TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE
<br>
 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!
<br><br>
 First, we survived
 being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.
<br>
<br>

 They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't
 get tested for diabetes.

<br>
<br>
 Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored
 lead-based paints.
<br>
<br>
 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.
<br>
<br>
 As children, we would
 ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
<br>
<br>
 Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
<br>
<br>
 We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
<br>
<br>
 We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle .
<br>
<br>

We ate cupcakes,
 white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we
 weren't overweight because

<br>
<br>


 WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE
 PLAYING !

<br>
<br>

 We would leave home in
 the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the
 streetlights came on.
<br>
<br>

No one was able to reach
 us all day. And we were O.K.

<br>
<br>

 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.
<br>
<br>

 We did not have Playstations,
 Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no
 video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal
 computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........
<br>
<br>
 WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

<br>
<br>

 We fell out of trees, got cut, broke
 bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

<br>
<br>
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in
 us forever (that we know of).

<br>
<br>

 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.
<br>
<br>
 We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or
 rang the bell, or just yelled for them!


<br>
<br>

 Little League had tryouts
 and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with
 disappointment. Imagine that!!


<br>
<br>

 The idea of a parent bailing
 us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the
 law!

<br>
<br>


 This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers
 and inventors ever!


<br>
<br>

 The past 50 years have
 been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.


<br>
<br>

 We had freedom, failure,
 success and responsibility, and we learned...

<br>
<br>

 HOW TO
 DEAL WITH IT ALL!



<br>
<br>
 And YOU are one of them!
 CONGRATULATIONS!

<br>
<br>


 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 our lives for our own good.


<br>
<br>

 And while you are at it,
 forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.


<br>
<br>

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