View Full Version : Things we endured as kids, and lived to tell about them!
Not really. LOL! This thread topic is more for fun than an actual true survival connotation.
Nevertheless, anyone else remember having plastic bags pulled on over your feet (winter time/play-time) held up by elastic bands, because your footwear was soaked, but you were bent and determined to go back outside and play because there was no stopping you?
How about mustard plasters? Remember those? In my day, moms would use a flannelette diaper as a wrap/cover for the homemade mixture. Remember how strong the smell was? How it burned the inside of your nose when you breathed in? LMAO!
Hell, I still use plastic bags for snow wear. So does my son. He went snowboarding with friends and was the only one at the end of the day with dry feet!
LOL, Tiam! I cannot lie, the old-fashioned mom in me has subjected my own kids to such waterproofing, too!
fidgiegirl
12-19-11, 9:42pm
Well, not something I advocate, but we rode all over with no carseats. I suppose as babies we rode on mom's lap.
We didn't have the latest and greatest brand clotes and here we are, happy and productive adults.
I had purple moon boots in eighth grade.
The WORST was that my mom wouldn't let me shave my legs. She was of the belief that if you shave your hair it comes back thicker. So I never was allowed. And now, I never do! Never have!! ;) But OMG!!!! AS A TEENAGER!! She might as well have been making me eat worms every day.
iris lily
12-19-11, 9:50pm
I went rolling down a big hill on my bike, hit a rock or something, and flew off. Chipped my tooth. that's the only filling I've got.
ate a lot of jello and fish sticks. Guess that didn't kill me.
Wasn't allowed Go Go boots at age 11. I was uncool.
8th grade - when I finally talked my mom into the white leather nikes with blue swoosh and wore them to school so proudly only to discover blue was out and red swoosh was in.
I always stood in the front seat of my dad's truck when I was three so I could steal drinks from his glass coke bottle.
Being allowed to play with fireworks without adult supervision.....actually my brother did end up in the ER for that one, wrapped a firecracker paper around his eyeball.
Fidgiegirl. Right, no seat belts, and in addition to that (if that weren't already bad enough), riding in the back of pickup trucks! MML (make me laugh) Re: your mom not allowing you to shave your legs.
Iris Lily. Lots of Jello for me, too, no fish sticks to mention, however mom made up for the absence of fish sticks by serving-up beans and wieners and mocked chicken sandwiches regularly! Anyone remember THAT stuff? (Packaged meat with an orangish outer ring around). Can't stomach looking at the stuff to this day without activating my gag-reflexes).
Float On. Oh, I remember all too well, firecrackers. (Fun till someone lost an eye)!
Kathy WI
12-19-11, 11:22pm
Having to sit through hours and hours of church. Sunday morning was Sunday school and church for about three hours, then Sunday night church service (nothing for the kiddies, so it was another adult sermon just like morning church). Then Wednesday night prayer meeting or some lame activity for the kiddies, and sometimes there would be some kind of special conference with church every night of the week, church camp or vacation Bible school in the summer, on and on. I remember thinking to myself when I was just four years old, "When I grow up, I'm never going to church," and I don't!
Kathy WI. I had a friend who's parents imposed such religion and practices upon her when she was growing up, and boy did she ever revolt and turn into a rebel when she reached her teens. I'm thinking she doesn't attend church today, either.
Speaking of religion, youth night/youth group was a popular thing when I was growing up. Typically, it took place on Friday nights, and after a short meeting/get-together at the church, everyone packed into the church van and went out for a hamburger, or to the theatre to watch a movie, or to the swimming pool, or to the bowling alley. Whatever activity was chosen that evening, everything (cost-wise) was covered. 100% free.
IshbelRobertson
12-20-11, 4:19am
When I was a child, I had THICK, thick very long hair - poker straight - that seemed to attract tangles without effort. The scariest thing in my life? Seeing my Mum approach with her Mason Pearson hairbrush with the hard bristles.....! She used to plait my hair most mornings before school, pulling it so tight that I had a permanently surprised expression on my face until at least lunch-time. By home-time, both plaits had lost their bindings and the cycle had to start, all over again!
sweetana3
12-20-11, 5:54am
Cod Liver Oil that looked just like the bottle of yellow vitamins in the refrigerator. You did not say you were sick because that meant a dose of the cod liver oil.
Snowpants.
