Thursday, April 29, 2010

Is it me? Or the generation before...


Have you seen the forward (below) about how different things were back in the day before the age of over-parenting, child-proofing and video games? Sometimes, when older folks are talking about the difference in generations, they mention how ungrateful the "kids today" are or how lazy they are.

If the generation before me was so great, and my generation is messed up, where's the breakdown? Are parents not responsible for their offspring? Who should be keeping the next generation on track?

ANSWER: the adults! Adults are to show an example and encourage success to the next generation. Adults are the ones who made and changed the rules, who created the distractions over the years. Whether it be public education curriculum, television content, or video games, if you survived between 1930 and 1979, you played a role in molding the next generation!

It's time we take responsibility for our actions and look ahead to a brighter future. Talk to the kids in your life, show them responsibility and consequences. Answer their questions and ask some back! Make them think, encourage activity and promote creativity. We are responsible for the next generation.

I miss the good ole days, the innocence and the fireflies.


*email forward*

Those of You Born 1930 - 1979

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 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-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,
Locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode
Our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children,
We would ride in cars with no car seats,
No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires
and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick-up truck 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, real butter and bacon.
We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar.
And, we weren't overweight.

WHY?

Because we were
Always outside playing...that's why!

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 them 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 and X-boxes.
There were no video games, 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 and no 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.

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


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