To Those of Us Born 1930-1970

I just loved this and wanted to share it with you. It boggles my mind the way society can have such an influence over how we raise our children. My daughter is raising 3 boys ages 4, 5, and 8 and she gets so caught up in the hoopla of do's and don'ts that she's terrified she will make a mistake.

I love my kids and I do believe there are many children out there that are being raised by incompetent parents, but I also feel that your children should become a part of your life, not the other way around. I see so many young parents that have their entire focus on their children and forget that they are people too. You have to set aside time for yourself as well as your spouse and these parents are too exhausted at the end of the day to do that.

Between running to sports practice (generally for more than one child) and music lessons and school functions and now even having to schedule play times no wonder their all so stressed out.

I have always told my daughter that she must make time for herself each day and to remember that she had a life first and they are to be worked into that life not "become" her life. If that means the kids go to bed early, then so be it. I had my kids in bed by 8:00 every night when they were little so that I had a few hours to regroup.

To Those of Us Born 1930 - 1970

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, nobooster 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 OKAY.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them downthe hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solvethe problem.

We did not have Play stations, 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 would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand and no one would call child services to report abuse.

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 poke 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.

If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS!

Jay Leno:

"With hurricanes, tornadoes, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu, swine flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

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