Hotdogs in a can with a pack of BBQ sauce in the middle. Not made anymore but I have found the advertisement in old magazines. Loved them.
Playing in the abandoned army base in the swamp until it was demolished. Reminds me of the kids everywhere we have traveled that play in anything.
When I was under 12, I would ride my bike cross town on busy streets to the library. I didn't have a basket (and backpacks weren't really around then) so would carry them under my arm and occasionally have to stop and pick them up. When I was in high school, I would ride to the main library which had this ginormous hill along the way. Trying to use the brakes one handed and not have an accident was quite the skill.
Ishbel. I recall friends moms, brushing their hair vigorously before school (as I waited patiently), getting all of the knots out. Must have been the era... Poor shampoo/conditioner.
Sweetana3. Your "snowpants" entry made me laugh, while your "hotdogs in a can" and "cod-liver oil" entries made me recoil! LMAO! Was your mom like mine, and wouldn't allow you outside to play sans snowpants? In our house, "snowpants," were known as "waterproof pants"! Well, at least according to mom they were... but the name never sat well with me, being that I was old enough to know full well what "waterproof pants" really were IRL!
Herbgeek. So, that's what happened to all the books I remember as a kid, the corners all broken and crushed and smashed in! :)
I was the youngest of 5, a surprise 9 years after my parents thought they were done. They had lost their nervousness about the ability of a kid to survive by then, so there were minimal safety measures taken for me. (It was great, by the way!)
So some of the things that would make today's ultra-protective parents cringe:
At the age of 4, my dad gave me a big roll of nails from a nail gun, a large hammer, a pair of pliers and an old picnic table bench. I had to break each nail off the roll with the pliers and then I could hammer them into the bench and pull them back out. He also gave me an old hand-cranked drill, but I preferred the hammer.
When I went to kindergarten, my mom sent me with pointy scissors and toxic glue. These were the same things I had been using at home and I was very upset when I had to use those dull, rounded scissors and the glue that washed off. When Mom explained to me that some kids eat glue, I declared them to be idiots.
Sometime in elementary school, my dad gave me a pair of tin snips. They were taken away when I cut a new "window" in the barn.
I had a small 3-wheeler at age 8, a larger one at age 11 and a dirt bike at 13. I never had a helmet.
Someone gave me a pony that didn't like bridles or most humans. For some reason she liked me, so I rode her around bareback with a lead rope and halter or just pulling on her mane.
There were no other kids my age around, so I spent a lot of time wandering through the woods with my giant pack of stray dogs. I don't remember ever being questioned about where I had been. The only rule was that I had to be home in time for supper.
And somehow I survived! No broken bones, no ER trips, no stitches, not even poison ivy.
Edited to add: Hmmm, my post might not have fit with the intent of the OP, but I don't think I had a conventional girly childhood! :)
iris lily
12-20-11, 9:39am
daisy, great post!
FOFL...perfect post daisy!!! (I didn't know we were from the same town!)
Lovely post, Daisy! P.S. Fits perfect! :)
making origami water holders, filling them with gasoline and lighting them and throwing them off the back porch.
Walking through sewage tunnels hunting for water rats with home made fishing lines.
Riding in the trunk of the car for a very special and short treat
Sleeping everywhere.
walking 6 blocks to kindergarten by myself.
always running down to the store, pharmacy, fish and chip shop etc to buy stuff on tick
Sweetana3 you were lucky! We had to have a dose of cod liver oil once a week without fail. We'd burp up the smell of dead fish all day.
My sister and I would also be subjected at least once a year to a home permanent wave. Some lady would show up with this machine and all these curlers and clamps attached to the machine. When your head started smoking it was done.
We also had to eat liver and onions once a week because it would supposedly keep us from being anemic.
The only playground in the neighborhood was at the elementary school down the block. Swings and monkey bars on cement. We didn't need no stinking wood chips or rubber padding. Head injuries heal eventually. Just ask any of my childhood friends.
reader99
12-20-11, 12:41pm
Fish sticks, yes, and Tang. Those roller skates that clamped on to your shoes and flew off just when you got going fast. Never heard of a bicycle helmet.
sweetana3
12-20-11, 1:22pm
Lived thru throwing broken license plates as Frisbees. Did not lose an eye.
Lived thru falling into the ice on a gravel pit not completely frozen over.
Lived thru crawling thru homemade tunnels in large piles of dirt.
