Another email of how did we survive our childhood....
I will leave some of it for you to read... as I go visiting today......
and my question is.. truly how did we survive and how did my
children, as I also did the same with them, as they grew up.
My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread Mayo on the same
cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to
get food poisoning.'
My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter and I used to eat it
raw sometimes, too. Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a
brown paper bag, not in ice pack coolers, but I can't remember getting
e.coli.
We all took gym, not PE...and risked permanent injury with a pair of
high top Ked's (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training
athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors.
I can't recall any injuries but they must have happened because they tell
us how much safer we are now. We all wore white, short sleeved,
buttoned shirts and (short) blue shorts for gym, washed over the
weekend and brought back clean on Monday. We all took showers at end
of Gym before going to our next class. Flunking gym was not an option...
Even for stupid kids! I guess PE mustbe much harder than gym.
Speaking of school, we all said prayers and sang the national anthem,
and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative
attention..I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was
allowed to be proud of myself.
I just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play Station,
Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations. We played outside
all day long, coming in at dark.
We played 'king of the hill' on piles of gravel left on vacant
construction sites, and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48-cent
bottle of mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting
like iodine did) and then we got our butt spanked.
Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a
$49 bottle of antibiotics, and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the
contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was
such a threat.We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either, because if we did we
got our butt spanked there and then we got our butt spanked again when
we got home.
I recall Donny Reynolds from next door coming over and doing his tricks
on the front stoop, just before he fell off.
Little did his Mom know that she could have owned our house.
Instead, she picked him up and swatted him for being such a goof.
It was a neighborhood run amuck.
To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they
were from a dysfunctional family. How could we possibly have known
that we needed to get into group
therapy and anger management classes.
And we had lead paint on our cribs and we chewed on those rails.
We drank water out of hoses...
We swam at the river or creek, with out life guards.
We didn't act up in school, because the teacher smacked us and then our
parents did the same when we got home... Same thing when we acted up
in town. Some one would call our parents and they knew before we got home.
How did we ever survive?? And lived good normal lives?
Wednesday Mutterings
12 hours ago
1 comment:
AH the good ole days I thought I would never say that. History taught in school is now what I lived. We prayed in school until I was in 5th grade then it wasn't allowed but the teachers would always until I got into high school tell us it was time for silent prayer and a few of us would say them out loud and she would smile. We always sang patriotic songs and the pledge started each day now the kids don't even know what being patriotic is they just expect to get all they ask for.
We would go out and help the local farmer to get money not allowances jobs at home where suppose to be done not paid for doing it. We were never bored and if we looked bored we would be given a chore to do so why would we want to be bored!
We played outside until after dark in the summer but not on school nights for 7:30 pm was bed time no ifs ands or buts not like today when kids don't have bed times they go to bed when they feel like it or when mommy and daddy do. So strange no wonder they are so tired all the time or is it the lack of fresh air and excerise out side playing that caused them to be tired.
We would never saw no to an adult and we would say yes mam and no sir and the opposite. We would stand when the teacher came in the room and great her. We would raise our hands and we learned to sit quiet while the adults talked and dont be dare but in without permission to do so.
I remember helping mr faria with his pigs. One day my cousin from the city was to help also. I did my part but no way was she going to get into the pig sty to clean what she was suppose to. She plan out said no to me. I said but it was our job and we must do it she said you do it them. I said Mr Faria will get mad if we don't finish the job. She wouldn't hear of it. So I jumped into the pig pin and cleaned it after I had already done my job of cleaning the old food out and putting new in. When it came to get paid Mr Faria said put your hands out girls. He put a nickle in my hand then went ot put one in her hand and said wait a minute you didn't work and then he told me to open my hand again and he put a Quarter of all things in my hand and said next time if she works she will get paid. That was a lot a whole quater I was so excited to go home and put it in my piggy bank she was so mad and wanted me to give her her share and I said what did Mr Faria say no work no pay next time you will learn city girl or not. BUT A WHOLE QUARTER i couldn't wait to get home to put it in my piggy bank see I was saving up for a bike since I didn't have one. But the nickle I took to Mr. Snidders store and bought one piece of penny candy and then put the rest in the bank. It was my little treat for working and my grandma let me do that. IT was so nice. Now a days kids would be more like my cousin no way I am going to do that but the only difference they get stuff without working for it.
I miss those good ole days.
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