Congratulations to all us kids born in the 1940's, 50's, 60's and 70's!

[phorsenuf]

I hate this kind of stuff...has this been posted at Snopes yet?

 

[minkydog]

I hate this kind of stuff...has this been posted at Snopes yet?

So the lesson is, we should smoke while pregnant, sleep in lead paint beds, no helmets so we get concusions, no safety lids so kids can easily drink toxic chemicals, no seat belts or air bags so getting in a car accident is almost always fatal, no kids today have friends, we should eat worms, we should run with scissors, we should not do things that make us safer and less likely to die or get harmed, and while we produced great inventions we should not use them??

...

At least that's how I took it. The message is "Ignorance is bliss"?

Well, you know every generation thinks its the best and all those young whippersnappers need to get a clue. To hear my mother tell it would make you mad you missed World War 2, victory gardens, food rations, measles and the blitz. 'course, she doesn' talk much about nearly dying of peritonitis because they didn't have antibiotics, or failing a grade because no one recognized she had a learning disability, or her Aunt Mary who was institutionalized because of a developmental delay and no one ever talked to her again(she later lived alone and worked in Manhattan!)

Oh yeah, the good ole days...

 

[JenM]

In the immortal words of Billy Joel: "The good old days weren't always good, and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems..."

 

[famofsix]

How do you get tangled in a crib mattress? I'm having a hard time picturing it.

I don't know. His cause of death was positional asphixia due to getting tangle in fitted crib sheet. The babies mom is now an advocate for crib sheets that cover the entire mattress and zip on.


The thing is some of these things like not eating tuna seem silly but when you are the 1 in a million mom whose child died there is a reality check. I am sorry to be such a Debbie Downer.

My older sister and my mom never understood why I buckle the kids in and insist on car seats. They always use the statement "you were fine and we never put you in a carseat...."

 

[minkydog]

My older sister and my mom never understood why I buckle the kids in and insist on car seats. They always use the statement "you were fine and we never put you in a carseat...."

They need to come work in a peds ICU

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

In the immortal words of Billy Joel: "The good old days weren't always good, and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems..."

Actually, there was another Billy Joel quote that came to mind for me, Jen.

I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. The sinners are much more fun.

I can also remember riding down the highway in the back of my dad's pickup truck with my sister to/from the lake near my grandmother's house. We had to lay down though...we weren't allowed to sit up.

I also, the other day at a baseball game, saw a station wagon I would LOVE to have. It was a mid60's to possibly late 70's model with a seat in the back that FACED backwards. Growing up, I had a friend whose parents had one of those and we LOVED riding back there because we could make faces at the other drivers and not get in trouble for it.

 

[live4christp1]

I always enjoy reading this when it is sent to me via email or posted here on the boards.

Two of my favorite toys as a child were my Red Rider BB gun and my bow and arrows. Yes, I was a tom-boy and yes I played outside with them without adult supervision. Having been grilled before hand that you never point them at the house, windows, another person, etc. and you do not under any circumstances shoot the arrow straight up into the air because it will come back down. Actually followed the rules and never shot anyone or myself and had a ton of fun!

 

[phorsenuf]

When I was 2 1/2 we drove across country. There were 2 adults, 4 children in a Baracuda! 2 kids would take turn being in the back , where the back window was covered with foil, Dad chain smoking all the way.

 

[freckles and boo]

I don't understand the "life was blissful before..." mentality. My dad got to respond to all the ugly things that happened when those pick-up rides didn't end well. We can afford to be nostalgic about it because we didn't get t-boned or end up institutionalized due to traumatic brain injuries. Trust me, many the things my kids are missing out on (bouncing around unrestrained in a car comes to mind ) are more than made up because they have opportunities I NEVER had. They still get to play in the dirt and drink from the garden hose and run around barefoot. They don't get to be projected through the windshield of the van.

 

[FergieTCat]

I don't understand the "life was blissful before..." mentality.

I didn't take it to mean as life was blissful. I took it to mean that we weren't as protected as kids are today, and we still made it out OK.

I remember when playgrounds didn't have rubberized mats below the monkey bars. And kids broke their arms when they fell. And no one sued, and the casts came off, and everyone made it through another year. My parents smoked, I'm pretty sure my mother ate tuna when she was pregnant, I was able to escape from my playpen because the bars spread apart, and I am STILL a functional (for the most part) adult.

Of course, there are those kids who were hurt because of the lack of safety warnings we have today. But, that could be said about anyone at any time. I think of the quote "There, but for the grace of G-d, go I."

 

[PrincessKsMom]

My favorite toy: Click-Clacks! Nothing like chipping a tooth, breaking a bone and a window all at the same time! Now THAT was fun!

 

[freckles and boo]

I didn't take it to mean as life was blissful. I took it to mean that we weren't as protected as kids are today, and we still made it out OK.

