"Childhood Days"

Back when I was a kid, things really were simpler.  Parents didn't worry nearly as much (even the protective ones!)  That meant that my "Childhood Days" were full of all sorts of things that today's kids can't do, can't be, and can't see that were pretty standard back in the day.  On the opposite side of the coin, there are an enormous number of things that are standard now but didn't exist back then.  For instance: 

Ten Things I'd Never Heard of as a Kid!

10.  Play Dates....If I wanted to play, I went outside and found somebody.

9.   Bike  or Skate Helmets....The only kid helmet I ever heard of was for boys who played football.

8.   In-line Skates....Skates were metal, clamped onto your shoes and had four wheels set in a rectangle.  Skates came with a "key" that you wore on a ratty string around your neck.  Wheels in one straight line?  How do you keep balanced?  Spend more than $3.98 on skates??  Why!? 

7.   Seat Belts....were on airplanes, or so I heard.  I'd never been on an airplane!

6.   Infant Seats.....Babies were held by their moms, in the front seat until they could sit up, then into the back seat they went, with all the other kids.

5.   Teacher Enrichment Days....If it was a regular weekday and not a holiday, it was a school day!  Always, no exceptions!  Teachers needing "enrichment"??  Their job was to teach, that's all.

4.   Grammar school cafeterias....You either went home for lunch or you brought your lunch.  You usually ate your lunch outside, unless it was raining.   Occasionally  there might be Pizza Day or Hot Dog Day....maybe.

3.  I-Pods, MP3 players, Pandora....Huh??  If you wanted to listen to music, you only had 2 choices....listen to the radio or buy the record and play it in your living room on your mom & dads record player.

2.  87 different brands of "sports shoes", each more expensive than the last....  There were two types of "Sport shoes";  High-tops (black) for boys and Keds (white) for girls.  That's it, nothing else, really!

1.  Zero Tolerance policies....Not an issue, not even one little bit.  There wasn't a kid in town who was stupid enough to try to get away with bringing a weapon, drugs, alcohol, or anything else illicit to school!  Everybody knew that even trying such a thing would get you a personal meeting with your parents and the principal that very day,  and you would be expelled, sent to military or reform school before the week was out, and labeled a "troublemaker" or a juvenile delinquent.  All of which would wreck your life forever!


And you know what?  In our "Childhood Days", we were happy, generally well-adjusted kids, able to entertain ourselves, with good imaginations, respectful of our elders, most of us finished H.S. and even went to college.  We didn't need anything listed above to make us whole.  We were just fine the way things were!

Today's kids wouldn't last ten minutes!