Lived thru killing a rabid bat while on a fishing trip. Missed being stomped by moose or eaten by bears.
Lived thru sharing one bike with four kids. Note: Sad note. Sister died a block from home while riding the bike that was way too big. She was five I think. So some of us dont survive. We did not have any helmets or other kinds of protective gear in the 50s or 60s.
treehugger
12-20-11, 1:54pm
I went rolling down a big hill on my bike, hit a rock or something, and flew off. Chipped my tooth. that's the only filling I've got.
I'm not stalking you, I swear, but I had that same fall in the 3rd grade. Chipped a tooth, bloodied knees and palms. I don't like riding bikes downhill to this day. Yes, I am a wimp.
Kara
HappyHiker
12-20-11, 2:17pm
Toni Home Permanents--phew, oh boy, did they stink and I ended up with a head full of kinky, crazy hair...why did my mother do that to me when I already had naturally curly hair???
jennipurrr
12-20-11, 2:46pm
Fireworks - we used to hold roman candles as they went off. Some people used to aim them at each other, but I was never up for that. I am surprised I don't know anyone who was seriously injured by fireworks!
Kally. You win the rebel award among us! LMAO!
Charity. Re: old-fashioned permanent waves, ROTFLMAO! Re: liver and onions, still a favourite of mine!
Reader99. Oh gosh, I remember those old clamp on your shoes roller skates!
Sweetana3. Awww... I'm so sorry to hear of you and your families loss.
Treehugger. Loosing baby teeth wasn't too bad, permanent teeth was another thing.
HappyHiker. Oh yeah, I remember the smell of those old perms! Absolutely putrid!
Jennipurrr. So happy to know you escaped serious injury.
Aqua Blue
12-20-11, 5:46pm
Lawn darts
editted to add: Measles, Mumps, Chickenpox
I too endured church at least three times a week and usually many more. Don't go now.
Fireworks.
No helmets or seatbelts.
After being dropped off at first grade by our father on the first day, my sib and I having to walk to school every day for the rest of elementary school by ourselves. School was about 1 mile away, and we walked to and from in rain or shine or snow, and no one thought it was unusual for 6 year olds to do that.
Also staying at a local playground all day in the summer - age 5 on - and no one checking on you unless you didn't show up for dinner.
okay one more story.
A family in the neighbourhood thought we could have something all the kids could play with. So when a big appliance, like a stove, was delivered in a large wooden crate, they gave it to us.
How did we play with it?
We turned it on it's side with the opening on the side and crawled in. Then the other kids would push the box down a giant hill.
The kid would get flopped around from side to side as the box banged down the street. A barrel would have been too sissy. This was a ride from the devil and we all could hardly wait for our turn.
leslieann
12-20-11, 6:45pm
wow, kally, I can't compete.
But once I turned 12, my bike and I were off and away. I had transportation to friends' houses, and would take off and ride a three or four mile loop just for fun and the great feeling of being on my own. When I was 7 I was old enough to have a library card, and that meant I was old enough to walk by myself to the library and take out my two books. The library was about five blocks away, and toward what passed for "downtown" in my little village in Maine. I survived fish sticks and Tang, too. I also walked home from elementary school for lunch, and back for the afternoon. This walk was about half a mile. So just to go to school, home for lunch, back to school and then home, I walked a couple of miles. Some days it was REALLY cold and of course girls wore skirts or dresses. But it was just what you did; no complaining because why would you complain about things as they were?
Survived and was in much better shape then....not just due to my age!
HappyHiker
12-20-11, 6:54pm
leslieann,
Your post brought back memories--it was much the same for me...we girls wore "leggings" under our dresses until Jr. High, then we were too cool and froze ourselves but good wearing dresses/skirts (dress code, girls couldn't wear pants/slacks back then to school) and the wind whistling up your skirt was not a good feeling. And yes, we walked and rode our bikes everywhere..I remember very few overweight kids in those days. Years later, I still ride my bike daily and still love the feeling of freedom...I plan to pedal as long as I can...
making origami water holders, filling them with gasoline and lighting them and throwing them off the back porch.
Walking through sewage tunnels hunting for water rats with home made fishing lines.
Riding in the trunk of the car for a very special and short treat
Sleeping everywhere.
I read this and spit out my coffee, I was laughing so hard. OMG that is funny!
