The Way Things Used To Be

So lately I've been thinking a lot about this mass email that I recieved from my Mom.  I usually just delete these things without even reading them, but I happened to read this one.
No matter what our kids and the new generation think about us,

WE ARE AWESOME !!!!
OUR LIFE IS LIVING PROOF !!!!
To Those of Us Born
1930 - 1979 (I was born in 1980...so close enough)
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered
With bright colored lead-base paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, We had baseball caps
Not helmets on our heads.
As infants & 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 drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes made with Lard, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank FLAV- OR- AID made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. WHY?
Because we were always outside playing.....that's why!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on..
No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were 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 did not have Play stations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's,
No surround-sound or CD's,
No cell phones,
No personal computers,
No Internet and no chat rooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand and no one would call child services to report abuse.
We ate worms and mud pies
Made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthday , made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.
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!
These generations have produced some of the best
Risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. What can kids today do besides push buttons...
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.
if YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?

Even though I dont' agree with everything, I think some of this is true. I feel like I go around with paranoia every day in public because someone might not like what I do as a parent. The gov't actually dictates so  much, something that I hadn't thought about before, but it's true.

I would have looked at my parents like they were crazy if they told me I had to sit in a booster seat until I was 8 years old. Or that I had to wear a helmet to ride my bike.

I have to wait till I can find a parking spot right in front of the storefront so I can see them while I dash in to get some chow mein from Panda Express to take home for dinner, all before someone discovers that I've left my kids in the car. (Gasps)
Why would I unbuckle three preschoolers, drag them in the store, watch them run around while I try to order a box of noodles, then herd them back to the car, and have to buckle them in again. You would have to be crazy!

I can't discipline my kids in public. When I grew up, the babysitter would pack a wooden spoon in her purse (she made sure I saw she was doing it) and I knew she wasn't afraid to use it in the grocery store.

Now a days, people don't even want to talk to each other. They email, text, facebook, or who know what else all to avoid having a real conversation. I feel sad for my kids.

I guess it's just the sign of the times. Pretty soon, we are going to lock ourselves in boxes with a piece of technology so we don't even have to look at people.

Sorry guys, I'm not being pessemistic. It is what it is. I just hope I can combat it and give my kiddos a normal life!

What do you think?