Survivors

 

This morning I got one of those funny emails about all the things we baby boomers survived. And while I don’t want to go back to letting kids survive everything we did, it is amusing to think back on some of it.

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing and 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. (And I weighed over 11 pounds!)

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. (Yes, I even remember standing up next to my dad!)

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat. (Did that standing up once, to dry my hair!!)

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. (Always!)

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from
this. (It doesn’t say no one got sick. Lol)

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. (We didn’t have street lights, but we got hungry, so we went home.)

No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were OKAY. (Well, my dad could whistle pretty loud if he really wanted us.)

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. (I’m not sure we ever did figure out how to make brakes!!)

We did not have Play stations, 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. (I also got left in a dry canal by “friends”, accidently locked in a storage shed, and almost kidnapped.)

We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand and no one would call child services to report abuse. (Been spanked!!)

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. (My brother ate dog food once!)

 

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. (My brothers also carried pocket knives and never cut off a finger.)

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!! (I never made the team!)

 

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!

 

 

Comments

[Megan]

I could make a comment on all of those about our mishaps and near misses, but I'll just say we all survived.

Today's childhood misses out on so much!