Here's my list:
When I was a wee tyke my mom used to use her spit to clean my face if we were out and about and I had to look presentable. I can still recall how it smelled. There were no baby wipes in the 60's.
Riding in my grandmother's car that had holes in the floor, and putting my eyeball up to the hole while she was driving so that I could get a good look at the pavement and lane stripes. Good thing the front tires never threw rocks in that direction while I was peeking.
Pork cracklins and bacon grease at nearly every dinner. I think I mentioned this in another thread.
My parents forced me to bathe weekly until I was about the age of 9. I considered bathing to be a form of torture.
Riding a hand-me-down bike with no brakes.
Gee Kally.........what a boring childhood I had! lololol!
These stories are great! I had some very similar experiences too; traveling under the neighborhood via the sewer pipes (it stunk so bad down there; the older kids took colored chalk with them and drew pornographic pictures and wrote swear words on the cement pipes). We freely roamed the neighborhood all day during the summer and into the night in which epic rounds of hide-n-seek were played, and all manners of pranks pulled. We could be so bad! We played in the excavated basements of this suburb being built out of farmland and stole scrap wood from the construction sites to build our own forts. I explored the abandoned farmhouses and barns on the outskirts of the new 'hood. I survived old-fashioned skate boards with the metal roller skate wheels (hitting a pebble or side walk crack and flying off, barely managing to stay upright), homemade stilts and pogo sticks. Only one broken bone, and that occurred at school when we were learning how to do flips off the mini-trampoline. Plus I was a figure skater learning how to do axels and other double jumps so there were a lot of bumps and bruises from that; once I even spiked myself in the shin with the heel of my blade while trying to land a double flip.
I also remember riding in the child car seat that hooked between mom and dad in the front seat; it had a steering wheel with a red plastic horn. It is one of my earliest memories; we were driving through Wyoming and I was "helping" my dad drive. My mom insists I couldn't possibly remember this because I was only 2.5 years old on that trip, but I do. It is very vivid in my mind to this day because I felt so grown-up helping with the "driving."
Aqua Blue
12-20-11, 10:40pm
Oh, I totally forgot! How could I? We had a thing for trains, since we lived pretty close the the tracks. We walked across the tressle often, and I knew more than one kid who had to jump between the ties and hold on for dear life while the train went over. We often jumped the train and road it to the next town. No one ever asked what we did during the day and of course we never told.
As always, never disappointed! You guys really know how to pull out all the stops. Super-fun entries, everyone!
This morning I'm going to add a few silent things to the list, like, baby cribs with lead-based paint, plastic baby bottles, and for those who were born in the later part of the 70's, exersaucers.
Aqua Blue
12-21-11, 10:31am
How about glass baby bottles-One of my earliest memories is dropping a glass bottle from my crib, it broke and I learned to drink from a cup.
Also remember dropping a glass shampoo bottle in the bath and it breaking.
sweetana3
12-21-11, 11:16am
What about those mercury thermometers? I dont remember ever having one break but it was scary to have a piece of glass under the tongue as a kid.
I remember having a mercury thermometer break. My sister and I spent hours rolling little balls of liquid mercury around the floor. It was bizzarly fascinating. We had no idea we were in danger.
All the usual suspects for me: no helmet of any kind until Jr. High football and that was the only one until I had kids. I don't even think the folk's Dodge station wagon HAD seat belts, but it could damn sure go over 100 mph when Dad was chasing tumbleweeds for our amusement. No cell phones or chips in our scalp to monitor our position, only the command to be home by dinner. Constantly riding, tipping or generally antagonizing farm animals 20 times our weight. Deciding early on that the only proper way to ride in a pick-up was in the open bed. Grabbing onto that same pick-up's bed while on bikes because it could go SO much faster than we could without it...
We also LOVED to ride our bikes behind the town mosquito fogger. A large machine pulled around town behind a tractor dispensing a thick fog of bug dope. You could not see 2 feet in that fog. Other bikers, oncoming cars, light poles...they were all totally obscured. It was so cool (and probably explains a lot).
BB gun wars at the creek were supreme. Always 8 or 10 boys on each side of the creek, running through the woods, shooting at each other with BB guns. A precursor to paint ball. The winner was the one with the least welts at the end of the day. The only rule was don't aim for the head.
