First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.
Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
Take away food was limited to fish and chips, and occasionally sausages; no pizza shops, McDonalds, KFC, Subway or Nandos.
Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on the weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death!
We shared one soda with four friends, from one bottle, and NO ONE actually died from this. Sometimes we shared with them our chewing gum (Pussy Cat or Big G)... while chewing!
We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Toffees, Gobstoppers, Bubble Gum and some bangers to blow up frogs with. Alternatively, we would give them to chupa na madebe.
We ate pancakes, white bread and real butter, and drank soft drinks with sugar in them (remember Tree Top?), but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!
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 OK.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old prams and betas from car spare parts, and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars. When April came round, it was a sacrilege not to fashion a rally car from old Kimbo and Cowboy tins (yes, plastic hadn't been invented then) and slippers (pati pati) because Safari Rally was on during the Easter holidays.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii, X-boxes; no video games at all, no 60 channels on DStv, no video / DVD films, MP4s, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet 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.
Only girls had pierced ears!
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time.
We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th birthday.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet!
RUGBY and CRICKET had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that! Getting into the team was based on MERIT. Even the estate football game's selecion was purely on merit. If you didn't make the team ("HE WEARS SPECS!") you patiently waited for the Football gods to smile on you next time around.
Our teachers used to hit us with canes and gym shoes, and bullies always ruled the playground at school. Closing Day didn't go past 10:30 for most of us because we were "WANTED".
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like "Kiora" and "Blade" and "Ridge" and "Vanilla".
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL.
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 our lives for our own good. And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.
PS -The capitalised words are because your eyes are not too good at your age anymore...
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