the good ol' days

I don't know what's happened to child rearing these days but it seems as if the media/doctors/product makers have put the fear of God into parents and I think in my humble opinion, it has created a generation of neurotic parents and children. I was criticized by my doctor for choosing a midwife to deliver my babies at home instead of in a hospital, I never used commercial baby food and don't buy in to all the million and one products that will 'protect your child from all the things that could maim, dismember, poison and suffocate. We bypassed cribs and our children slept in our bed or on a mat on the floor. We don't sterilize or use antibiotics... some germs are good... they help build an immune system naturally. The best toys in the world are books and balls, puzzles and simple dollies. Screw Baby Einstein and flashcards and those expensive learning aids and toys that give parents the false sense of security that their children are smarter or getting more of a head start than everyone else.

My husband and I have a simple rule.... to keep life, living and child rearing as down to earth and as simple and natural as possible.

I remembered this article I had read years ago in the newspaper and just stumbled across it online..... I'd like it to be an homage to those of us who were born in the good ol' days....

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-based paints.

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 infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster
seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up 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 and real butter and drank koolade made
with sugar, but we weren't overweight because ...
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. 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
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, X-boxes, no video games at
all, no 200 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound
or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or 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!

If YOU are one of them . CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow
up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our
lives for our own good.

AMEN. :) xo