There was a rope and pulley outside the barn's hay loft for lifting things up there. If you tied two hay bales to the rope on the ground then got a good run and dove out of the loft and grabbed the other end of the rope the bales acted as a counter weight and you would float to the ground. The loft was about 15 feet off the ground so you made sure to not miss the rope. The only times anyone ever really came close to getting hurt was when one of my brothers hit the ground and let go of the rope and the bales fell on another brother. He was ok, but it was a heck of a fight! The other time was when the youngest brother tied straw bales to the rope instead of hay because he couldn't lift the heavy hay bales. The much older, and heavier, brother that came out of the loft made it to the ground much faster than usual, but managed to limp away under his own power.
how many kids played in the attic with vermiculite insulation (today seen as an asbestos danger). We did.
where there was dirt we dug.
where there was water we splashed
where there were trees we climbed
where there was fruit, we grabbed
where there were adults we acted
where there were no adults we became our true little savage selves.
Originally posted by Aqua Blue.
One of my earliest memories is dropping a glass bottle from my crib, it broke and I learned to drink from a cup. Fascinating. I have always been intrigued with those who can remember back to a time so far in the past, and being such a young age.
Sweetana3. Not once did I ever NOT think about a thermometer breaking in my mouth when my temperature was being taken. Always a subtle fear behind having such a fragile piece of glass in my mouth.
Charity. I remember us kids playing with mercury a time or two. I'm thinking about the old saying, "what we don't know won't hurt us".
Gregg. Oh... so you and my husband were friends, were you? :) DH talks about bumper-skiing behind vehicles and buses as a kid, having slingshot fights (with real rocks), and drafting behind cars and trucks while on bikes! Amazingly, he doesn't have so much as a single scar to show for it, and he still has both his eyes.
Kally. Absolutely, yes, I remember vermiculite insulation, and not just playing in and around it, but playing with it! Dear brother used to load up the back of his Tonka toy truck with vermiculite.
Gosh, I lived such a reserved childhood compared to so many of you.
Kathy WI
12-21-11, 10:33pm
When I was a kid I had a thing for climbing up in high places. I climbed onto the garage roof when I was about 6 and sat around up there for awhile. When I tried to climb down onto the ladder, reaching my foot down to the top of the step ladder, the ladder collapsed. It seemed like I floated in slow motion down to the ground and the ladder landed next to me in a broken heap, and I landed on my feet, unhurt. When I was about 10 I wanted to see what it would be like to jump out my second floor bedroom window, so I did. No big deal.
The risky things my friends and I did with cars when we were teenagers freak me out when I look back on them. Most of it was along the lines of, "If this doesn't work, we will definitely get killed, ha ha!"
Kathy WI. You just don't strike me as being the way you were. I've always pictured you being a straight-up, no-nonsense, no-tomfoolery type. Boy did you ever have me fooled! :)
Pixie haircuts!!!! Oh, how I wanted long hair.
Ironically, now I keep my hair in an almost pixie like cut.
I almost drowned one day when our family went out to the river for the day. I went too far out and the current took me. I think I was about 5. My dad was able to get to me, but I still have a morbid fear of rivers.
pony mom
12-22-11, 11:42pm
Gregg, my town had the mosquito fogger truck too. We'd scream "The bug man's coming!" and run home and close the windows. Then run outside and inhale.
Anyone else get smacked with a wooden spoon? My parents are lucky we didn't sue.
My cousins and I would sit in the rear part of my aunt's station wagon, face the open rear window, and inhale exhaust fumes. I played with ants and worms. Pick up any old stick and poke it into a marshmallow for toasting. When I was about seven I somehow got my grandmother's dog's chain wrapped around my neck---mom hit me for that. Guess she was relieved I wasn't dead. Once had my knee stuck between the porch banisters. Ate a Fig Newton that had been gnawed on by a mouse. Rode horses and bicycles for years without a helmet. Fell out of my crib and landed on my head. My sister and I shared bunk beds; she jumped onto the top bunk, which loosened one of the boards supporting the mattress, which bonked me on the head. I was sitting on the ground near the street and someone rode a bike into my face--knocked me out.
But I've never EVER left home without wearing clean underwear.
Sissy. Yes, Pixie, AND, bowl-styled haircuts! Went to school with one poor kid who used to sport a bowl-cut. His only saving grace was that it actually suited him, otherwise I personally think bowl cuts look stupid, and any parent willing to subject a child to such treatment has a geranium in their cranium!
