Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint.
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 pickup truck on a warm day was always a special
treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.
We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it,
but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one
actually died from this.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode
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 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. No cell phones. Unthinkable!
We did not have Play stations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at
all, no 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal
cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms.

We had friends! We went outside and found them.
We played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt.
We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were
no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame
but us. Remember accidents?

We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned
to get over it.
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms, and
although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did
the worms live inside us forever.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s home 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.
Some students weren’t as smart as others, so they failed a grade and
were held back to repeat the same grade. Tests were not adjusted for any
reason.

Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and 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’re one of them!

Congratulations. Please pass this on to others who have had the luck to
grow up as kids, before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for
our own good…..

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors?