Koolaid and milk? The breakfast approach was different for us- for every meal, there were two options on the menu- 'take it' or 'leave it.'
I remember being brought up to be tougher than children today. If there was a race or any competition, and you lost, you got zero. But today, ever one gets something,win or lose. Because if not, their egos may be traumatized. I remember being force fed the sayings of thank you- your welcome- yes mam,no sir...today if you get any response at all, your lucky. Oh my, remember how we had to address other adults..Mrs,Mr., first names were not allowed to be used by children at all. I remember being able to ride in the back of a pick up truck, sometimes sleep, on our way to somewhere. Not today. In 8th grade, a fight broke out between me and another girl, this was a very - um big fight. Once police came and we all scattered, and I was home, there was mark on my neck from the fight. My mother of course was very upset with me. My father merely asked who hit first- reply she did. End of story for him. Not today...oh my..not enough time to re cap this one. I remember when i came home from school there were chores to be done,long before homework. Do they even have homework anymore? I remember if not done as told, if I did something wrong - which in my case was frequent, you got smacked with a belt ! Not today, you get grounded or time out. Remember this saying " well sir if he falls from there(or whatever the action was) he'll only do it once."Yeah , well today, we fight to protect them from everything. Can't allow a bump or bruise, or broken limb,for we might be accused of child abuse. The only words we were not allowed to use ..the grown up curse words! Today, we all are suppose to monitor our wording before spoken, or suffer a mulitilude of back lash everywhere. I am not agreeing ,condoning or disagreeing how most of us were brought up. But I am saying those of us raised in that era,turned out just fine thank you.
An egg is about the only thing I can say is good when it is coddled. Even then, it sits in very hot water for a while....jus sayin'.......
When I ask a young person, if we had a national or world wide calamity, would you be able to survive, and if so, how would they go about it? I get some very ignorant answers. It seems the show, The Walking Dead, is the format for most answers I get. I do love the idealism of our countries youth, but like @Gloria Mitchell, I'm afraid that same group of people are so coddled that they aren't going to be able to fight real physical hardships.
We had the same options minus the leave it. My dad had his own version of leave it so take it was always the better option. We had another custom in our home which was eating EVERYTHING that was placed in front of us. Then, if we wanted more we had to be careful not to take too much because taking seconds had the same rule as the initial helping. Even if we could afford one when they were introduced into our society, a garbage disposal was never considered a needful type of appliance.
The rules in our house, were much like @Bobby Cole's. We were given a plate filled by my father, and our only choices were eat it all, or if my father wasn't agitated, we had to sit there until we did, If he in a bad mood, out came rhe belt. As far as a garbage disposal goes, I never needed one. My large family was always sneaking into the leftovers. Everything else end up going to the hogs, so I never had a need for one.
There were just my brother and me plus parents. Just realized I don't remember having a disposal. The only thing I can really remember was hated dinner time if something being served I did not like. We had to try and eat it. I grew up hating veggies and being sick and tried of hearing about starving kids in BFE....so I tried not to force feed my kids and make dinner time more enjoyable. They were coached in at least trying a bite .
I was brought up with the concept 'Thou shalt not waste.' It's one of the few things I carried over from childhood into my own households. When I was a child, the approach at home and school cafeteria was we did not have to eat anything we truly disliked, but if you took an item and put it on your plate you were expected to eat it. In both locations, the approach was if you weren't sure if you liked something or didn't know how hungry you were, take just a little, and if you decided you wanted more you could get a second serving. Makes sense to me. Current location: individuals of all ages think it's perfectly acceptable to pile up their plates, take a bite or two, and pitch the rest in the garbage. Irritates me to no end.
Oh, another blast from the past- not long ago, I was sad to learn one of my high-school classmates recently passed away; I have a memory of when she and I were 13: One summer day, her much-older sister approached us and asked us to go to the store for her. She said to buy her a carton (quart) of milk and a pack of cigarettes, and that we could each get ourselves an ice cream. (she knew the store owner, so selling cigs to her sister wasn't an issue). A quart of milk, a pack of cigs, and two ice cream sandwiches- and there was change left over from the $1 bill !