Pony mom. Not just smacked with a wooden spoon, but spanked! We used to get our bottoms blistered with a wooden spoon. (You and Aqua Blue have such fantastic memories, being able to recollect so far back Re: your early years). Are you a tomboy, Pony mom?
I'm pleasantly laughing at all the entries here this morning, because so many of you strike me as being such tyrants when you were younger!
Zoe Girl
12-26-11, 12:37pm
But I've never EVER left home without wearing clean underwear.
Oh yeah, or wore pants to church or used a bad word in front of my parents, or chewed gum in school !Splat!
When I was 6 and my sis 5 we took apart an old wooden playpen. You know those sides looked like tracks to us. So we joined them together and made a long track. We fastened it to the top of the front steps (about 15 or so) and made a roller coaster track. We only needed a car. We took my mom\s old pram off its wheels and we had our car.
For 5 cents we would put a kid into the pram and push him off the front steps so he could bang down to the bottom. Imagine what fun that was.
Zoe Girl. Had you not mentioned it, I would have completely forgot about not being allowed to chew gum in school back in the early 70's! And so right you are about not wearing pants when I was a young child, at least not for dressy occasions.
Kally. That's outrageous! :) You've got to have a little tomboy in you (yes/no)? Anyhow, I totally forgot about those old wooden playpens! Everything was made so well back then, made to last. Unless of course there was a Kally in the house! :laff:
Bump!
Come on everybody, let's add some more to this fun thread!
IshbelRobertson
1-14-13, 11:05am
We had a small public park in the village in Edinburgh where i lived. It had a fast flowing river, which was often in spate due to heavy rains, there were huge stepping stones across which wobbled when the river was high. We used to dare one another to run across, as fast as we could. A few of us fell in and would squelch home with soaked shoes and socks. We always denied that we'd been using the stones as they were forbidden until we were older.
I haven't been down to Spylaw Park for ages, but writing this has made me want to go soon!
We also LOVED to ride our bikes behind the town mosquito fogger. A large machine pulled around town behind a tractor dispensing a thick fog of bug dope. You could not see 2 feet in that fog. Other bikers, oncoming cars, light poles...they were all totally obscured. It was so cool (and probably explains a lot).
LOL, Gregg, my sister and I often laugh about that same thing...and we survived (so far!).
Yep, no helmets or seat belts for us either. I also used to go out my bedroom's dormer window and sit on the roof and mope. Used to regularly go up on the house roof or carport roof, too, to retrieve errant baseballs, softballs, frisbees or what have you. I don't recall either parent paying any nevermind.
decemberlov
1-14-13, 1:12pm
The risky things my friends and I did with cars when we were teenagers freak me out when I look back on them. Most of it was along the lines of, "If this doesn't work, we will definitely get killed, ha ha!"
When I was about the same age I tried tying sheets together to climb out the 2nd story window. It didn't work but you are exactly right Kathy, didn't hurt one bit :laff:
I can sympathize with the cod liver oil victims here. Yuck :(
We were always in the woods until supper time, we had the most amazing fort ever equip with fireplace, chimney and a cot!
Making bombs to blow up random things in the woods.
Finding "treasures" in the local trash dump.
My mom told me about a thing she and her friends did as kids, back in the 20's-30's...there was a drawbridge in their town, and when the bridge was starting to go up, they'd run up to the edge and hang on, and ride the bridge up, dangling there while the boats went through, then ride it back down.
Carbon Tetrachloride, it was in a brown glass bottle and we would clean our hobby paint brushes with it then of course dump it in the driveway. Mercury, yes 1976 Physical Science class in HS, we got to dump a small sample of Mercury in our hands to see it "bounce and separate". Worst one really was the Smoking Lounge at high school. Our freshman class was the first year to get this special spot by the back doors, to smoke at between class and lunch. It was meant to keep the bathrooms free of smoke. GOOD Heavens, what were they thinking??? I remember trying to smoke just to hang out there.
Adding more now that I started thinking.Science class again, fetus in a lucite square and this is awful a fetus in a jar. OH my I went to a "normal" high school. Yet I remember in Merchandising and Career class I had to decorate the display window. I choose to put LPs from the record store there. I got told to remove the Yes lp because there was a naked behind on it.....like that was worse.
When I think about the things my friends and I did as kids I wonder how any of us survived, and yet we did, unhurt. We used to play Cowboys and Indians with BB guns, actually shooting each other without anyone ever losing an eye. On the Fourth of July, we'd have bottle rocket fights.
