Originally Posted by CyberAge-Dave (Post 16911071)

One of our favorite toys. We were on this thing all day.

http://www.marxtoymuseum.com/_borders/greenmachine.jpg

Originally Posted by Jon B (Post 16911750)

Damn we had a tree swing you had to climb 25 feet up a tree to get on it was roped on the tree in between the one we jumped from to the one we swung into to stop and climb down. Well with the numbers game after ohh 1000 swings the rope broke. Kid who fell 20 feet to the floor of the woods we played in broke his leg and arm. We carried him home since there was no cell phones and his mom took him to the hospital. 2 casts later he was the first to try our new rope swing. No law suits no punishments. Nothing but the cost of having fun. We used to play king of the hill on my stair way. 14 steps with a banister on one side. If you got knocked down sometimes you caught your arm in the railings. No broken bones. You got hurt you sat out and had chocolate milk for 10 minutes and resumed fighting for king of the stairs. Then when you saw my moms head lights pull up in the driveway we rushed to put the 2 twin mattresses back in the spare bedroom.. Ahh good old 70's and 80's in NJ!!:1orglaugh

Originally Posted by baddog (Post 16909296)

Can't hardly say that about either of my kids.

Originally Posted by devilspost (Post 16905968)

The ones that didn't make it aren't here to post how great it was.

Originally Posted by Platinumpimp (Post 16911850)

I got bored after reading the 3rd sentence.

Originally Posted by Mutt (Post 16910569)

sad to say but a big part of the problem was created by the women's liberation movement and parents who bail on marriages so easily - kids today mostly grow up in families with one parent or in a family where both mom and dad work, some out of necessity and then the millions of baby boomer yuppies where both mom and dad have careers. Out of guilt parents over compensate and over protect. Part of the reason we as kids felt secure enough to do all sorts of risky creative things after school is because we knew mom was at home and the neighborhood was filled with other moms who actually knew you by name. A kid can walk around his neighborhood today and he might as well be stranded in Manhattan - he's likely not to know anybody well enough to knock at their door and ask for help. I knew if I got in a fist fight that sooner than later some parent was going to come running and tear us apart. That kind of security is what kids need - not the over protective structure of some program or activity you enroll your kids in or suiting him up in plastic armour so go forbid he doesn't break his collarbone. There was this invisible safety net that kids instinctively knew existed and made them brave enough to do things on their own, they didn't wait for somebody to tell them what to do with their free time. Don't you remember as a kid how cool it was when somebody broke their arm or other bone - it was like a war injury, couldn't wait to get out of the emergency room to show the cast off and get people signing it. Every kid broke something - boys anyway.

Originally Posted by Loryn (Post 16907833)

There is a lot more blame to go around than we made some electrical gadgets. The word family is almost as bad as saying fuck, to people today. I think the missing link is FATHERS. There are not enough fathers in these kids? lives, to toughen them up. Dad's are who make them tough, and make them play, because men play in the dirt.haha And I do not in any way put that all on men, there are more women today using kids as a trap for a boy they like. And don't tell me that isn't happening. There are, by far, way more young women getting knocked up today than there were during our generation, and the generations mentioned in this thread.

It's funny, there are more awesome contraceptives today, than we had back then. Condoms that make it feel better, birth control pills that make girls only have a period 4 times a year, or not period at all, and yet today more and more kids are being born and supported by one parent. I am not saying people need to be married, I am talking about one parent is just GONE...in our generation that was not happening like it is today. It happened, but not like it was today.