When I was a kid.....

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

Parents seem to love telling stories about how tough they had it as a child. What tales of woe did your parents use on you?

My father always talked about how far he had to walk through the woods (in the snow, of course) to get to school. With my mother, it was about the bombing raids during the war and living under Soviet rule after it.

[Chocolate Lover]

Um, not sure I heard any. Mom was a spoiled brat and Dad was too busy working to tell hardship stories.

[Gardening Grandma]

Oh heck, I tell those stories to my grandkids. Their dad drives them to and from school.

In 4th grade I walked to a train station, took the train for over an hour (changing once), then walked to a bus stop where I caught a bus for a 45 minute ride. I'm not kidding. (I was living overseas and that was the nearest English speaking school) They just roll their eyes. "Whatever Grandma!"

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

My SIL's father used to tell her about having to walk through the snow to get to school. It wasn't until my brother pointed out that he lived in Venice Beach (CA) growing up that she realized he had been BSing her.

[Befferz]

Jan 28, 2011 17:02:18 GMT -5 Mad Dawg Wiccan said:

My SIL's father used to tell her about having to walk through the snow to get to school. It wasn't until my brother pointed out that he lived in Venice Beach (CA) growing up that she realized he had been BSing her.

My family somehow turned this into "walking 5 miles to school, uphill both ways, in the snow, on your hands, and wearing bell bottoms."

[gambler]

I am the one in my family that others hold up as an example of what not to do. I often hear the words to you want to turn out like Greg. I how ever am quite pleased to have turned out to live to be my age at all. I am still waiting to collect on all the bets that i would not make it but sadly most that bet against me are gone

[jimbeamalki]

My stepfather and his siblings lived beside a railroad track back in the 1930's, and supposedly would walk the track and pick up chunks of coal to burn at home. Supposedly he went through 2 winters eating only squash and eggs. Whenever my mom would cook squash, he would refuse to eat it and lay the story on us.

[Opti]

My Dad never said anything like that. My Mom grew up on a farm and did have a long walk to school but she didn't talk about it enough for me to even remember how many miles it was.

[verrip1]

Dad never told those stories because he really did have a rough life. Mom told us not to ask him about the past because he didn't want to talk about the bad times.

[Sharon]

My grandpa tells stories of growing up on the homestead in Dakota. It was actually North Dakota but he always calls it Dakota.

My Grandma (other side of the family) tell stories of growing up on the the farm in Nebraska. To the day she died she hated snakes because they would come through the walls of the sod house.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

<<To the day she died she hated snakes because they would come through the walls of the sod house. >>


Sounds like both my father and my MIL. My father grew up in the back woods of rural Arkansas, abundant with venomous snakes and where kids were taught to fear all snakes. My MIL grew up in an area of CA ripe with rattlesnakes. She has vivid memories of the pock marks on the porch where her father shot rattlers with his .45, and of the time she turned back her bed cover only to find a rattler coiled up.

[MN-Investor]

My father's parents were missionaries in Madagascar when he was born in 1920. All the missionary children went to the missionary school - a boarding school - in the larger coastal town when they reached the age of first grade. Can you imagine going to boarding school in first grade??? Fortunately for Dad, his three older sisters were there with him. Then, when Dad was 16, he came to the U.S. and lived with a couple his parents knew and attended high school in Minnesota.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

<<Can you imagine going to boarding school in first grade???>>

Dang near anything which would have removed me from my father's presence would have been welcome at that age to about 30.

[rileyoday]

I tell my children of the two years I lived on a hay farm. 5th and 6th grade. My brother drove the tractor my dad stacked on the wagon , I picked each bale of hay off the ground and put on the wagon. 3000 bales each year.. then we unloaded in the barn. we also cut wood all spring and fall. my parents finally gave up moved back to the city. 1975. too much mother earth news.{ magazine] Just alot of physical work.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

My mom had a lot of snow-related stories... but she DID live in Canada, land o' snow.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

<<My mom had a lot of snow-related stories...>>


Ever notice that at the time your/mine/everybody's parents were kids, Death Valley was buried under at least ten feet of snow, year round?

[DebMD (banned)]

At dinner time I'd say 'I'm starving'
Mom would respond 'You don't know what real starvation is. You're just really hungry.'

[thyme4change]

I tell my kids that the only video game was pong and we didn't own a computer - and there were only 4 channels, none of which were Disney. My kids will have it harder than I did in some ways - so I don't go too far down this path.

My parents grew up with less. My mother more-so than my father. I think my Dad's parents were pulling themselves out of that lifestyle, but my Mom's Dad died fairly young (mid-50's) so Grandma never really had it terribly easy. She probably thought she did compared to where she had been. But, they lived in a small 3-bedrrom, 1 bath row house. It wouldn't be so bad, except at times they had 8 people living there - 6 of whom were adults. Both my parents grew up with grandparents in the house, due to poverty, income loss, etc. They didn't feel that was a hardship as kids - they were surrounded by people who loved them. But their hindsight puts a more realistic spin on what was really happening there.

[The J]

Jan 30, 2011 6:14:07 GMT -5 Lady Gaga Gaga Snerd said:

I tell my kids that we didn't have remote controls and I actually had to get up off the couch to change the channels! You can imagine the look of horror on their little faces! Ha!

If I ever have kids, I can tell them about the remote control that plugged in to the tv.

