Still Running Off at the Keyboard

ROUGHING IT IN CHILDHOOD

Did you grow up before 1965? If you did, this is for you.

- Mothers of pre-60 children smoked and drank during pregnancy if they were so inclined. They took aspirin right up to birth day, and didn't remember the delivery because they weren't conscious for it. They weren't sonnogrammed and didn't know what sex we would be until they met us. We survived the yellow nurseries.

- We rode in the backseat of cars without seatbelts. Those of us who had carseats had them so we could see out the front window and would stop making a fuss back there. They were not padded. The only air bags we had were balloons. We rode on our mother's laps in the front seat. Of course we rode down a two-lane road for most of those years, going maybe 50 mph unless dad had a leadfoot. And if we had one of those ..ahh..."emergencies" while driving, the potty fit nicely between mom's legs on the floor. It wasn't even necessary for dad to stop driving if he was in a hurry.

- Riding in the back of an open pick-up on a summer day was a treat to die for.

- We slept on our tummies in lead-base painted cribs, and our parents thought it was cute when we climbed out of them.

- The outside water fountain was a garden hose and the sound of the ice cream truck was an immediate cause to run home.

- White, squishy, fresh-baked Wonder Bread was the only acceptable sandwich material. We downed it with Koolade loaded with sugar and topped it off with a Hostess Twinkie. The reason we stayed thin was that we immediately ran back outside to play, and play wasn't sedentary.

- Boys played with cap guns and cowboy hats or police badges, preferably by chasing the girls around. They played baseball on the neighborhood empty lot until the owners caught them. They climbed trees and fell out of them sometimes. No one sued anyone over it. They played marbles. Girls played house with baby dolls right up to age 10 and even beyond. We had doll buggies among our toys, and if we were really lucky we had doll furniture sufficient to create a pretend home on the front porch. But alas we were usually saddled with husbands who worked long hours and were seldom around. We roller skated on the sidewalk with skates that fastened onto whatever shoes we happened to be wearing by turning the crank with the skate key.

- We played in the street.

- "Summer camp" at the playground at the local elementary school kept up busy. We walked to the school and walked home, without adult supervision. We also walked to the neighborhood store when mom needed bread and milk, also without adult supervision. Nobody bothered us when we did.

- We thought it was fun to catch lightning bugs and put them in a jar that had once held food which we had modified for them by punching holes in the tin lid. First thing the next morning we counted the ones that had survived.

- We got dirty playing in the sandbox, making mudpies, digging for fishworms in the garden and playing with our finds. We needed a bath at the end of the day not because we were germy but because we would get the sheets dirty otherwise.

- The neighbors didn't hesitate to tell us if we were doing something wrong in their yard; and if they didn't have kids, the something wrong was probably being there in the first place.

- We did not watch TV during the day. Soap Operas were boring. The exception was Saturday morning when the cartoons were on or after school when the Mickey Mouse Club couldn't be missed.

- Our friends were located down the street, not over in the next town. At the very most they were a couple streets away so we rode our bike over to see them. We didn't call first. We just knocked on the door when we got there.

- If we broke the law, our parents sided with the cop. If we were paddled in school and our parents found out about it, we were probably paddled at home as well.

- Children did not have rights. They did have responsibilities like drying the dishes and taking out the garbage and making their beds. Mostly they did them. Mostly they did their homework without help. Mom was not expected to be a teacher at home. Parents were not "involved" in the schools most of the time.

We survived all of this carelessness and indifference about our welfare that has been replaced today with a constant concern about children's safety and well being. There were a lot more of us back then. Perhaps that was why we learned to take care of ourselves most of the time. We learned how to get along with each other and play games without parental intervention. We knew we could trust other adults in the neighborhood to be our friends and help us if we needed help, which we seldom did.

The life of a child has changed a lot over the years. I tend to believe it has not changed for the better. Maybe this is just another symptom of contraception.