Tell your kids how Brave you were ....

[UTE 701]

WE WAS BRUNG UP PROPER!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE1930's 1940's, 50's, 60's and early 70's !

First, we survived living in houses made of asbestos.
Our parents took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products,  and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.

Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonald's , KFC,or Subway .

Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on the weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death!

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy  Toffees, Bubble Gum and some bungers to blow up toads with.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, 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 old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on Foxtel ,
no video/dvd  films,   
no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet 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.

You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time...

We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th birthdays,

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

RUGBY and CRICKET had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on MERIT 

Our teachers used to hit us with canes and gym shoes and bullies  always ruled the playground at school.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!

Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla'

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO
DEAL WITH IT ALL !

And YOU are one of them!
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 our lives for our own good.

And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

PS -The big type is because our eyes are not too good at our age anymore
.

[spargo]

I was born in the late 70's. I did all of this, along with my brother born in the 80's.

It depends on where you grew up, and how.

[Desert lover]

Hear Hear!
50's kids here and this was also our world/s .... wasn't it wonderful?  The closest we get to it now is camping - where kids can roam (fairly) free around the bush and enjoy the simplicity and fun which life is.  My wish for the new year?  That all kids would put down their electronic toys for a few days and actually communicate with each other face to face!

May all readers have a Merry Christmas and a safe and Peaceful 2012!

[Al Coholic]

I was born in the late 70's. I did all of this, along with my brother born in the 80's.

It depends on where you grew up, and how.

X2    I was born in 82.......I did all of that and more. The first time i played a video game was when i was 11 and broke my leg, mum thought i might need some entertainment for 8 weeks. I played it for a day and was then outside trying to ride my bike 

My two boys are now 5 & 3.......they love being outside, and they are most of the time.....I will make damn sure it stays that way too 

[Symon]

Next time you complain about the younger generation pause for a moment and reflect on which generation it was that raised them.

You then appreciate where the real problem lies.

[heath74]

Ute, thats a great read thanks for sharing it.  I often wonder about this concept.  In respect to the amount of freedom we give our kids, I wonder if most of our concerns are due to us being more informed about the risks? What I'm trying to say, is that perhaps the level of 'risk' out there is what it has always been, but with our access to media and information in general people are more cautious as parents.

[Nomad]

Don't forget you guys had to walk ten miles to school in the snow with no shoes.

What a load of self effacing rubbish.

Nomad.

[speewa158]

Young people today dont know how lucky they are ,,, Lucky , Lucky , Lucky ,,,,,,,,,,,!   

[heath74]

Don't forget you guys had to walk ten miles to school in the snow with no shoes.

What a load of self effacing rubbish.

Nomad.

School! School! we would have killed to go o school in my day!

[ralphedward]

School! School! we would have killed to go o school in my day!

'tell kids these days and they wooont believe you!!

[Duchess]

Luxury! We used to live in a hole in the road and ate gravel for dinner....

[heath74]

A HOLE!!!! A HOLE!! we would have loved a hole, we were jelous of the kids that had a hole!

[cancan]

Ute, thats a great read thanks for sharing it.  I often wonder about this concept.  In respect to the amount of freedom we give our kids, I wonder if most of our concerns are due to us being more informed about the risks? What I'm trying to say, is that perhaps the level of 'risk' out there is what it has always been, but with our access to media and information in general people are more cautious as parents.

+1

[Alesco]

Did all that stuff but there was no snow in the FNQ and it was only five k's to school. My four boys also do most of those things. Electronics is tightly reigned at my house. But then Mum just took them to waterslides near Cairns and I'll bet she went down as many times as the kids. Lead by example.
By the reply's you can tell some people just don't get it.


Steve.

Sent from my MB526 using Tapatalk

[PAC1977]

I was born in the late 70's. I did all of this, along with my brother born in the 80's.

It depends on where you grew up, and how.

X3 - I think I did everything on that list except for hitchhiking (that was a no no where I lived)
Actually the first time I broke a tooth was because I was trying to ride my new (second hand) Mountain bike (that was too big for me) while I had a broken arm.   

[Bill]

Don't forget you guys had to walk ten miles to school in the snow with no shoes.

What a load of self effacing rubbish.

Nomad.

Being from Upstate New York I sure did this.
Plus......... It was uphill!!
Both ways!!!!!
Bill and Morag

[SteveandViv]

I find it interesting to all you that say that electronic items are tightly monitored in our home, the same with those that ban a DS or movies when away on holiday. I get what people say abut looking out the window but how many of us had to sit in the car for a 2 Month trip as is quite common today. While I agree that kids need to be told to get off their you know what's now and then I wouldn't dare stifle any creativity, even if it meant them glued to the computer for a while. I my self spent hours and hours building radios and other electronic devices from the age of ten but I also played sport. I also used to get the air rifle out and shoot a few black birds after school and play Rugby and Cricket etc. I think you just have to realize that life has changed. My oldest spends quite a bit of time on the PC now and I'm buying him his own for Xmas. He has learnt how to hack files at the registry level and in HEX Code, port forward on the router and block viruses and all at Ten. Yes it may help that this is my back ground but he is the one passionate about it and to be honest I think he gets out enough anyway.

Communication is only going to become more electronics based and I think those that don't get on board will find it hard to keep up and I for one want to give mine all the help they will need to make it in business going forward.