[ummboutthat]

Jan 30, 2011 12:45:45 GMT -5 The J said:

Jan 30, 2011 6:14:07 GMT -5 Lady Gaga Gaga Snerd said:

I tell my kids that we didn't have remote controls and I actually had to get up off the couch to change the channels! You can imagine the look of horror on their little faces! Ha!

If I ever have kids, I can tell them about the remote control that plugged in to the tv.

that's right I remember that J!!!

my dad really didn't tell me stories of his childhood days as an example to let me know how good I have it. But he did let us know and he also took us to his old neighborhoods. Funny we were already in the Ghetto - but where he grew up - LOL my brother and I were like WE NEED TO GO NOW!!

[NastyWoman]

Jan 28, 2011 17:11:50 GMT -5 Befferz said:

Jan 28, 2011 17:02:18 GMT -5 Mad Dawg Wiccan said:

My SIL's father used to tell her about having to walk through the snow to get to school. It wasn't until my brother pointed out that he lived in Venice Beach (CA) growing up that she realized he had been BSing her.[/q

My family somehow turned this into "walking 5 miles to school, uphill both ways, in the snow, on your hands, and wearing bell bottoms."

In the words of Weird Al Yankovic---

Let me tell you sonny... let me set you straight
You kids today ain't never had it rough
Always had everything handed to you on a silver plate
You lazy brats think nothing's good enough

Well, nobody ever drove me to school when it was ninety degrees below
We had to walk butt naked through forty miles of snow
Worked in the coal mine twenty two hours a day for just half a cent
Had to sell my internal organs just to pay the rent

When I was your age. When I was your age
When I was your age. When I was your age

Let me tell you something, you whiny little snot
There's something wrong with all you kids today
You just don't appreciate all the things you've got
We were hungry, broke and miserable and we liked it fine that way

There were seventy three of us living in a cardboard box
All I got for Christmas was a lousy bag of rocks
Every night for dinner, we had a big 'ol chunk of dirt
If we were really good, we didn't get dessert

When I was your age. When I was your age
When I was your age. When I was your age

Didn't have no telephone, didn't have no FAX machine
All we had was a couple cans and a crummy piece of string
Didn't have no swimming pool when I was just a lad
Our neighbor's septic tank was the closest thing we had
Didn't have no dental floss, had to use old rusty nails
Didn't have Nintendo, we just poured salt on snails
Didn't have no water bed, had to sleep on broken glass
Didn't have no lawnmower, we used our teeth to cut the grass

What's the matter now, sonny, you say you don't believe this junk?
You think my story's wearin' kinda thin?
I tell you one thing, I never was such a disrespectful punk
Back in my time, we had a thing called discipline

My dad would whoop us every night till a quarter after twelve
Then he'd get too tired and he'd make us whoop ourselves
Then he'd chop me into pieces and play frisbee with my brain
And let me tell ya, Junior, you never heard me complain

When I was your age. When I was your age
When I was your age. When I was your age

[Sum Dum Gai]

My mom actually had a pretty decent upper middle class childhood. She had some funny stories about owning a pet monkey, but no hardship stuff. My bio dad split when I was still in diapers. My step dad spent his childhood getting the crap kicked out of him by his dad, so he didn't talk about it much. He was too busy drinking, getting stoned, and beating the crap out of my mom to tell when I was a kid stories anyway.

[TD2K]

[alabamagal]

Was talking to a teenage employee at DH business. She commented that she couldn't understand how we could curvive without cellphones. During the converstation, her phone rang several times and it was her mom checking up on her (probably one of those helicopter parents). So I told her, well we didn't have cell phones, and when we were out our parents couldn't track us down and insist on knowing what we were doing every minute. I think she began to think that it wouldn't be so bad to be out of touch....

[thyme4change]

Sorry - but I think the internet and cell phones are very awesome inventions.

I remember being stuck and not being able to call my Mom. I remember being lost and not being able to find my friends or family. I remember having a health problem at midnight, and not knowing what to do. I remember having a school project and not being able to get to the library to research it, and when I did get there, half the books I needed were missing.

This is better.

[gambler]

me and My father never ever talked after I left home, when my son was born I called ever one to let them know, when I called my mother she said my father wanted to talk to me. That o course took me by surprise and I thought he would say congratulations. he said and I quote " now you will find out" and he hung up the phone. NOW I KNOW!

[bookcrazychick]

I was ALWAYS hearing about my parents crappy childhoods growing up. Now, they did ACTUALLY have bad ones. My dad was the son of impoverished immigrants and my mom was raised by alcoholic share croppers.

But as a kid I assumed that EVERYONES parents grew up that way. Guess I thought it was just the times or something. LOL So one day I was talking to my best friend in the 6th grade and she said something about her grandparents to which I asked her something about them picking cotton. She gave me a blank look and said "My grandpa owned a hotel." That's when it dawned on me that not everyones parents had bad childhoods.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

me and My father never ever talked after I left home, when my son was born I called ever one to let them know, when I called my mother she said my father wanted to talk to me. That o course took me by surprise and I thought he would say congratulations. he said and I quote " now you will find out" and he hung up the phone. NOW I KNOW!



Gambler, I cannot express how much I empathize with you, except that my parents never divorced. I can't tell you how often I wish they had, but I believe you already know.