THOSE 30 and OVER

Parents were allowed to raise their children without government regulation. When we disobeyed our parents, or mouthed off to them, we were punished, and I mean punished, not given a “time out,” and then babied. We had no inclination to tell our teachers about it trying to get them into trouble. Besides, it was the parents right to punish their children.

As I heard someone say and I agree, “WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.”

Our parents did not allow us to sit in the house and eat anytime and anything we wanted. No way did we open and close the refrigerator all day long looking for snacks. We definitely did not drink out of the bottle of milk or juice and then put it back in the fridge. That kind of behavior was forbidden and punished. We were, however, allowed to drink from the water hose outdoors…OMG! (For those who are not up on computer lingo, OMG stands for OH MY GOD, and is very commonly used by our children today.

We were allowed to build and test things and if they failed, we learned from our failures and to solve a problem. Getting a little scratched up or bruised was not a reason to be rushed to the emergency room.

We did not have MP3 players, Nintendo’s, iPods, X-boxes, video games, play stations, 200 channels on cable, video movies, DVD’s, surround-sound, CD’s, cell phones, personal computer, Internet or chat rooms, but WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We had no problem walking or riding our bike to a friend’s house and knocking on the door to talk to them! Imagine walking!!

If we entered contests and failed or tried out for sports and could not make it, we had to learn to deal with the disappointment! And our parents did not try to sue someone. Can you imagine that?

If we broke the law, our parents did not bail us out. They made us face up to the punishment for our actions…and they also punished us! If we landed in jail, we stayed there.

We did not treat teachers, neighbors or older people disrespectfully. If we did, they punished us and our parents approved.

We learned to be responsible and had freedom to fail or succeed. Some of the best problem solvers, risk-takers, and inventors ever, came from our time! We learned that life is pretty much what you make it. Parental guidance and teaching without government meddling and media influence helped us learn how to live. We learned to be responsible, contributing individuals and solid citizens…imagine that, after all we went through…OMG!!