This article originally started with a tip of the hat to the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomers. I’ve extended the salutations to include a wider generational range. The kids lauded here did not necessarily vanish when the last Baby Boomer grew up. You will instantly recognize whether you belong to this once-extensive club or not. For your sake, I hope you do! The author is unknown, and I may have added something here or there. How many of these kid activities did you indulge in, and live to tell the tale?
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 pickup on a warm day was always a special treat.
Another spot which does not amuse safety experts is the back window ledge, just above the back seat. There is just enough room for a kid to wedge in up there, and be the envy of nearly all other passengers
We drank water from the garden hose, 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 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.
* Rack reminds me that we often weren’t home by nightfall, as sleepovers were a common social activity for boys and girls. When you’re having that much fun, it seems a shame to go home!
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s, 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 anyone’s eyes.
I can’t testify that no eyes were damaged, but parents definitely did not get into “Judge Judy” style disputes over common childhood injuries and antics. Someone would have had their mental health tested!
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. Again, parents may have coached or turned out to watch games, but absurd intervention, fighting and bullying by parents was unheard of!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
The result? 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 if you are one of the creative survivors, Congratulations!
Note, While you’re feeling so good – and deservedly so, I’m not even going to ask if you were overly protective with your own children!