When I think how life used to be;
We survived being born to mothers who smoked and drank while we grew inside them.
Then after that trauma, our baby cots where painted with bright coloured lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles or locks on doors of cabinets.
When we rode our bikes we had no helmets and weren’t bothered by the risks we took hitch-hiking.
As children we rode in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding loose in the back of a van was great fun.
We drank water from ponds and garden hoses, never bottles.
We ate cakes, white bread and real butter. We drink full cream milk and bottles of pop but we were never overweight because.........
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, just as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No mobiles so no one could reach us all day and we were OK.
We would build go-carts out of old prams and wooden crates then ride down steep hills only to realise we had no brakes. After running into the bushes we learned how to solve problems for ourselves.
We had no Play Stations, Nintendos, X-boxes or video games. There was such thing as texting, no computers, and no chatrooms. Instead we had friends and we went outside to find them.
We fell out of trees, broke bones and teeth but there were no lawsuits from our injuries.
We played with worms and licked mud pies but the worms did not live inside us forever.
We made up fighting games with pointed sticks but never poked our eyes out.
At school not everybody made the sports teams or won races and we simply learned to deal with the disappointment.
The idea of parents rescuing us if we broke the law was unheard of – they SIDED with the law.
Our generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. The last 50 years has seen an explosion of innovations and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT!
For Carry On Tuesday # 65
I was pretty shocked a couple of years ago when I went to my little cousin's tball game. They didn't even keep score! What the crap?
ReplyDeleteOh also, we didn't have a security netting around the trampoline. You got caught in the springs or came down on the bar one time, you learned not to do it again.
Don't you miss those days? This generation will grow up much less competent, but there's still some hope if more people can recognise that it's different now.
ReplyDeleteHow times change! I see it everyday in my teaching profession.
ReplyDeletehalf-way through
This poem really touched me. I was born in the 70's and this is my childhood you described. Now, with two children of my own I fear for them because they do not learn lessons naturally the way I did. This poem brought tears to my eyes at remember "how life used to be". Thanks for sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteI shared you poem with my mom and she told me of a song that sounds almost exactly same. Not sure if you heard it, but it is by Bucky Covington and the song is called "A Different World". I really enjoyed the poem but it is almost exactly like the song, not sure if you were aware of it. I found the lyrics to the song on a website, http://www.metrolyrics.com/a-different-world-lyrics-bucky-covington.html Hope you take time to check it out. Thanks, Kristie
ReplyDeleteHi Kristie - I did in fact come across that song when I was researching my piece, and I 'borrowed' a couple of ideas then expanded it. So glad you enjoyed it
ReplyDeleteI so miss seeing kids outside playing, especially in summer.
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