My youngest years were spent in the Texas countryside. Like most young children, the concept of how money worked wasn't something that was in my thoughts. Money was just something that parents dealt with. Like most us though, I too was taught that wastefulness was not to be tolerated. Like many young children back it the 50's, I would wander around the countryside and up and down the old roads. Back then, people would throw empty soda pop and beer bottles out their car windows, and of course they landed in the ditches or along the roadside. Since bottle recycling was a big thing when I was a child, see who of the other kids could gather the most bottles was a game we played. It didn't take us long to understand that there was another benefit to be had. MONEY!! The local corner store would take our bottles, and we had found a way to get goodies that our parents had told us we didn't need and would even rot our teeth. It was also responsible for me learning how to add and subtract before I entered school.
Not only did we pick up bottles along the road but we'd dig through the town landfill and get the ones that people tossed out with the trash too. We often had to wash them though, because the store wouldn't take them if they were too dirty, this despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that my grandfather owned the store.
As I kid, I hated this, and still not fond of family reunions. My folks, me and brother traveled by car for miles to see people we really did not know- but were family. That was my mothers side of a family. Then here was dads...at least his were less frequent. Poor ole country folk really, and many not very educated. I did not like having my cheeks pinched or kissed by well meaning oldsters. What I did enjoy, were the mounds of endless home cooked meals, and countless pies and cakes. Back then, in my mothers grandmothers house- it was very small,and just one daughter of theirs (out of 10 kids) well she had 10 kids to. Can not remember how many her siblings had.Anyway we stayed outside a lot because the grown women prepared the tables, while the men sat, aimless, on the huge wooden porch, smoking and drinking iced tea-or whiskey. Even as a child, I realized that these kids were much poorer than we were. We barley floated by pay check to pay check, but we appeared richer - i think at least. Hide and seek, cops and robbers, army men , doctor and nurse,even some red rover games. This went on all day. At night, after the food cleared from all the card tables,out came the dominoes. They were real big on this, and could last until the wee hours of the morning. At times there was a bit of ole gospel singing going on. Ole great grand dad Harvey would occasionally turn on the tv to the Ed Sullivan show. You could barley see it for all the heads of kids. But one night , my great grand ma started squeaking" Harve ( that is what she called him)you turn that blame television off, the women on there - well they are showing their mossy! LOLOL. yeah right, like that would be a big deal today. All in all, I would have fun , and it did give me memories...
As most of you know by now, my step-parents were very, very strict with me. So strict, I couldn't wait to move out right after high school graduation. They were "loving" in their own way and I appreciated that, but. Yes, things have changed within the family structure today. But, just like my old high school days, some parents can afford, and will buy, their kids a new car or a tv for their bedroom. I paid $75 for a non-running 1956 Chevy Bel Air. It was in my senior year of high school and, since I had a part-time weekend job, I paid to have the car fixed. Now, my neighbor and classmate, he had a new 1968 Mustang his parents bought him. Of course they were much more well-off than my step-parents were. He went on to become a lawyer and later a judge. Even back in those old days of Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, Lone Ranger and so on, having money sure helped make life so much better.
The thread.. places where you use to live, brings this to mind, and an extension of my post on there: My grand mother lived on the top side of a mountain. Large 2 bedroom house with a breakfast nook,however the bathroom was not used, money I think . Anyways there was an outhouse-2 seats out back near the chicken pen. I painted it a bright pink the summer I stayed there. The summer of 1954 was filled with memories, I can never forget. I was six, but turned seven while there. The stairs to attic were in a closet in grand parents bedroom. I would run up those stairs in the heat of summer( well in Missouri they thought it was hot there) to look out the window that over looked the other side of the mountain. My grand dad worked for Nacoma Lights- made Christmas lights, and he had boxes of them. Lights glittered and bubbled...oh it was just so exciting to hook them up in summer. And the smell in the attic was of evergreen, spearmint, and just a mixture of awesome smells to me as a child. Once all sweaty , I would cool off by going to the basement - entrance in the kitchen. Deep dark, but so ever cool, with the walls under the stairs lined with with grandmas canned pickles, beans, potatoes, peaches , oh so many things she canned. The air in basement was cool, but musty with the smell of the coal pile over in a corner. There was a make shift shower, that I would get under and turn on the water for a more cooling effect. Then dry off and go to my room, and flop down on the feather bed, looking out the window to a slope of the mountain that laid outside. I have so many memories of that summer... if you Want to hear more of memories - such as Ma Daltons house,the swing, the birthday gone wrong, and stepping in the green stuff, my friend Russell, let me know. I enjoy remembering this grand time in 1954!
Enjoyed reading that and although my childhood was different your post bought back many special memories of my grandmother. I would definitely enjoy more of your memories @Gloria Mitchell.