People over 30 should be dead! According to today's overabundance of safety regulations, restrictive laws and product litigation, those of us over 30 probably shouldn't have survived childhood. - Our baby cribs were death traps! Poor safety designs, dangerous construction, and toxic materials. We were lucky to make it past the terrible-twos. - The world hadn't yet been childproofed. Deadly medicine bottles, dangerous drawers, perilous doors and unlocked cabinets lurked everywhere! - When riding our bikes, we had no helmets. - In cars there were no seatbelts or air bags. - Riding in the back of a pickup truck was a special treat. - Our toys were caustic, toxic, socially insensitive, politically incorrect, environmentally unfriendly, and safety deficient. Boy, were they fun! And all of them made in the U.S.A., too! - We drank water from the garden hose, not from a bottle. - We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing. - We spent hours building go-carts out of scrap lumber, and then raced down the hill only to find out we forgot the brakes. We solved the problem after ending up in the bushes. - We left in the morning and played all day, but were careful to be back by the time the street lights came on. Before the age of cell phones, no one was able to reach us all day. What fun! - We did not have electronic, computerized playmates. We had friends! We went outside and found them. - We played dodge ball, and sometimes the ball would really hurt. But there were no lawyers on-hand to assist us in getting restitution for our pain and suffering back then. We weren't traumatized by the hard knocks of life. - We fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones and teeth. There were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame but us. Remember accidents? - We had fights and punched each other. We got black eyes and big purple & green bruises. There were no victim-rights advocates to defend us. We learned to get over it. - We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. Some kids even ate worms. And although we were warned it would happen, we did not put out our eyes. - We weren't medicated with psychotropic drugs for being disruptive, ill-mannered, bad tempered, or inattentive. We were disciplined, sometimes severely. Lesson learned. - Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. - Some students weren't as smart as others, so they failed a grade and were held back. Test scores weren't adjusted for any reason. Parents didn't threaten teachers with lawsuits. - We gave our sweethearts a smooch at school on Valentine's Day without fear of being suspended for sexual harassment. - Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with law enforcement. Pass this on to other childhood survivors who had the good luck to grow up as kids before lawyers, bureaucrats and the government got into the business of regulating our lives. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?
I drank some hose water for the first time in about 10 years the other day. Tastes like fine wine after an hour of non stop hoops...
Outstanding!!!! stands up to applaud I agree wholeheartedly..when my kid hurts herself...I check and make sure it isnt severe...and then tell her to shake it off if it isnt.. when she does wrong...she is punished when she does right...she is praised...not bribed.. when school gets hard..I dont deman that the school make it easier...I tell her to study harder I did all those things listed...and I made it to adulthood as a good person and without any lifelong scarring.. the other thing that wasnt added to that....is that when you did wrong down the street, the neighbors would make sure your parents knew you screwed up... as some say...it takes a community...and thats one thing alot of kids are lacking these days.
I think I remember those glorious days.... Childhood was great - even if I wasn't allowed all the sugar and soda. Then came adolescence.
