Hey Millennials! Yes, you, Sweetheart. Stop texting for a second and READ. Here are a some facts to blow your minds!
1) We didn't have "play dates" - we knocked on our friend's door and asked their mama if they could play. If they couldn't, we went to the next house.
2) If broccoli was on the table at dinner time, you ate it. Mama didn't make you a special organic gluten-free nut-free souffle of helicopter parenting nutritional wholesomeness. You ate your vegetables, period. [If you didn't eat it, you risked a butt whooping.]
3) If you played sports, you didn't have to be an Olympic trainee. Mediocrity was not punished. You could semi-suck at hitting or kicking the ball, without seeing a daddy lose his mind on the sidelines.
4) School supplies? Paper and pencils. Maybe a new binder and a big pink eraser to chew on. $10 at most.
5) We came home from school and took off our good school clothes and put on play clothes. Wearing school clothes and getting them dirty playing kickball? Watch out. Possible butt whooping on the horizon, when Daddy got home.
6) Hand-me-downs from siblings and cousins were just fine. No kids demanded name brand designer anything. Your mama went to K-mart, you got 2 new outfits, and you were set for the year.
7) We took our gym clothes to school in a plastic bag Mama got from a store for free, not a $150 gym bag. ["Gym clothes" were tee shirts and shorts, and tennis shoes that usually came from K-Mart. I wore only Keds until 7th grade.]
8) We didn't play games on phones. Oh, unless you mean making prank calls, in the good old days before caller ID. It was delightful to call drugstores and ask "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?!?" When they said yes, we screamed "You BETTER LET HIM OUT!" Slamming down that indestructible phone receiver was sooooo satisfying.
9) If you made a bad grade at school it was YOUR fault, not the teacher's fault.You might get a butt whooping but your teacher wasn't to blame.
10) We got bored sometimes and Mom and Dad didn't give a rat's ass. They were not there to entertain us. "Go find something to do or I'll give you something to do!" was guaranteed to make you get your behind out of their sight right quick.
11) We had chores. Before age 10, I could clean the house and prepare a simple meal. At age 8 many of us we were making up beds, running the vacuum, maybe even washing dishes, or drying them. Nobody called social services.
12) Birthday parties were a big deal if you got to go to a child's house and play pin the tail on the donkey. There were no elaborate outings to Chuckie Cheese or McDonald's, with swag for each attendee. If you got a cake at the roller skating rink it was a Big Deal.
13) We drank out of garden hoses. I had never seen bottled water until I was in my mid 20's.
14) If the dog got run over we buried him in the backyard and possibly had a funeral. Nobody contacted a Pet Crematorium or had bereavement counseling.
15) We were taught to address grownups with respect. In the South, we had to say M'am or Sir, and failing to do so was a punishable offense.
16) Good manners were drilled into us. We were not allowed to "talk back" or be disrespectful to grownups. We weren't allowed to interrupt grownup conversations.In fact, I heard "Children will not speak unless they are spoken to," many times. [In contrast, I had dinner with an acquaintance a few years ago who let his 9 year old dominate the conversation during dinner, and his father said, beaming with pride, "Doesn't he have a marvelous vocabulary?! I don't want to stifle his expression." I never ate dinner with them again.]
17) When I was a kid we weren't allowed to bother folks. If we pitched a fit in a store or restaurant we were taken outside, and we were lucky if we got a lecture instead of a paddling.
18) Going to movies was a big deal - you went to the theater, and had to behave yourself. It cost $1.50 - $3. That was a big treat. Even decades later I can tell you what everyone got: Mom got Junior Mints, Brother got Milk Duds, Dad got a huge tub of buttered popcorn, and I ate some popcorn and 1 or 2 Milk Duds for dessert.
19) We said the Pledge of Allegiance every morning at school. Nobody complained. Nobody took a knee or sat it out. By the time I was 8 I also could sing America the Beautiful, My Country Tis of Thee, and It's a Grand Old Flag.
20) Most of us were taken to church (or temple) on a regular basis, and we wore church clothes, clothes we couldn't get dirty.There were no live bands or people wearing blue jeans. Afterwards, you had Sunday Dinner -- fried chicken, biscuits, green beans, jello salad, chocolate cake. Then you sat around and spent the afternoon digesting, and made sure the front room was tidy in case somebody dropped by.
21) We had a black and white TV until I was 8, and we only got 2 channels clearly. Then we got a ginormous color TV when we moved to Tennessee, and we had 3 channels. I was in hog heaven. The phrase "Shut off that TV and GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY!" was often heard, however.
I didn't realize until I was a grownup that my parents were stricter than most about some things. We always had to drink a glass of milk at dinner. Always. We were taught to shake hands and look people in the eye when we met them. When we went out to dinner my brother and I had to wear "school clothes" or "church clothes" and behave ourselves, even if we just went to the S&S Cafeteria. We had to use a knife and fork properly, and keep our elbows off the table when we ate.
I was taught basic sewing by Mom and basic car maintenance by Dad.
And so on.
You know what? I am glad I grew up when I did. I doubt little girls today could make a decent mud pie, sew on a button, or use a dipstick properly...
Above, me at my brother's 6th birthday party. As a toddler, I often chose nudity on hot days. Nobody cared. Mom would slap some Sea & Ski [sunscreen] on me if it was a sunny day, but she was considered weirdly overprotective...
