1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs and toys were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bicycles, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE
actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, bread and butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, 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 O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes, trees, walls a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell 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.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did the worms live in us forever.

We rode bicycles or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!

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.

I remember before, when there were no cellphones and pagers, that when I agree with my friends of a specific meeting place and time, we all show up without letting each other wait for too long.

Nowadays even with cellphones at hand, things seem to have become worse.

I remember playing siyato. It's like baseball but played with sticks. I had the most fun while playing that. :) I doubt it if the children of today know that game.

A lot of them don't know SIYATO but a lot of them know SIYAKOL :O. When I was a kid we lived in Pasay and every weekends we would go to Roxas blvd to jog and afterwards swim in Manila bay (yup, you read right). The waters were so clean and refreshing then. Then we would go up CCP to where the blowers are and dry ourselves there then walk home to a hearty breakfast of steamy fried rice, hotdogs and fried eggs.

We had no counterstrike but we engage each other in SUMPIT (blowguns using monggo beans), or SUMPAK (nope, not the exploding types, we use santol peelings for bullets) or KATIKBI (taken from talahib grass).

Nobody put malice then when we played BAHAY-BAHAYAN (playing house). Afternoon naps where enforced so that we'll "grow taller".

...Na zdorovia

True, very true!!!

:wave:

When my wife got pregnant I was worried about the high tech stuffs and about the negative things that I heard on the news. Kids prefering to stay home and play TV games, stay in all day playing with the PC or just doing nothing inside the air conditioned room. Some kids have problems making friends or worst end up being bullied by classmates. Some grew up like vegetables and become weirdos or creeps maybe becasue of the lack of friends or contact with the real world. My son's citizenship is Japanese but my family is using my surname and I was first worried becasue my son might get bullied because he is a "half" kid. I was so paranoid that me and my group vowed to each other that we will try our best for the safety of our kids even if we have to go to the next level (use high tech for our benifit, physics, chemistry, electronics, mechanics, etc and most of our group members have a history to be men of action in their countries and many can be classified as nerds or weirdos with special degrees or special crafts). My wife became very annoyed with the way we think and the possesiveness and the craziness of what our minds can do when combined. Because of this, I have teached a lot of things to my son including close contact fighting using whatever weapon he can use and the objective is to bring down the opponent. I tought him how to ride mortorcycles at the age of 4 and drive small cars also. At the age of 6 I started teaching him how to find his way to trails, climb rocks, catch fish and how to hunt small game by using his Swiss knife. I also gave him a full set of hand tools since he was 2 and he was playing with drivers and rachets since then and he'll be learning more. I allowed him to brush paint a car just for fun. I never hit my son but he has to do push ups and run several hundred meters then stand straight like a marine whenever he does something wrong. He's 8 but he knows the "golden rule" and follows it by the book and can decide what is right and what is wrong. Last year me and my son got insulted by a jerk through the net and I consulted him if we should bring this to the next level and he said no... lucky fckin bastard.

This may sound tough for a kid in his young age but he is no different from any other kid. He has lots of friends, cracks lots of jokes, gentle with girls, good grades, doesn't start fights, goes along well, polite, talks very well, does PC (without filters and can access to any page he like but stays with kids stuffs... boring), plays PS2, game cube, DS and other TV games but still he prefers to play outside like the ones mentioned by Mr. Woolf. Plays hide and seek, makes carts from scrap, drink water from hoses and sometimes from dirty pails. Goes out topless and roll over on the cement and often comes home very dirty (his mates likes entering dirty water tunnels just beside our house). Climb fences and trees, hunts and collect insects, fishes, turtles, prawns and worms and can eat food with dirty fingers. They do have fist fights between themselves and there is no law suit or anything and they have to settle their differences themselves. The rules he has to strictly follow is not to take alcohol, drugs, no smoking and can never hit a female. Once he was punched straight in the face by a girl and all he can do is to cry because thats the rule and no using of combat fighting techniques to kids or he's in deep shlt. I'm happy that he have good friends who are not softies but still very polite and all have good grades. He also know how to accept failure and loss and the world doesn't revolve for him. He's a bit nerdy and spends lots of time studying and playing with his abacus but I try to control him. If he stays too long on his studies I order him to watch TV or play or do some origamis or chat with the family. If he wants something he has to work for it or show me some good grades or crack some very funny jokes or he wont get anything. He is not a bully and is a bit popular in school (also with girls). He knows the importace of money and knows that I can buy a car for the same price of his PS2 and vehicles brings food to the table.

