Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Runs with scissors


I got this in an email earlier today. I hit home and then a realized that I was old .I bet every generation that gets to be over fifty looks back and says it was better then ... Maybe it was, maybe it was not, but I would love for someone born after 1979 to write their version of growing up and let me know if the "protective rules" have helped or not .I know the " rules" are all good. I just do question losing to many of our rights when " good Rules"or common sense becomes a "law"  to protect us from what we may be In "fear " of. You all know if you read my blog from time to time that the  issue of  "fear "comes up once in a while with me . I hate the thought of anyone living  in fear .  It s so limiting . So anyhow here is the email.
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE
1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!! 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-base paints.
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.
Riding in the back of a pick-up truck 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, 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..
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 them down the hill, only to find out
we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushesa few times, we learned to solve the problem.We did not have Playstations,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.
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!
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.
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 ?















17 comments:

Beth Anderson said...

This is great Julie and thanks for sharing and allowing us to relive some of those great memories for a moment. We are special aren't we and I'm proud to be of "that" generation!
:-)

lilylovekin said...

Yeah for being one of those kids who went out and played from sunrise to sunset. I'm glad I got to play with you!

Silke Powers said...

I was born in the 60's and that is how I grew up! I think about that so often as I observe overscheduled kids these days who aren't allowed to be outside without supervision and who are driven everywhere.

We had NO TV, we played - really played every day, my best friend and I walked to elementary school together (it would take 30 minutes), and later I rode my bike to my high school 5 miles each way, we took public transportation when the bike ride would be too long, we spent every day with our friends, we read lots of books, and we played and played and played. I had very difficult teen years in my family, but I wouldn't trade the freedom and sweetness of my childhood for anything!

I often feel sadness for kids now who will never know those joys! Thank you so much for these memories!! Love, Silke

Julie Whitmore Pottery said...

Julie, I still drink water from the hose, but it will be our secret.

xx

Lisa Holtzman said...

I think we had more fun and had to be more imaginative in our play. I remember walking to elementary school 3 miles from our house and no one worried. Oh, and skating and bike riding in the street...okay skinned knees all the time, but it was fun and somehow we survived without someone watching over us all the time. Great post. Did I tell you I smile every time I look at "Lady and the Tramp"?!

Terri Kahrs said...

How did we EVER survive!!! LOL!!! My husband and I talk about this all of the time - especially when we see one of our daughters-in-law whipping out an antibacterial wipe every time her toddler get a smudge on her face! Thanks for sharing this great post, Julie! Hugs, Terri

Kathy said...

Oh, this is all so true. I was born in 1956. My sister and I at the age of 12 and 8 would board the city bus and go to downtown Kansas City to meet my aunt for lunch. Imagine putting a child of 12 on a bus with her 8 year old kid sister in tow. Well, first off you wouldn't. Secondly, you'd be arrested.

Ah, the times they are a'changin'

Kathy

angela recada said...

Terrific post, Julie! I was born in the '50s, grew up in the 60s and 70s, and I think it was much better back then. I tried to give my two children the same kind of childhood, but peer pressure (on them and me) made it hard sometimes.

sharon said...

i TOO SPEAK OF THIS ALL THE TIME! Awesome Julie!

sharon said...

Oh, and we walked 5 miles to school in the snow too!!And we liked it!

Lynn McGinnis said...

Good Morning Julie,
Thank you so much for taking your precious time to bring our thoughts to these things. Fear is a horrible horrible place to be. My husband & always say we were just born to late. Some days it is very difficult to face all the realities of what is going on in the year 2009. We try to keep on keeping on. With people like you it helps a great deal. May you have many blessings returned to you in this coming year of 2010.

Karen Valentine said...

Julie this is the best email ever! My husband and I are always lamenting about "the good old days" It is great fun to look back at a more innocent time. But I think you are right, we have to be very careful about making laws designed to "protect" us. It's a very slipper slope towards loosing our freedoms all together. May I post this email on my blog with a link back to you? I think all my blog friends would love to read this as well. Thanks!

Karen
My Desert Cottage

Renee Troy said...

Being born in the 40's, I can honestly say that I had the best childhood. I did do all of those things and survived quite well. Thanks for a walk down memory lane.
Hugs,
R

thekathrynwheel said...

Oh, ha ha! Thanks for sharing! I was born in 1967 and I did all of these things :-) I can remember playing out for hours and we knew not to go near to home if it was close to bedtime incase you got called in by your Mum! Hee hee. The good ol' days........

Cathy ~ Tadpoles and Teacups said...

Hhahaha!
Love this post! What about making prank phone calls and not worrying about caller id!?

Unknown said...

Sounds nice, but circumstances are different now. Aids, pedophiles, gangs, stronger drugs, and then of course the whole demise of the moral compass. I'm 13, and I have a constant fear of someone going on a rampage(Fort Hood) or disappearing one day (too many to name). Even school isn't safe, they say tell, but sometimes the repercussions are worse. Domenico

mycuriousteaparty said...

I love this post, there are so many similarities to my own childhood in London, it brought back some lovely memories for me.

OK we had lots of bad things happening, gangs, drugs, violence, poverty, a racist, homophobic, narrow minded, bigot of a father who didn't know how to be a husband let along a parent. It's a wonder that I turned out to be the creative person that I am.

But we also had good things... A wonderful mum, who taught us about tollerance and understanding (and boy she needed it) and took us every week to the library, and the park, who supplied a dressing up box with old net curtains so that we could be princeses and brides (...it was a different era).

All the children played out in the street and were in and out of the neighbour's houses, for a biscuit and a plaster for a grazed knee. We played, knock down ginger, glarnies/marbles, two balls, skipping ropes and hop scotch and had bread and jam for tea.

I could go on and on, things alter all the time and if they hadn't I wouldn't be writing this to you.

So change comes... we can't do much about it but we can nurture and love our family and friends old and new , and all the good things that we have learnt over the past fifty or so years.

I've just remembered something else... my socks always fell down and we had bits of knicker elastic to hold them up..... can you imagine what the youngsters would say if they had that problem these days..... They don't know their born.... is what my mum would say.