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How Did We Ever Survive?
Saturday, 28 March 2009
TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1940's, 1950's, 60's and 70's !
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos .
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds , KFC, Subway or Nandos.
Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on the weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death!
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Toffees, Gobstoppers, Bubble Gum and bangers.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks 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 old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY , no video/dvd films, no mobile 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.
You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time...
We were given catapults for our 10th birthdays,
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet!
RUGBY and CRICKET had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on MERIT.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla'
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL !
28 March 2009 at 13:37
This is what you and your readers spoke about yesterday. We think we know better than our parents, but it was better then.
28 March 2009 at 14:30
I know my kids think they know better than me lol! we get used to the technology don't we, I hate it if I can't get hold of the kids, I may yearn for a simpler time when life gets hectic, but I don't know if I could really cope going back to it.
28 March 2009 at 15:36
You just described my life as a kid. Me and my sister made entire carnivals out of cardboard boxes. Too fun.
I'd rather drink wine and talk shit than water and be full of it...lol.
28 March 2009 at 17:39
LOl...me too!
28 March 2009 at 19:38
Sally, I was born in 1960, in Chicago, IL. One time in in 2nd grade I was threatened at knife point to bring money to school so these 'black' kids could buy lunch. We went home for lunch everyday!!
I told my parents, and we moved within to the Western surburbs within 2 months!
Yes, things were different for us growing up.
But, If my kids were gone all day long and out of contact, I'd be worried about them being kidnapped.
I don't know what the answer is. Right now my duaghter is unhappy in elementary school because the girls are already clicky, teasing, vicious, and this is only 5th grade.
28 March 2009 at 21:43
that's what i said, it may have been simpler, but we are used to being able to get old of the kids now.
I grew up in a small village, everyone knew everyone else, we felt save, v.different to living in london!!!
kids are under so much pressure to fit in now too, and I know for a fact that when I was small, no-one cared about labels, the right trainers, it is harder for kids now i think.
29 March 2009 at 02:51
This is SO true! I am 41, and spent my childhood entirely OUTSIDE! I developed a fabulous imagination because of this, can make friends easily, etc., etc.
Things are just so different now. Kids are spoon-fed entertainment, and handled with "kid gloves" (pardon the pun). There are MANY days when I wish I could raise MY kids in the days when I was raised.... life was definitely simpler (and in many ways, much more fun!)
29 March 2009 at 07:52
Amen to that. Life really was simpler. I wish it could still be that way for our kids.
29 March 2009 at 16:48
My mom drank like a fish when she was pregnant with me and I'm just fine. Just fine, dammit. Seriously, she craved beer so she partook. Go figure.
30 March 2009 at 22:10
AAAHHH the good old days. LOL :-D Yes I think about that often, some of the things people come up with now. E Coli scare here, obesse kids due to over eating and video games. Parents blaming everything in the book except themselves when their child is bad (i.e video games). Sad really.