from that street when I was five, and yet I have memories of doing all that chit. We moved in the winter and all the memories are summertime so I had to have done all that in the summer of my 4th year! Four years old and I was running around the neighborhood like a wild man.

One memory: the parents of the neighborhood were playing softball in the open lot behind our house. For some reason I don't remember I ran across the field and took a line drive right in the hip. Laid me down flat, screamin' and cryin'. They picked my up and set me back down in foul territory and went right on playing. Hurt my little 4yo feelings...until I forgot about it and ran off to play.

[streetpirate]

you bastards. what i wouldent give to grow up in "more innocent times".
i have always felt misplaced here, the only thing i would miss would be the computers, and the cars would make up for it.
if only i could be 21 in 1962 instead of 2006.

[OT]

That would make you 64.
What fun would that be?

[streetpirate]

who cares if id be 64 now, all the cool stuff happened already.

[red91]

That would make you 64.
What fun would that be?


about as much fun as living in Ok.

:D

[yardape]

I'm going to have to disagree. While the sentimental memories are nice I think that the reality of growing up today is only a little different than it was 40 or 50 years ago. TV is TV wether you have 150 channels to choose from or 9 like we did. You can only watch one channel at a time and the family is still going to fight over who watches what. That of course assumes that there is not a TV in every room.

If you don't think a kid can get his butt whipped in the schoolyard or elsewhere think again. My son's friend said something stupid to another boy and ended up with a broken collar bone after being repeatedly kicked on the ground,... the boys were only 11. That's a hard way to learn to be humble but knowing the kid, he was going to learn it one way or another. What has changed is the danger. Kids didn't bring knives and firearms to school when I was young. While there were always miscreants we called "hoods" they were usually a couple of bullies who were anti-everything and hung out together making sure everyone knew that they were not-to-be messed-with. That has been replaced with gangs that wear plaid shirts and khakis instead of jeans and shitkickers.

Yes there are intramual sports where everyone gets to play. In public shool systems where everyone is a taxpayer that is as it should be. There are many other avenues for kids to play on a more competitive level. My boy plays travel soccer. Those kids have incredible skills,... and there have been many tryouts where kids have not made the team.

Do I keep closer tabs on him when he's out in the neighborhood than my parents did of me? Probably,... but there is far more danger or perception of danger than there use to be. There is a website where you can log on and determine where all of the known child sex offenders live in your neighborhood. There are 2 living within 1/2 a mile of my house.

What has changed is parenting. With 2 parents working there really is not enough time in the day to properly attend to a kids needs so we tend to get them involved in organized sports,... or unfortunately,... ignore them. Sports makes them better students. While I remember recklessly rolling down a hill on a skateboard into oncoming traffic,... (really bright) my son rollerblades at a rollerpark designed with ramps that make him airborne and I would NEVER attempt.

Most of the kids I run into these days are pretty well balanced. The older ones are juggling schoolwork with sports and a part-time job. They're ambituos and want to do something with their lives. Where that is not the case I think you'll find parental neglect or overdominance.

While I have never been superimpressed with the schoolteachers (except one), that my son has had,... I don't particularly remember having incredible teachers when I was a kid either,... except maybe on or two.

So in a nutshell, life was a tough adventure and made us tough back then. But I don't think that kids have it that much easier today. And that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.:roflmao: :roflmao:

As an afterthought I'll add this: Since 9/11 the world has changed dramatically. While I love my kid more than anything, I don't think I would make the choice to bring a child into today's world. That is something for me that is VERY different than growing up 40 or 50 years ago.

[OT]

I had a teacher, in fourth grade, that whenever someone pissed her off, she would come over to thier desk and commence with shaking the kid violently.
We called it electroshock.
Not these days...

Another time, I think I was 10 or 11, I went to my next door neighbor's house, one afternoon.
In the back yard, she and my other neighbor (a boy) were playing put makeup on the boy.
Shortly after I was done laughing and pointing at him, his dad came through the side gate and saw his son, sitting in a lawnchair looking like a two-bit whore.
Ernest commenced with the beating.
Needless to say, Rick never played with makeup again.

[red91]

While the sentimental memories are nice I think that the reality of growing up today is only a little different than it was 40 or 50 years ago. TV is TV wether you have 150 channels to choose from or 9 like we did. You can only watch one channel at a time and the family is still going to fight over who watches what. That of course assumes that there is not a TV in every room.



You had 9 Channels? I HATE YOU!! We had 4...ABC, CBS, NBC, and Public Broadcasting. But different? Its alot more different. Remember when you could go out after breakfast and not come home until 2 for lunch, go back out, comein at 7 for dinner, and be gone till the sun went down? No way in hell my son could do that anymore.

What has changed is the danger. Kids didn't bring knives and firearms to school when I was young. While there were always miscreants we called "hoods" they were usually a couple of bullies who were anti-everything and hung out together making sure everyone knew that they were not-to-be messed-with. That has been replaced with gangs that wear plaid shirts and khakis instead of jeans and shitkickers.



I'll give you this one. It's true.

Do I keep closer tabs on him when he's out in the neighborhood than my parents did of me? Probably,... but there is far more danger or perception of danger than there use to be. There is a website where you can log on and determine where all of the known child sex offenders live in your neighborhood. There are 2 living within 1/2 a mile of my house.

I know if there were 2 child predators in our neighborhood when I was growing up they would have been called out publicly and then run out on a rail. They think they have rights? They have the right to a good ass kicking, and a couple of broken limbs. Can't do that now a days now can ya?

What has changed is parenting. With 2 parents working there really is not enough time in the day to properly attend to a kids needs so we tend to get them involved in organized sports,... or unfortunately,... ignore them.

Agreed. BUT if you need 2 incomes to make ends meet that is one thing...if you need two incomes to keep up with all the material goodies...that is a poor lesson for the kids as well. If your going to have kids...their needs should come first.


Most of the kids I run into these days are pretty well balanced. The older ones are juggling schoolwork with sports and a part-time job.

Disagree. Most seem self centered, unable to give consideration or empathy to a fellow human being and are only concerned with what they deem important. Quite a few have the " The world owes me" attitude. It owes them a kick in the ass to prove them wrong. This rarely happens outside of the US. Those kids know that if they want something they have to work hard. I don't seem much of that kind of work ethic with todays youth.

While I have never been superimpressed with the schoolteachers (except one), that my son has had,... I don't particularly remember having incredible teachers when I was a kid either,... except maybe on or two.

i could think of many more then, than I could now. Maybe because the pension / retirement system has gotten to be such a PRIZE to get.

[OT]

Here's a thread I did a couple of years ago.
It goes along with a lot of things in this thread, only funnier.

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=24219

[red91]

Here's a thread I did a couple of years ago.
It goes along with a lot of things in this thread, only funnier.

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=24219


:granny voice on: Ah..the good old daze...let me tell you...


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/red91inWA/rockingchair.gif




:D

[yardape]

OT: My point exactly however you did it with much more finesse. :roll: