Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Go Play! - How Times Have Changed Reflections From The Previous Generations

I received this is an email today from a friend. Its worth sharing with everyone.
If you are considering buying your child an Xbox, Play Station, Wii, Computer or Flat Screen TV this year for Christmas, please read this.

Remember what childhood used to be like?
Everyday we are told about the things we should or should not do anymore.

There is so much that we did as kids, that is no longer safe for our children.
Some of these things are no big deal, but some of these, I'd rather see my kids do then sit in front of the computer all day.
Things have changed so much, we are protecting our kids from outside dangers,
But take a good look, how many of you and your kids are struggling with weight issues.

Go play!

Turn the TV off, and the computer and the Xbox, no you don't need a CD player or MP3 player outside!
Go rake leaves and jump in the piles, ride your bike, roller skate or roller blade. Play pretend, climb trees, dig in the dirt......... Just go have fun!

 Face it, I'm a mom who loves my kids.
My husband and my children don't understand why I prefer traditional board games or fancy new ones.
Why is it, I prefer walking around the neighborhood to Xbox or computer games??

I was one of these kids who rode all over her neighborhood and beyond on her bike.........
I love them, I want to protect them, but I wish they had the same freedoms I had as a kid.....

Remember - and choose gifts wisely this year

Enjoy the email

To Those of Us Born Between
1930 - 1979

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.

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 wore baseball caps, not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

And 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.

We had no cell phones, so 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 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 Play stations, color TVs, Nintendo's, or 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 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.

So if you're one of US, CONGRATULATIONS!

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


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

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

'With hurricanes, tornados, 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 Pledgeof Allegiance?'
-Jay Leno-

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