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, and no one died.
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 that we forgot about brakes.
After running into the bushes a few times, we learned
To Solve the problem.
We rode on metal skates,
Spent long minutes hunting for the key,
And no one was scarred for life.
Nor did movies about cops and robbers, or cowboys and Indians, turn us into killers.
(My friend from Vietnam watched the same movies, and he didn't become a killer.)
We did not have
Play Stations, Nintendo, and X-boxes.
Video games, 150 channels on cable,
No video movies,
No DVDs,
No surround-sound or CDs,
No cell phones,
No personal computers,
No Internet,
No social media, and
No chat rooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS
And we went
Outside and found them.
We fell out of
Trees, got cut,
Broke bones, and
Lost teeth,
And there were
No lawsuits
From those accidents.
We would get
Spankings with wooden spoons, hangers, 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,
(Tommy had his taken away because he shot a boy),
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.
The idea of a parent
Bailing us out
If we broke the law
Was unheard of…
They actually sided with the law.
We had freedom,
Failure, success, and responsibility,
And learned.
My sister was quite competent at age 11. When Mom called the main office at school and Kathy answered, my mother yelled, "What are you doing answering the phone!"
A glimpse of the past.
And, sometimes, we would lie out in the backyard,
Wait for a shooting star,
And never see one.
Read what Kathy has to say in the comments! She will not say it, so I will. The skills she learned made her the #1 Women Singles tennis player on the islands far away.
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, and no one died.
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 that we forgot about brakes.
After running into the bushes a few times, we learned
To Solve the problem.
We rode on metal skates,
Spent long minutes hunting for the key,
And no one was scarred for life.
Nor did movies about cops and robbers, or cowboys and Indians, turn us into killers.
(My friend from Vietnam watched the same movies, and he didn't become a killer.)
We did not have
Play Stations, Nintendo, and X-boxes.
Video games, 150 channels on cable,
No video movies,
No DVDs,
No surround-sound or CDs,
No cell phones,
No personal computers,
No Internet,
No social media, and
No chat rooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS
And we went
Outside and found them.
We fell out of
Trees, got cut,
Broke bones, and
Lost teeth,
And there were
No lawsuits
From those accidents.
We would get
Spankings with wooden spoons, hangers, 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,
(Tommy had his taken away because he shot a boy),
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.
The idea of a parent
Bailing us out
If we broke the law
Was unheard of…
They actually sided with the law.
We had freedom,
Failure, success, and responsibility,
And learned.
My sister was quite competent at age 11. When Mom called the main office at school and Kathy answered, my mother yelled, "What are you doing answering the phone!"
A glimpse of the past.
And, sometimes, we would lie out in the backyard,
Wait for a shooting star,
And never see one.
Read what Kathy has to say in the comments! She will not say it, so I will. The skills she learned made her the #1 Women Singles tennis player on the islands far away.
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