07/28/2022
I grew up in Newkirk, Ok. Never once did I think I was raised by lower income parents during a time when almost everyone treated each other with respect. We didn't eat a lot of fast food because it was considered a treat, not a food group. We drank Kool-Aid made from water that came from our kitchen sink with real sugar. We ate bologna sandwiches, or even tuna (which was in a can not a pouch), PB&J & grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, macaroni & cheese, pot pies, but mostly homemade meals consisting of meat, potatoes, vegetables, bread, butter, and homemade dessert; and every once in a while, we ate chitlins, not me.
We grew up during a time when we mowed lawns, pulled weeds, helped neighbors with chores to be able to earn our own money.
We went outside a lot to play kickball, football, dodgeball, basketball, sledding, swim, rode bikes (and popped wi***es) ran with friends & played hide and seek (and hide and go get it with the girls). We drank tap water from the water hose outside... bottled water was unheard of. If we had a coke -it was in a glass bottle ... and we didn’t break the bottle when finished.
We watched TV shows like Good Times, The Jefferson’s, Bonanza, Gun Smoke, Alf, Diff'rent Strokes, Full House, Leave It To Beaver, Gilligan's Island, Happy Days, Bewitched, The Brady Bunch, The Rifleman, Looney Tunes, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Sanford and Son, Dukes of Hazzard, WWF Wrestling, and I Love Lucy. After school, we came home and did homework and chores, before going outside or having friends over. We would ride our bikes for hours. We had to tell our parents where we were going, who we were going with, and be home when the streetlights came on!
You LEARNED from your parents instead of disrespecting them and treating them as if they knew absolutely nothing. What they said was LAW, and you did not question it, and you had better know it!!!
In school we said the Pledge of Allegiance, we stood for the National Anthem, and listened to our teachers.
We watched what we said around our elders because we knew if we DISRESPECTED any grown-up, we would get our behinds whipped, it wasn't called abuse, it was called discipline! We held doors, carried groceries, and gave up our seat for an older person without being asked. You didn't hear curse words on the radio in songs or TV, and if you cursed and got caught you had a bar of soap stuck in your mouth.
“Please, thank you, yes please, no thank you, yes ma'am, no ma'am yes sir, and no sir were part of our daily vocabulary!
The world we live in now is just so full of crooked people, hate and disrespect for others.
post if you're thankful for your childhood. (Change where you grew up.) I will never forget where I came from and only wish children now days had half the chance at the fun and respect for real life we grew up with! ✨
I wouldn't trade my childhood for the world!!!
