First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were 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 children, we would ride in cars with no 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 soda pop 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 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, We had Atari & NES/Super NES! No 99+ channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell 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.

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!

This generation has 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.

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. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?

i love that soc ial conscience what a drag

We DID make it!! Yahoo! What a different world we live in now

WOW....is that what life was in America then. Glad I was elsewhere. LOL. I had a lovely childhood without all the drama and flashback darkness.

Oh yes, and it was a freakin BLAST! It was still like that when I was a kid. I really hope my future children can grow up and have that much fun!

they were the best times and the music that came with these times will live on forever p.s..i like flash backs...

that is so true...i work in childcare in england .... the authorties here have them so wrapped in cotton wool the poor things cant sneeze without it been a major incident lol

Good post. I really enjoyed...

Growin up back then sure was different

Cyn 1966 you sure described things really well for back then

It sure brought back great memories

Here is some more

Sleeping out in the back yard and not having to worry about anything happening to you ( except for the neighbor lady narcin on ya for smokin cigarettes) we used to pool our money and go to the gas station and get them outta the machine

Getting into a fight and not having to worry about somebody puttin a cap in ya

Hanging out in my best friends backyard because his mom was making pizzelles( those Italian cookies)

everybody snaggin pop bottles for the money and then pooling our money to buy more

Chasin the ice cream man down the street like a dog chasing cars

Putting baseballs cards with a clothespin on the front wheel of your bike trying to make it sound cool

Playing ball outside and having the neighborhood azzhole call the cops on ya for playing in the street. Having the cop show up and take the whole gang to the store to bribe ya from playing in the street till the neighbor went to work.

Knowing your friends were like brothers, especially when you didn`t have a brother

Knowing the girls in the neighborhood were kewl also, even though they knew your sister....LOL

Ya knew you were in trouble when you heard your mom call you. especially when you heard her yell your first and middle name, ya knew it was time to get your caboose home.

When your family hit a hard time, the neighbors would help you out, because they knew that they could count on your family if it happened to them. Nowadays most people don`t even know the neighbor that lives nextdoor to them or the neighbor across the street.

The music we got to listen to, we grew up on some of the greatest music ever made.

How things sure have changed. I`m glad I grew up back then.

I did ok with it

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh i so remember,,, Life how grand it was back then,,,,

I MADE IT Those were the days!!!

those were the best years of my life.... keep rocking

DAMN & I'M STILL HERE

Heres to baby boomers...

cheers for the op!!

Hmmmmmm.....we played flashlight tag at night.....up and down the street......in and out of neighbors yards.......and noone called the cops.......

Those were good days.

Great post yeah I remember when

i was a child of the 60s and 70s, and everything seemed simpler then. my friends and i rode bikes all over, stayed out playing games in the yards and hung out at the local park with no threats or dangers lurking nearby. There was trust then, for the most part. Yes, there was strife in the world, Vietnam was front page news, but it still was a more innocent time, and a time of self discovery, not one of "do it because you saw it on television". There was less copycating and more orginality everywhere.