At the end of my street, there was a giant oak tree that we called the Tarzan tree. Each summer we'd buy a rope and climb the tree to tie one end of the rope on a limb about 60 feet up, then we'd climb an adjoining tree with a large horizontal branch large enough to stand on and swing out on the rope, returning back to the starting point and dropping back to the launch limb. There were lots of kids on the street and we all did it, from pre-schoolers to teenagers. No one ever fell, or at least no one was ever injured if they did.
We lived near the Mississippi River and used to ride motorcycles, at great speed, up the side of the levee to see who could get the most air time as we jumped the top. One of my friends got his bike stuck about 15 feet up a tree. We had to "borrow" a tractor and chain from an unattended barn to pull it out.
Once, at about 16 years of age, two of my friends and I decided to see how fast we could drive an old station wagon down a dirt road, in reverse. To make it more interesting, one drove while myself and another lay in the back of the station wagon, rear door open, watching the world advance towards us. That was pretty cool until the driver lost control of the car, went into a shallow ditch and we ended up jammed between the two banks. We stopped abruptly enough that I flew out of the open rear door. Not a scratch on any of us but lots of scrapes on the sides of the car.
If anyone ever meets my daughter or grandkids, don't tell them about this. I've always wanted to be a good example. :~)
You kids that got Tang and fish sticks were the lucky ones. We would have loved to get your Tang.
Weekly liver and onions here, too.
The biggest danger to me was my older brother. He sat on my head when I was six weeks old (I've been told, I do not remember,) he pushed me out of a moving car (they didn't miss me for two more miles,) cut my arm with a steak knife (6 stitches,) tried to drown me in the pool, but I kicked him where it counts, hit me in the mouth with a golf club---no wait, that was my younger brother he hit in the mouth with the golf club. Anyway, after surviving him, not much scares me now.
These are great!
Ishbel. Has the thought crossed your mind, that maybe, the wobbly stones you remember no longer exist in Spylaw Park?
KayLRZ. I always wanted an upstairs bedroom (with dormer) growing up!
Decemberlov. The fort sounds like any kids dream! Forts and treehouses, were the things dreams were made of when I was a kid.
KathyWI. That is crazy!
Ctg492. I remember playing with Mercury, too! And smoking in the bathroom (high school). LOL!
LOL, Alan! You and my husband would have made for best friends! DH used to have slingshot fights with his cousins/friends! No lost eyes, either. A miracle.
Fawn. I LOVED (still love) liver & onions!!! DELICIOUS! Used to help myself to seconds!
catherine
1-14-13, 10:37pm
Went to a Christmas bazaar at our church when I was in 1st grade. My parents had dropped me off, and said they'd pick me up at a certain time. I waited for them outside for 5 minutes at the appointed time, but then felt adventurous and decided to walk the mile home by myself, wearing a light coat in the freezing cold--while my parents, who were just a little late, drove around frantically trying to find me. Got pneumonia, but thankfully doctors made house calls at that time, so I got good care from Dr. Malone who lived on the next block.
To speed my recovery my parents gave me a Christmas present early (a toy drum). I was happy!
CaseyMiller
1-14-13, 10:37pm
Had a horrible case of food poisoning when I should have been taken to the hospital but wasn't. Same with many cuts and other injuries that should have been treated.
Same as many other's have posted with not wearing seat belts, riding in back of tracks, playing with animals in old barns full of rusty broken jagged things that could create great injury (see above).
Shoved out the door and told to "go play" at a very young age. Really it was kind of survival of the fittest.
Interesting discussion really. I think it has to do with the fact that we have more time to worry about things now and more resources for prevention. Perhaps not though.
Hell, I still use plastic bags for snow wear. So does my son. He went snowboarding with friends and was the only one at the end of the day with dry feet!
No, you're supposed to put your feet, with shoes on them, into plastic bread bags and THEN put them in your galoshes, then you can go to school without having to carry shoes. ;-)
About the most dangerous thing I did, besides riding in the jump seat in the back of the station wagon, was to set off on my roller skates - in the middle of the STREET - and go all over the place. These were residential streets and the pavement was much smoother than the sidewalks!
IshbelRobertson
1-15-13, 4:02am
Oh no, they are still on postcards, so theymustbe there!
My brother hit me in the middle of my forehead with an ax (day before school photos...I have proof).
