TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !

First, 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 !

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 .

And while you are at it,

forward it to your kids

so they will know how

brave (and lucky) their

parents were .

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