lillybeck

And people think there is something wrong with us. While taking a class for Early Childhood education we were asked if we were spanked as children and then informed that if we were we had been abused. I do not feel abused or ever did.

Morningcoffeegal

I remember laying out my school clothes the night before, changing into play clothes after school and wearing my Sunday best only on Sunday!(no jeans allowed at church, what would the neighbors think!lol) I remember our Dr. making house calls & that was the only time we were allowed to sit on the table. Dinner time was 6pm each & every night & we all had to be there, no elbows on the table either & my dad use to say sit up straight! My mom & dad raised 6kids with only 1 bathroom, there wasn't a shower we had a claw foot tub, had to rinse my hair using a cup while sitting in the tub or over the kitchen sink! LOL I was raised to keep my shoulders back, head up straight & tummy in! What happened? There was no antibacterial I'm still here! The old saying's were you'll eat a bushell of dirt before you die, or you'll live till you get married! LOL Penny candy was only a penny! No snow days, & if I wore pants in the winter they were under my dress & I had to take them off once I got to school. Ed Sullivan & Lawrence Welk were our reality shows.

Connie in CO

Don't forget no dishwasher,you could sleep with the windows open.

j

Paper Sales, See which class could bring in the most. - J

ncredbird

NICE people didn't have their underwear showing! No bra straps hanging out or backside cracks showing and you wore underwear and a slip. Ann in Tn

farmgirl

We played basketball (usually it was flat) out behind the barn & our hoop was an old 5 gal. bucket w/a rusted out bottom hung on the barn. Always had to milk the cows (we had a dairy) before & after school. Butchering chickens & hogs for our meat, we did send he beef to the processing place. Canning, boy, we canned enough to last through the winter until the next garden was producing. Hot, too, no a/c at all, no tv. Did have a radio. Lots of board games w/my siblings & our parents in the winter always outdoors in the summer playing on the creek after chores were done. Good days, well, I wouldn't want to be w/out a/c esp. this summer. Average temps for us was around 105 all summer.

lillybeck

I went back and read all of these posts and have laughed myself silly. These all bring up childhood memories. We would go outside in the morning and sometimes did not go home until almost dark unless we were hungry. No one called child services if our parents did not know where we were. In the winter we walked across frozen ponds and lakes. We played in corn fields and followed the fenceline home, jumped from haylofts, climbed big trees, drank from the hose, played in the rain and walked everywhere we went. If we wanted to talk to our friends we went to where they were. These were the good old days and when my GKs are with me I share all of this and let themm do as much of it as possible. Iam 64 with 8 kids 24 GKs and 9 GGKs and I still drink from the hose.

May in Jersey

I'm the oldest of 7 and was my mothers full time helper, plenty taking care babies and younger brothers and sisters, food shopping, cooking, cleaning, never thought to complain as it was expected of me. I was the only child at the butchers early Sat. mornings with my list, money and food stamps (that was during WWII). After the meat was brought home I went to the fruit and veggie store, A&P and local grocery. Sometimes after lunch I would shop for my grandfather, he liked a cold cut called head cheese from the local pork store, and their pickled pigs feet too, ugh! Weekdays I did smaller shopping after school, usually for bread, milk and something for the night's dinner. Only difference is that my mother wasn't sleeping in although she did go to bed early with the younger kids and I would do the dishes and watch out for the other kids. I was 13 1/2 and had just begun high school when my mother had my sister Carol (5th child). I was left in charge of the family while she was gone for 4 days, couple of dinners didn't turn out too well but we managed. Father didn't get paid if he didn't work so I had to do it. Did the same when last 2 siblings were born although mother's hospital stays were shorter. By today's standards both my parents would be arrested for child abuse but I didn't feel abused it was just something you did for your family. Getting married and taking care of my own family and housewas a breeze after that.


May in Jersey

May in Jersey

We may not have played in the same places as I lived in a city but we were gone all day roaming through a huge park, no one worried about us being mugged or molested, only if we torn our clothes or got our shoes soaked by slipping off the rocks while crossing the stream.

mim

We walked to school on a major road -- rte 66. Drank water from a tin dipper from the pail. Used the outhouse and played in the dirt outside at recess. It hit the state newspaper when we got a ceramic jug and used paper cups for our water. -- the water came from a neighbors well pump.

And this was in "civilised" CT

Remember the saying "you have to eat a peck of dirt before you die" How much was a peck??

Mim