Baby Boomers Rock!

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wasabi

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First, we survived being born to mothers 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-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 infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up 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 and real butter and drank koolade made with sugar, 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.

We did not have PlayStations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, 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 or 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!
 
:) We also wore just plain Keds Sneakers no fancy $100.00 tennis shoes.In the summer we wore cut offs from our pants that we wore in school.No special clothes for the summer and you wore your Keds till they got a big hole in them at your big toe and thought that was really cool.And you usually had to wait till a birthday or christmas to get a fairly expensive toy like a barbie or tonka toys.We also had to eat what was put on the table or risk going to bed hungry.An allowance was earned thru chores and it wasn't very much so you had to really think how you were going to spend it so you could get the most for your money.
As with the go-carts we would spend hours building a fort or learning to sew clothes for your barbie doll
 
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no bike helmets... no seat belts... no air bags
and I'm still alive and kicking! lol.
 
I'm not sure what the actual baby boomer years are but I don't think I actually qualify, born in 1962.

but...we stayed out from right after breakfast till the lights came on the poles, only coming in when we were hungry. We used Ivory soap for every body part and never dried out or itched or missed the anti-bacteria stuff.

My mother actually knew the name and number of all my friends houses because if she reallly needed me, and simply shouting my name down the street didn't work she could call...we had no cell phones.

I remember my mother defrosting chicken on the counter all day.

We played Tom Sawyer in the brook behind the house without adult supervision and we played tarzan in the woods without bug repellant.

We sat at the kid's table, pretending to wish to sit at the adult's table, but secretely happy to have a place of our own with no one looking over us.

We walked to school once we got in the 4th grade, before that, we took the yellow school bus. No parents clogging up the local streets because they don't believe junior can make it the 10 blocks to school.

We looked adults in the eye when they spoke to us and called everyone Mr. or Mrs. We didn't hang all over our parents at parties or gatherings. We always offered to help, even if we were the company.


I've got kids of my own, now, born in the mid and late 80s and my kids are as much like I was as possible. It's a different time and a different society. Naturally, somes changes had to be endured...but not all. It's up to us to keep people interactive and social. If we let the ball drop, and people retreat to worlds of nothing but ISPs and reality television then the future is bleak, indeed. We don't have to be so afraid of everything we did so naturally as kids. It's not all lead paint and HIV nowadays, contrary to what people would have us believe.
 
VeraBlue said:
I'm not sure what the actual baby boomer years are but I don't think I actually qualify, born in 1962.

but...we stayed out from right after breakfast till the lights came on the poles, only coming in when we were hungry. We used Ivory soap for every body part and never dried out or itched or missed the anti-bacteria stuff.

My mother actually knew the name and number of all my friends houses because if she reallly needed me, and simply shouting my name down the street didn't work she could call...we had no cell phones.

I remember my mother defrosting chicken on the counter all day.

We played Tom Sawyer in the brook behind the house without adult supervision and we played tarzan in the woods without bug repellant.

We sat at the kid's table, pretending to wish to sit at the adult's table, but secretely happy to have a place of our own with no one looking over us.

We walked to school once we got in the 4th grade, before that, we took the yellow school bus. No parents clogging up the local streets because they don't believe junior can make it the 10 blocks to school.

We looked adults in the eye when they spoke to us and called everyone Mr. or Mrs. We didn't hang all over our parents at parties or gatherings. We always offered to help, even if we were the company.


I've got kids of my own, now, born in the mid and late 80s and my kids are as much like I was as possible. It's a different time and a different society. Naturally, somes changes had to be endured...but not all. It's up to us to keep people interactive and social. If we let the ball drop, and people retreat to worlds of nothing but ISPs and reality television then the future is bleak, indeed. We don't have to be so afraid of everything we did so naturally as kids. It's not all lead paint and HIV nowadays, contrary to what people would have us believe.

Nicely done, as always, VB. And yes, I am one of those proud birds. But I gotta tell you, some of us didn't make it...oh, not because of the lack of overprotection and myopic focus some now have when it comes to their kids, but simply because our parents didn't know yet know that certain basics -- carseats, seat belts, child-proofing -- could save lives. My mom thought seat belts were too confining and that if she just put her arm out in time, at least the kid in front would be okay. Hey, some people who now know better don't bother. So while I say no to micromanaging kids' lives or cocooning them, I give a big thumbs up to the advancements in safety awareness.

So a toast to us and a big thanks that more will be fortunate to survive to a ripe old age.
 
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