I tried to find a thread that deals with this subject but could not. I read an article this morning that has me wondering.How in the dickens did we Boomers ever survive our upbringing and get this far in life? Think about how we were raised,taught, not only at home but school and even church. Old wives tales, myths passed down by our grandparents. Instead of hogging up my own thread with remembering how it was for me, I will only name a few things that I was taught, or did or not allowed to do as a child. I know we are bound to share some of the same teachings or experiences. Riding in the back of our pick up truck on the way to grandmas house. Riding my bike all around the neighborhood, even close to dark, speeding down the hills with no feet on the pedals. Being allowed to work in a dept store at age 12 but not with my mother who also worked there. Remember how bully's were handled, you punched them in the nose. Walking to store or school alone at age 6 or 7. I even rode the train by myself at age 7 from Missouri to Texas. I remember great father with his response to a young toddler trying to stick something into a light socket... Well Myrtle, he is a boy let him alone, besides he'll only do it once. My point being is- how did we survive these type of things ? Even the lies we were told as a child, to later find out our parents did so to make us adhere to their way of thinking and behaving. We survived our upbringing in life, but can today's child do the same ?
Yeah, those were the days. I remember staying with one East Texas Great Uncle and Aunt and Uncle Ed letting me go hunting with my .22 by myself down in the woods where wolves hung out. On returning from town my great aunt scolded him for letting a 10 year old girl go down their by herself. "What on earth were you thinking, pa? Doesn't this worry you at all?" "Yeah, I am a bit worried about the wolves but since Faye promised to only shoot cottontails and snakes, I am not to concerned about the wolves since Faye has never lied to us." Or on another great uncles ranch in west Texas when I begged to climb the windmill at age 12 to do the maintenance on it. "Good heavens old man, have you taken leave of your good sense?" "Relax old woman, Faye was wearing jeans so none of the cowboys saw her panties." "Not what I was concerned about, smart ass." I sometimes wake up at night and wonder how I survived childhood growing up on a ranch then I remember visiting cousins in town and roller skating with those, fasten on your shoes skates, when a bump in the sidewalk cost me a lot of skin on my knees and elbows. I remember getting hit in the head when school swings had boards for seats. I am sure those head blows from playing dodge ball didn't do me any good. Working on old radios at age 8 that had lethal voltages didn't seem to worry anyone. Operating a tractor, discing a field, half a mile from the house, at age 11 didn't seem to worry anyone either. I rode the bus once by myself at age 8 from Colorado Springs to Lubbock. I am not sure how we survived but we did.
I was talking about this very thing with a cousin, just the other day ago. As kids, If we wore helmets and knee pads while riding bikes, we would have been teased to death. At around age of 7 or 8, we wandered down the pasture all by ourselves where there were ponds, snakes, deep holes and lord knows what else that could have done us in. We jumped from the hayloft into a sea of loose corn on the floor of the barn that was taller than us, which could have suffocated us! We climbed on top of small farm buildings to the peak just because we could. When my mother saw us up there, she would yell bloody murder at us to get ourselves down from there NOW. Oops. We got caught. Ass whippin' would be a waitin’. We would get into the pig pen and try to ride the pigs and try to make them squeal. My grandpa was livid when he caught us doing that. Pigs are mean. We got a good ass chewing for that one too, then another one from my dad, when our parents came to pick us after they got off work. Oh, there is so much more, and all before we became teenagers. I think life was much simpler then.