I also loved growing up as I did, jet boating up a Gorge, hanging out down at a river with a few cold beers with mates. I still do that though even though I am armed with wireless this and electronic that. If you make the time with the kids fun then they wont need to be forced out doors, they will balance their time themselves.

I want to be clear I'm not having a go at any one here. I just don;t agree with all this electronic restriction

[GLC]

WE WAS BRUNG UP PROPER!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE1930's 1940's, 50's, 60's and early 70's !

First, we survived living in houses made of asbestos. And now people are dieing from several forms of Asbestosis.
Our parents took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products,  and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.  Healthier lifestyle, plus many people dieing of undiagnosed Diabetes by the age of 30, so no need to worry about getting old

Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.the amount of people suffering from alergies has been in part attributed from the heavy metals found in the body

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.yep almost lost a son through that, thankfully knew first aid

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. (still remember the bruise I got when my Mum crashed, sliding on ice, I was lucky

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. still do

Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonald's , KFC,or Subway . well I can remeber Chinese in there as well, but Pizza was all the rage in the 60's and 70's

Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on the weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death!

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. unfortunately Mono comes to mind on this, not to mention taking drinks/candy from strangers.

We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy  Toffees, Bubble Gum and some bungers to blow up toads with.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because........

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!! see note on diabetes

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.most kids were afraid to admit they were molested as they thought it was their fault, from memory 12% of females above the age of 40 had been molested

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.unless we were one of the 12%

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on Foxtel , hmmm seem to remember pin ball when I was growing up, atari was in by the early 70'sOh well I think you have the idea;) lol
.

all serious, it was fun and I dont think the kids of today really get the simple things of life.

[duggie]

WE WAS BRUNG UP PROPER!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE1930's 1940's, 50's, 60's and early 70's !


We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because........


PS -The big type is because our eyes are not too good at our age anymore
.

We did not actually eat cupcakes in Australia . We ate pattycakes.

[speewa158]

We ate cupcakes when l was a little bloke , My Nanna made them & they were huge . I can almost taste them now

[kiwipete]

I love this.... it is so much like my life in the high country of Northern Southland NZ

The thing we forget is that at each new generation there is a change...

I think that you would find that if we had computers Video games and the Internet in our day we would be just how our kids are today... So don't use this to put your kids down just show them what fun you can have without technology....  and show them how big their thumbs are getting...

I remember my father and mother telling me how they had no TV and their toys were all hand made... My father inlaw talks about how while his father and uncles were at War he (12yrs old) had to go to the family farm for the week on his own catch rabbits to support the house  (I had a tear in my eye reading that back - Poor Little Boy   ) ...  I am sure your parents were similar...

[no address]

I'm a 62'er, vague memories of the time dad was working in the forestry, the married quarters had canvas walls. The virgin scrub was our playground, swinging of vines, climbing massive trees and when we got home mum would do a body search for scrub ticks, how we never got lost was amazing. The nearest town was 30 mile away, at school there were 27 kids in 7 grades, 1 teacher and i loved the free milk. Queenslands last stream driven sawmill was also our playground as long as we didn't go near the logs. Speaking of logs dad was a part time timber cutter with the forestry as well,and some times we went with him, that way we would be outer mum's hair. Dad would cut down a heap of pine trees while we sat in the car for safety reasons then he would go around barking them and that,s when our fun began, some of these logs were a 100ft + and were facing down a 45% hill or steeper an when dad popped the bark the log would take off down the hill like a bullet clearing everything in it's path, very dangerous, now the bark became our slippery slide, by the time you would get half way down the bark everything seemed to be a blur and there was no stopping, when we reach the end thing's got interesting, there as nothing to stop us except lantana. Dad made us go for a swim on the way home so we could wash all the dirt and blood off. I was13 when dad got transferred to another forestry and we moved to the outskirts of a small town and now looking back now I think that this done me more harm than good.

[SteveandViv]

I love this.... it is so much like my life in the high country of Northern Southland NZ

The thing we forget is that at each new generation there is a change...

I think that you would find that if we had computers Video games and the Internet in our day we would be just how our kids are today... So don't use this to put your kids down just show them what fun you can have without technology....  and show them how big their thumbs are getting...

I remember my father and mother telling me how they had no TV and their toys were all hand made... My father inlaw talks about how while his father and uncles were at War he (12yrs old) had to go to the family farm for the week on his own catch rabbits to support the house  (I had a tear in my eye reading that back - Poor Little Boy   ) ...  I am sure your parents were similar...

Pete. As grew up in the South Island (You can't help coming form the North ) I can here ya as well, we had it luckier than a lot being able to ride to school at 6 years of age with no worries in the world and then there is our great out doors but I agree with your comments 100%. We didn't have a lot back then but made do.

[cancan]

I think we are in an over protected world which is due more by media than by the fact that the world is more dangerous than years gone by.
My eldest is 7 and I mentioned to my wife that she is old enough to spend some of the school holidays at my parents farm and this was meet with "she is only 7 and we cant let her out of our sight" kind of reply.
At 7 I can remember going pig hunting with mates and using sticks that we found as weapons, thankfully we never came across pigs although I did get in trouble for losing my gum boots in a mud pool and then my mother mentioned that when she was 7 she would just wander around the streets of Wellington and she once got crabbed by a guy who tried to drag her into an alley but she managed to get away. No different to what happens today just not in the media all the time which in turn causes the protected species of todays generations.

[meimarocu]

+1

Correct x 2