All of a sudden she puts conditions on her blog? What the fuck?
Meh.
This is a regurgitation of someone else's words. I had nothing to do with them, I'm just passing them along because I am amused at how almost all of them are my truth growing up in the 70s and 80s. Respect Anonymous for being so introspective.
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 Kool-aid 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!
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn’t it?
- Author Unknown
Thanks to Krissi for passing it along.


Poppy I love this and how true it all is!
this is very old and has been around….and is so very true. I remember being little (9 and younger) playing in everyones backyard on the block going in and out of everyone's houses - playing with all the dogs, and being home when the streetlights went on.
then we moved to NY and everyone had fences and no one played outside - part of the problems of the 80's
OMG! This is such a profound post!!!
Yes… I dare…
This is like the stuff my grandfather emails me. Are you my Papa?
Chris, the only one not true for me is the one about the food. I was a chubby kiddo.
Sparky, "it's all been done," as they say. I just didn't feel like publishing any of the crap that's in my draft section and I liked remembering the good points of childhood…
Dawg, how did I know…
Avi, I am your Papa.
(I don't have a Star Wars smiley.)
Awesome. And so incredibly true. Thank you for posting this!
We also played on metal playground equipment built on hard black asphalt. No rubber-coated swingsets and safety-minded woodchips under the monkey bars. I say it's survival of the fittest: we had to grow up tough!
Hey, I would let my kids do that stuff too, but I would be arrested for neglect.
I ran through the house with scissors last night. I did bump into the corner of the wall so my right shoulder is sore. So, yeah, I suck.
Haha Dragon!
Anyway, I talk about this from time to time. I think kids nowadays are going to be such wusses. I have a kid, and I love her more than life herself, but I don't always make her wear her bike helmet - and some moms think I am neglectful or evil! It's insane!
Oh -and this was NOT profound. Haha
Just this morning, my landlesbian tried to convince me that lead paint was far superior, and confided in me that she uses it for all the exterior paint on the property.
Note to self: stop eating the exterior paint.