Appearances

#1 – You should have manners around elders. Use yes ma’am and sir. Helps leave a good first impression. It will help you in life

#2 – “Because I said so” meant end of discussion. Some things were just better if mom or dad told you what to do. Kids usually don’t know what’s best

Family Oriented

#4 – They had us sit for dinner at the table every night. There were no cell phones, video games or internet

#5 – Everyone had chores. Whether it was mowing the lawn or doing the laundry, our parents created work to keep us busy at a very early age.

#6 – Weekends were for playtime. Let kids be kids

#7 – You had no choice but to take hand-me-down clothes from your older cousins or siblings. Doesn’t fit perfectly? Too bad! Be happy with what you’ve got

#8 – Visited a lot of family especially for holidays but also for an afternoon after school. A close-knit family is the cornerstone of America

School and Work Ethic

#9 – Nothing in life is free, you have to work hard for what you want….and we DID!

#10 – Buying land is important. God isn’t making any more of it, so it’s value grows

#11 – Failure was ok because our parents wanted us to learn from our mistakes. You didn’t get a trophy just for participating

#12 – They sent us to school but gave us the freedom to push ourselves in academics or not

Community and values

#13 – There is strength in numbers

#14 – Do the right thing instead of the easy thing

#15 – Other parents or adults could punish, scold, or reprimand you if you were in trouble

Independence

#16 – They didn’t give us everything. Most of the time, growing up was fun because the neighborhood kids would make up a game or go on an adventure. 

#17 – Parents gave us the freedom to walk places on our own and come and go as we pleased

#18 – We could go outside and play by ourselves until dusk. I remember playing in the not-so-busy street. We’d jump rope, hopscotch, play football, or go fish at the river.

#19 – LOVED candy especially the candy cigarettes so we could pretend to be cool and smoke like mom and dad. Fruit striped gum, cracker jacks, Bazooka Joe, rock candy and more

#20 – Played Clue, Candy Land, Barbies, Jetsons

#21 – Also bought comics and maybe some vinyl. Your parents may have had an encyclopedia collection that took up the entire bookshelf.

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