Today I'm blogging from Western New York. Kev's high school reunion was this past weekend and we headed up here to enjoy the festivities and visit the family.
One of the events we attended was a cook-out at one of his classmate's house and they started talking about some of their teachers and the things they got away with back in the day. It got me thinking about some of the things we did as kids that we would never let our kids do today or if they came home and told us about them, we would probably call the school and complain. I'm not talking about drinking water from the hose on a hot day or playing outside until the streetlights came on, but the legitimate things that really kinda put us in danger.
Hi Mom, I know you read my blog. Yes, we lived and didn't die. Yes, things were different then. Yes, we knew better than to go off with strangers.
1. Dropping us off places with no supervision - Kev told me that when he was a kid he would get dropped off at the YMCA for hours and hours. He would play basketball and do sporty things with his friends but back then the Y still had rooms for transients. Random people who were down on their luck, could get themselves clean, have a good meal and do whatever they feel, inches away from your child! The boys locker room was inches away from the transient apartments.
During the summer my bother and I were dropped off at the community pool for the entire day. We'd go in the morning, they'd give us a few dollars to get some food and pick us back up in the afternoon. Hours and hours all by ourselves with one one to watch us. We had friends there and got a great tan but yeah, no supervision.
2. No car seats or seat belts - We NEVER used seat belts growing up. Ever. We would go on summer vacation and roll all over the back seat or in the back of the station wagon. . My brother used to lay up in the ledge behind the back seat and the window. The worst might be the no car seats. I was 2 1/2 when my brother was born and he moved into the car seat. I then sat on the console between the 2 front seats. Yep, just balanced there with nothing but mom's arm to keep me from flying through the windshield.
Apparently I was a precocious child and refused to sit in a car seat but at 3, I probably could have been swayed by a graham cracker and a new toy.
Mom's Facebook response- Re: Blog. No. 2. yes you did sit on the console but there was no way that you could have been persuaded to sit elsewhere. Let's say that you were stuborn!! A bribe did not work, I tried that. The cars that we had back then did not have seat belts which we would have used if they were there.
3. Shop Class - WHY WERE 10 YEAR OLDS ALLOWED TO PLAY WITH DANGEROUS MACHINERY?? When I think back to shop class, I have no recollection of the teacher standing over us carefully helping us to cut dowels and and the bases for our napkin holders. (Because we all made napkin holders, right? And your parent's still use it. Kev's mom brought out his for dinner last night) And the shop teacher was always missing a finger or 2. Why did we put out trust in a man who clearly has a tendency to be distracted at crucial moments?
This is Kev's but I made the exact same one.
4. All sorts of lack of supervision at school - Kev said that when he was in the 6th grade, their lunch ended about 30 minutes before the teachers' lunch. So they sat in the classroom and waited for her to come back. Every. Single. Day. During that time, they formed a Lord of the Flies-esque society, played records and Spin the Bottle. When I was in HS, we would have to take a lab class, so it was 5 days a week and 1 day a week it was 2 periods long. The other 4 days it was a study hall. Well, instead of study hall you could get a pass to hang out in the choir room and just be there. Sometimes the teacher was there but oftentimes not. That's when people would go into the auditorium to make out. Think about it, the auditorium is the largest, least used room in a school and it's never locked. So many seats and aisles and places to make-out. (Not me though mom!)
5. Bike Helmets - I'm pretty sure you couldn't buy a bike helmet in the 80s, at least not in my small town but I really could have used one when I crashed into the side of a car and gave myself a concussion. Made me miss my First Communion with my class because I was all beat up.
6. Locker Rooms - This is more traumatic than dangerous but as a kid there's nothing worse than walking around by yourself, waiting for your parents to finish and being surrounded by naked old people.
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What things did you used to do that you would never let your kids do today?
I walked to school when I was 7 years old, and we lived at least 3 blocks a way. When I was kept after school because I was behind on my work, the teacher actually called me a baby when my mother came wondering where I was when I didn't come home on time.
ReplyDeleteMy mother also tells me a story about when we had gone on a picnic when I was a baby. We had a convertible, and the top was broken. Of course it rained, so my mother laid me down under the dashboard, and said I was the only one who didn't get wet.
And finally, my dad had one of those pick-up trucks with the seat in the bed. I'm pretty sure those are illegal now, and if they're not, I'm certain children aren't allowed to ride in them. But man, that was my favorite place to ride!
This sounds just like my childhood! Hours and hours of no supervision, and none of us thought anything about it! My Momma still does the seatbelt arm though :)
ReplyDelete