TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1960’s

If you like me, are one of those born in the 1960s, CONGRATULATIONS if you made it with all your limbs and fingers! We were lucky to grow up as free-range kids before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good. 

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and had the occasional drink
while they were pregnant. There was no such thing as dangerous second hand smoke as both our parents would light up in the car with the windows rolled up.

As young children, we remember the sounds of the air raid sirens that would be tested to keep us aware that our little world could end any moment. Maybe this is motivated us to live life fully, like there was no tomorrow?

In the summer at a campground by the water (all 8 of us). We would spend all day on the beach under the sun – without sun screen, making sand castles that would marvel the imagination. At the end of summer, our skin would be a dark golden brown, none of us got skin cancer (yet!)

We all ate whatever we were given and supplemented it with blackballs, 2 cent grab bags, chips, kool aid, coke, Popsicles – lots of sugar and we never got fat.

The four second rule did not apply, if we found something good to eat like candy on the road, we would often eat it with a smile as long as it still looked good. No one ever got sick.

We were put to bed on our tummies in baby cribs brightly painted with lead-based paints.

There were no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets, and we used to sample every medicine in the open cabinet, imagining we would invent something wondrous and helpful to the world. Put it in a bottle and bury it in the backyard, hoping something magical would emerge.

And yes, when we rode our mustang bikes with high handle bars and banana seats, if we wore anything on our heads it was baseball caps, not helmets. When we made our obstacle courses and made our jumps, we just made sure we didn’t fall off our bikes!

As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes. Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.
 
We not only drank water from the garden hose, we drank water from the creek in the back yard when we were thirsty. There was no such thing as pollution, at least none we could see. When we did see litter and garbage, as kids we’d pick it up because it seemed like the right thing to do.

We peed almost anywhere and anytime behind a convenient tree or bush to give us privacy.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We couldn’t afford homogenized milk so we had skimmed milk made from powder. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren't overweight.  WHY?  Because we were always outside playing...that's why!

On weekends, we would leave home in the early morning and play all day No one was able to reach us all day and that was normal.

We’d stay out late playing hid and seek, all the neighborhood kids would join in, the games were epic and no one complained as long as we were back home when the streetlights came on.

We’d play secret spy, going through the neighborhood without being seen, slinking through back yards that rarely had fences or security systems

We’d play ring and run or hide, people would come to the door, knew we were out in the bushes hiding somewhere, and they would almost never get worried or angry!

Being free-range was normal, safe and OKAY.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem..

We would spend hours building forts in the back woods, in the deep snow, in trees, underground, and no one ever seriously hurt – we learned a lot about engineering and how to steal scrap wood at midnight without getting caught. We spent maybe weekend and summer nights sleeping in the fort with our friends.

We did not have Play Stations, Nintendos and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no VHS or DVD movies, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell phones, no personal computers, certainly no Internet and no chat rooms.

We didn’t need this stuff because we were having a ball outside!

We had jobs like paper routes, doing odd jobs, caddying and stealing golf balls – only to sell them back to the poor unsuspecting adults.

We had friends, lots of friends, and we went outside and found them! In the playground, and wherever there was something to do or see.

Some of us fell out of trees, got the wind knocked out of us which was scary, got cut, broke bones and teeth, but there were no lawsuits or recrimination from those accidents, only lessons learned the hard way not to be repeated. Why? Because they were accidents and no was to blame and that’s how we learned about limits and gravity.

We would get spankings with wooden spoons, belts, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand on our bare bum and no one would call child services to report abuse. We would canned in our bedrooms, sometimes for days. We’d find a way to get out the window and shimmy down the tree for freedom.

Some of us ate worms, insects and mud pies and the worms did not live in us forever.

We would have the occasional rock fight, snowball fights and play fights with imaginary swords and guns, but no one ever got really hurt. We took turns being the cowboy and the Indian – both were equally worthy.

We were allowed to have and even given pellet guns and BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and although we were told it could happen - we never once put out anyone’s eyes.

We were fascinated by fire and would often burn the back fields just to see the green grass that would eventually grow in and attract wildlife. Sitting in trees lighting wooden matches and letting them fall one by one until a small fire would start. Sometimes we couldn’t climb down from the tree fast enough to put the fire out before it would get out of control and we’d return home to call the fire department with our sneakers melted or smoking from trying in vain to put the fire out ourselves. Only once did we call the fire department out of genuine concern that it might spread to homes, we cared about the consequences of our actions and learned cause and effect in real ways.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and joined them and their families around the TV or for dinner. Our parents never had to drive us anywhere!

We walked to school or rode our bikes and though it was far away, we enjoyed the walk through the open fields that would change with the seasons.

Halloween was the biggest kid event of the year, we’d plan and make our costumes months before and trick or treating was executed with military precision.
 
We would climb the highest trees and hitch hike to places our parents never knew or wanted to know and we talked to strangers and trusted people as they trusted us.

We would build awesome snow forts wherever we felt like it and we would slide down a snow covered hill with a piece of cardboard or whatever made us go fastest, we never worried about stopping as common sense told us what was reasonable and safe enough.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! We tested the law by stealing packs of gum but justice would usually prevail and we would apologize and bring back the loot.

We would hitch rides on the bumper of the school bus and ski the length of an icy road for fun and competition – no one ever went under the wheels. Why? Because we weren’t stupid, a little reckless maybe but we learned the limits of gravity and what was fun and what was stupid and dangerous. We learned the boundaries without anyone telling us with attached threats.

Our generation produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors ever. The past 50 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas largely thankful to this freedom that kids had growing up in the 1960s.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.