To All Who were Born Before 1970

TO ALL THE

KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE   

1930s, '40s, '50s,

'60s and '70s!! 

    First, we survived

Being born to mothers who may have 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, locks on doors or cabinets,   

And, when we

Rode our bikes,   

We had baseball

Caps,   

Not helmets, on

Our heads.   

As infants and

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

OKAY.   

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 bushes a few times, we learned 

To solve the problem..   

We did not

Have Play Stations, Nintendos and X-boxes. There were   

No video games,

No 150 channels on cable,   

No video movies

Or DVDs,   

No surround-sound or

CDs,   

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 those accidents.

     We would get

Spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand, 

And no one would call child services to report abuse.   

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, 22 rifles for our 12th, rode horses, 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

To 85 years have seen 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 those born   

Between 1925-1970, 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 ?