I jumped him on a motorbike with my horse (he may of been chasing us to start with...that memory is a bit foggy)
Taking off and riding alone all day, mom never knew where we were. We were recently talking about it and she was shocked to hear about how far I'd ride in a day or what I'd been doing. Like the time I was jumping logs in a creek and the horse fell in a hole pinning me under water.
Attending parties in high school. We didn't have one keg parties we had 15 kegs, live bands, etc. I don't think we knew the term 'designated driver'. I remember putting my car in the ditch on it's side and walking 2 miles in a snow storm to a neighbors house to call my dad to bring a tractor to pull out my car.
Skipping school to go to the lake (and drink and swim....its a wonder no one drowned).
There you know some of my dark secrets....don't tell my kids. Most of the things I did I did before the age they are now. Mom and I have talked about our different parenting style recently and she applauds my style and how I've raised my kids. She has actually apologized for her lack of involvement in how she raised me.
These are a hoot you guys! Always fun reminiscing lost history and happenings with others who lived the same, or at least, lived in the same era. It really was so much different back then. I don't remember "bubble kids" in my day.
The something that sticks out in my mind from being raised by my wonderful parents, me raising my kids and the way I see kids raised now is, My folks told me like it was, no worry about if my feeling got hurt, no sugar coating life. I survived my Dad telling me "say good bye to the dog, I am shooting him when I get home from work". I survived my Mom saying "NO you can not have that or this" oh she said that a great deal. I survived not going on fabulous trips, not even going to Disney Land. I survived being told " we can't afford that". I had a great childhood too.
Originally posted by Ctg492.
I survived being told " we can't afford that".Me, too, yet somehow, I don't feel as though I missed out on anything. That's a good thing.
Me, too, yet somehow, I don't feel as though I missed out on anything. That's a good thing.
Yes, me, too!
I also survived having to do chores. My parents didn't have a dishwasher until sometime in the late 90s! I also survived not having a TV of my own until I was a senior in high school. And then it was a 12" black and white (gasp! the horror!) I was given for Christmas to take away to college with me (this was 1986). I didn't have a car of my own until I graduated from college and had my first job.
Not really. LOL! This thread topic is more for fun than an actual true survival connotation.
Nevertheless, anyone else remember having plastic bags pulled on over your feet (winter time/play-time) held up by elastic bands, because your footwear was soaked, but you were bent and determined to go back outside and play because there was no stopping you?
How about mustard plasters? Remember those? In my day, moms would use a flannelette diaper as a wrap/cover for the homemade mixture. Remember how strong the smell was? How it burned the inside of your nose when you breathed in? LMAO!
I still do the plastic bag thing with myself and kids. Under the footwear of course. But it works great.
I'm convinced we were better kids for it, Tradd. :)
I know this is going to sound crazy to some... but I actually enjoying helping with the dishes (hand-washing/drying) as a kid/teen! Mom and I, would chat about all sorts of things (everything), and mom always appreciated the help in a big way.
Oh, yes, Tiam, I love the old plastic bag trick! Mom did it with us when we were little, and I did it (still do it) with my kids! I figured whatever was good enough for me when I was a wee-one, would be good enough for my kids, too! OMG, I sound so old-fashioned!
What was the book that came out some years ago, maybe 30 years back about some anthropologist who went an lived in the forest with South American indigenous tribes. One of the things he/she noticed was how much responsibility very young children received and the nonchalance with which the parents all responded to these children engaged in such activities. It was common for 3 year old boys to have real bows and arrows, made for their size, but real. Young children wandered the forest paths full of venomous and wild animals. Children swam in rivers without being formally supervised. And no misshapes occurred during the archeologists stay. It raised a lot of question about the role of parenting and family and community and expectation.
I've never heard of the book before, but wow... does it ever sound interesting. I agree, the level of coddling children receive today, IMV, isn't for the good or better.
Tiam, that reminds me of The Poisonwood Bible, but not sure that's the one you meant.
My sister and I started doing the dishes together the day our younger brother was born. I was 6 (6!) and my sister was 10. We did them every day til we left home at 18. Had some of our most spectacular fights while doing dishes!
KayLRZ. Your post reminds me of a thread topic I started (month or so ago) related to "frugally trained at a young age", and I have to say, YOU WERE DEFINITELY FRUGALLY TRAINED AT A YOUNG AGE! LOL!!!
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