Deb G

We had the old wooden crank phone that hung on the wall. People that listened in on others' conversations were called rubberneckers.
We didn't have running water for drinking so we had to carry it in a pail from the pump and we dipped it out of the pail with a dipper. It was the best tasting, coldest water ever.
I wanted to go to the country school 1 1/2 miles from our farm but we were half mile across the cutoff line so we had to go to school in town. It was a small school though, 2 grades in one room and I remember there only being 9 kids in our class so we got alot of individual help. Not like today where there can be 30+ kids in a classroom. It's amazing kids can learn anything in today's school systems.

mama's place

I'm homesick for our childhoods....we must mostly be in the same age neighborhood....similar memories. I think I remember all of that except for the colored film over the TV..too funny. Didn't have that one.

Do you all think that sense of peace and contentment will ever return? My grandsons are so tuned in to their video game devices that they don't notice us when we visit them..so sad.

I taught school for close to 20 years, 7th-10th. Man, what a shock to be in schools today after being raised in a strict school environment like you mentioned above...no respect for anybody. So sad. So hard to teach kids who don't act like they want to learn. Sad that the young lady above had such a bad experience in school. No solution in sight, either. Society has to get a grip on respect for authority, parental responsibility, etc. Young people might laugh at our simple lives from the past, but we were blessed to have lived them. Think I'll go sit on the front porch "a spell." LOL

judi_lynne

I remember colored plastic to put over the TV, but wasn't that for a special program? I remember after school watching a program that you put colored plastic on the TV....

I remember wringer washing machine, having to empty it bucket by bucket, THEN hanging the clothes out to dry no matter what the weather

I remember walking at least a mile to school, up and down hills, on a snowy, icy, day and being sent home because I forgot to put my skirt on over my pants (we were allowed to wear pants to school but had to take them off once we got to school).

I remember being gone for HOURS upon HOURS with my friends playing in the woods, the creeks, the "sand pit"...and no one ever had to worry about whether we were safe or not

and I remember everything else that has been mentioned!!! Oh my gosh I feel old now!

:D

tcnmom

Deb G's memories brought back memories. Everyone drank from the same dipper and never heard of anyone getting sick from doing so. I'm from Mn. too and maybe it's a Mn. thing. The wringer washer and 2 rinse tubs and my mother would use the leftover water to wash the floor.

Alu_Rathbone

I remember playing out side all the time as a kid, which changed once I entered high school. I told my mom that I'm going to make it mandatory that my kids come home they can go out and play till dinner, then they eat, do homework, take a bath, and then go to bed. I'm going to try and get them into either sports or music. I'd love to have a boy who would like to be in little league!

stitchinwitch

I have received so many emails in the past that remembered "how it was" - but you ladies and maybe men - have brought up even more things that make my mind wander in such a good way!
Yes, we wore dresses - we pulled up our socks so they would touch the bottom of our dress hem so no skin was revealed BOY HAVE TIMES CHANGED!!
Before we got a tv we would gather in the "front room" and watch the radio! When we FINALLY got a tv the cabinet was soooo big and the screen was so small, but we felt sooo RICH! There were just a few programs on for maybe 2 or 3 hours a day - then there was snow!
Later - after lunch - my mother would lay on the couch with me and we would listen to her "stories" on the radio - like "The Legend Of Hilltop House" among others.

PJO

I'm a high school bus driver for Labette County High School here in Kansas. You wouldn't believe the topics the kids discuss on my bus, the comments they make, and they don't care who they make them in front of. So many of the kids today have no parenting. You can sure tell the difference between the kids whose parents are really involved in their lives and the kids who really don't have anyone who shows interest in them. It's to bad because a lot of kids are falling through the cracks. I take an interest in every child on my bus and try to encourage them
to make wise choices. For some of the kids, Having their seats warmed up a little would help cure a lot of the bad behavior, if you know what I mean. My mother told me that if I got a spanking at school, I was getting another one when I got home. Believe me, I never got spanked at school. Today, if the school tries to discipline a child the parent is up in the principals face!!

stitchinwitch

Do you ever wonder how "we" have reached this point?? It is because of the PARENTS! - Several years ago, there was a KINDERGARTEN little boy who had his hair just passed his shirt collar. The school had dress rules, and no boy could have long hair like that. He was sent home and was not allowed to come back to school until his hair conformed. His parents SUED the school administration saying that he could NOT be denied an education because of the way he dressed or wore his hair. The school lost, and it has never been the same since!

iltoaz

They call this making progress - sometimes "progress" is NOT a good thing.

Alu_Rathbone

My mother almost punched my guidance counselor for saying that I would never get into college and never be a teacher... just because I did not get good grades. I was a lazy student... but that was due to being bored and not being challenged... except for math, where I did the work... teachers didn't understand how I passed the tests with great grades and didn't do the work...

In my history class I was the only one to pass the Constitution Test the first time they took it... They had me in a class room fool of kids who were on drugs and who knows what else... some of them weren't but they were the ones who were in Special Education...

I hate how schools spend more money on their sports teams than on the music, art, band, or drama department... Also, why they don't get updated books or anything. My drivers ed book was published in 1990.

My school paid for a million dollar football field and a 3rd gym that they did not need. They took out the swimming pool since it "cost to much" and put in the 3rd gym. That school needs more classrooms... They have teachers that have to go from room to room each period... We had classrooms with 35 students and 26 desks... Even the lunch room was bad.. I remember standing at a garbage can for the first month of school cause I didn't have a place to sit... At least I got to know the security guard! lol

Our concert choir was huge, When I started freshman year, we had maybe 35 members... by the time I got to Junior year, we had a 96 member Concert Choir, I was a part of both the Concert Choir and the Honors Swing Choir (which sat at 15 members at all times and was hard to get into) Plus they added on a pre concert choir class due to the fact that the choir was so huge. so there was an extra 35 members. More kids liked choir than they did sports. Our teams were horrible never won a thing... no big awards or anything... They tried to fail my sister since she missed so much school, but her absenses were medically excused (she suffers from severe migrains...) Mom pulled her out due to the doctor telling her to try that, which has helped, she is now home schooled... I was pulled out of school when I was a junior and was still considered a freshman by the school, I was going to be 18 (i repeated 8th grade due to transferring problems) and the fact that we could not afford for me to go to a public school that charged $500 a year... so I dropped and took my GED test last year at 21, I studied on my own for three years. I passed the first time taking it.

That is basically my remember when of my teen years... it was a great time for me! Except for when I went to California for a month... that was fun!