I remember when playgrounds didn't have rubberized mats below the monkey bars. And kids broke their arms when they fell. And no one sued, and the casts came off, and everyone made it through another year. My parents smoked, I'm pretty sure my mother ate tuna when she was pregnant, I was able to escape from my playpen because the bars spread apart, and I am STILL a functional (for the most part) adult.

Of course, there are those kids who were hurt because of the lack of safety warnings we have today. But, that could be said about anyone at any time. I think of the quote "There, but for the grace of G-d, go I."

This is still all based on a feeling of warm, fuzzy "I survived so it wasn't all bad" nostalgia and not reality. Our consumer safety laws and suggestions aren't random. You are right about the bolded sentence, though, because as we solve old problems we create new ones. We can't wrap our kids in bubblewrap and drive them to school in tanks, but I will take today's common-sense improvements over the industrial age crap we had as kids.

 

[Robinrs]

I hate this kind of stuff...has this been posted at Snopes yet?

So the lesson is, we should smoke while pregnant, sleep in lead paint beds, no helmets so we get concusions, no safety lids so kids can easily drink toxic chemicals, no seat belts or air bags so getting in a car accident is almost always fatal, no kids today have friends, we should eat worms, we should run with scissors, we should not do things that make us safer and less likely to die or get harmed, and while we produced great inventions we should not use them??

...

At least that's how I took it. The message is "Ignorance is bliss"?

Snopes???? Why is this some unsubstantiated RUMOR or was it real life????

I remember laughing at my DAD when he gave us the list of how they lived, too.... and guess what? Some know-it-all high school student is going to turn his nose up to YOU in 2040....
..oh no, another story about the INTERNET... come on, that's so old fashioned!!!

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

We actually had a set of lawn darts (aka "Jarts") when we were kids. They were banned not long after we got them. Can't say I disagree with this, we could have put some pretty good holes in each other with those things.

My parents still have my old set. I loved those. One did learn quickly to stand far away form the circle target. No one got hurt.

 

[overlyspoiled4sure]

Yup, those were the good old days! However, as far as driving safety--there wasn't as much traffic or road rage & cars were HUGE. I believe most people drove safer then too. Now it's very important children be in carseats or booster seats!

 

[themarquis]

When I was 2 1/2 we drove across country. There were 2 adults, 4 children in a Baracuda! 2 kids would take turn being in the back , where the back window was covered with foil, Dad chain smoking all the way.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that not only was my dad driving with a can of Bud between his legs, but he was also always chain smoking!

The funniest thing was that my mom was always phobic about two things going on in the car: 1) not locking your door while the car was in motion and 2) sticking your arms/legs out the window. She really thought we would 1) fall out of the car and/or 2) get a limb chopped off! Kind of funny how nobody worried about not wearing seatbelts, drinking and driving, second hand smoke, and all that -- no, it was just the image of getting a limb whapped off by a tree limb that sent her into hysterics

 

[Grog]

Some people here just need to lighten up. It obviously went clear over the heads of some of you but this is HUMOR. Look it up in the dictionary if you don't know what it means, then go off and start your own "Life was horrible in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s" Thread.

Why do people feel the need to come in and dump on threads where people are enjoying themselves? I'm sure someone could post a harmless "Why did the chicken cross the road" joke only to be met with "My DH choked on a chicken bone so you should feel bad for starting this thread "

 

[phorsenuf]

Some people here just need to lighten up. It obviously went clear over the heads of some of you but this is HUMOR. Look it up in the dictionary if you don't know what it means, then go off and start your own "Life was horrible in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s" Thread.

Why do people feel the need to come in and dump on threads where people are enjoying themselves? I'm sure someone could post a harmless "Why did the chicken cross the road" joke only to be met with "My DH choked on a chicken bone so you should feel bad for starting this thread "

I agree! Lighten up people!

 

[famofsix]

Some people here just need to lighten up. It obviously went clear over the heads of some of you but this is HUMOR. Look it up in the dictionary if you don't know what it means, then go off and start your own "Life was horrible in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s" Thread.

Why do people feel the need to come in and dump on threads where people are enjoying themselves? I'm sure someone could post a harmless "Why did the chicken cross the road" joke only to be met with "My DH choked on a chicken bone so you should feel bad for starting this thread "

see the thing is some of those things on the humor list are not very funny It is a place of opinions so yup you are going to get people who disagree

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.


I bet there are plenty of folks who wish carseats were invented sooner and BIKE helmets

 

[Cindy's Mom]

I also, the other day at a baseball game, saw a station wagon I would LOVE to have. It was a mid60's to possibly late 70's model with a seat in the back that FACED backwards. Growing up, I had a friend whose parents had one of those and we LOVED riding back there because we could make faces at the other drivers and not get in trouble for it.

My mother had one of those.....its a miracle that me or my brothers never flew out that back window.

We were 3,5& 7 and my mom would let the 3 of us sit in the rear facing back seat with that back door window WIDE open.

It makes me sad that my kids can't do the same things that me and all my friends did.