There are many rotten fruits that are showing up. Watch the news and there are killers, rapists, theives, creeps, psycos, steeling underwear for no reason at all or just for the thrill or fun of the crime and this is maybe the result of modernization or maybe how their parents brought them up. I wont let my son grow up to be a misfit or a creep or I'm the one who's going to hunt him down. Kids can be very dangerous if not given proper guidance. Consistency is my no. 1 rule and even if we are in a middle of a happy conversation or in the middle of a game, if he commits a mistake, he has to face the consequences (do push ups, stand up like a soldier, be scolded heavily and crying is forbiden).

Mr. Woolf, I can proudly say that I'm one of them and I'm moulding my son the old fashion way but with a bit of high tech.

Sounds like you are doing a great job :)

I had no trouble teaching my own kids the value of money and how to handle it but I have to admit I am finding it almost impossible with the two kids I am looking after. If they get money they either spend it as fast as they can or just lose it by not bothering to look after it. They seem to think that they will always have all they need and will never have to work hard or manage their finances. The nine year old girl is better than the 15 year old boy but they do worry me. What surprises me is that kids that have come from a very poor background put very little value on things when they do get them.

I am convinced that getting dirty, playing with animals etc is good in the long run because kids build immunities that will be valuable later in life. Sometimes my wife complains if I don't wash my hands before a meal even though I may have had a shower and hour ago and will use a knife and fork. I remember working on cars and eating sandwiches with bland hand prints all over them :D It never did me any harm.

I suggest you go easy on not allowing the kid to cry. It is just my personal opinion but I believe it is better for him to let it out.

yup.. better to cry..but just simple crying..not a TANTRUM.. :m

when i was a kid it was the "in" thing to have your tonsils cut out when you had a sore throat.

Ive learned since then that our tonsils are an important defense mechanism against infection. NOw i am still plagued by sore throats and sinus infections,
but i know my parents did what they thought was best. :)

Do you remember how cheap it was to have fun in those days? a cheap old beat up bicycle could provide a whole day of fun, and sometimes a whole day wasnt enough. Even a piece of scrap wood that you can ride like a sled was fun.

i remember a bottle of soft drink at 15 centavos! now a bottle of WATER can cost 20 pesos!

Thanks Mr. Woolf and R-1.

I think you are both right that I should ease up and allow him to cry since he is only 8. I don't get angry if he cries when he is sick but I just can't stand seing him crying when being scolded. He should accept it like a man... but since he is still a boy I'll try to loosen up. Seniors knows whats best.

I saw a TV program before featuring a kinder garten school. It was when the parents watch their kids in school doing programs and kiddy races. A 50 meter race was featured and the kids started running upon hearing the track gun but the fastest kid stopped about 10 meters before the finish line and waited for everybody then they hold hands and ran to the finish line together. The teachers stated that all should arrive at the finish line together to make everybody happy including the parents... STUPID!!! They are moulding these kids to become morons of the future... I'm happy that my son's teachers are not softies.

We all know that many people are suffering from hay fever but it was not that popular several years ago. Pollen is flying everywhere since day 1, but many are being affected by it now... I think that bikers are immuned to hay fever becasue we don't need fancy cars with air contitioners. I have also noticed that many bikers don't get sick that easily maybe becasue we have adapted our bodies to what nature has to offer (sun, rain, wind, snow, pollution, pollen and bugs). I think that riding is a form of vaccine, the more you ride, the more your skin turns to leather.

Mr. Woolf, I have a friend who brings too many toys to my son everytime he visits our house and the prices of what he brings grew higher and higher to the point I have to ask him to stop giving my son toys. First they were cheap stuffs then remote contol mini robots, radio controlled cars that cost about 100000 Yen each w/c is too expensive even for a normal salary man. My son became greedy and wise. He always expect that he'll be getting something from my friend everytime he visits. My wife got very angry with this and totally banned my friend to bring in toys. Sometimes I let my son know how much I bought a stock, the parts cost and repair time I did plus the price of how much it sold for then I show him the bills. He is good in math and many times he had told me that I have to work more and we have to try to conserve and try to strech our belts to make ends meet because it's just not enough and he knows that we are on a very tight budget. Once he helped me sell a vehicles to his classmate's mom and I gave him his commission. I let him wax the car until he was too tired but gave him 5 percent share. That is the start when he really learned the value of money. Now he is getting wiser and asked me several times that if he help me sell a car again, how much will his commision be... We never give him his money allowance and if he needs to buy something, he ask if we have some job for him. I must learn to control myself because he is always over paid and does a lousy job, maybe he is still not old enough for waxing cars.

With my kids I gave them an allowance. They were allowed to borrow but had to pay back from the next week's allowance. They complained that their friends (whose parents gave them everything to keep them happy while they went out and left the maid to look after them) had all the toys they wanted.

They learned very well and I am very proud of what they have achieved. These two kids with me now are hopeless. I tried an allowance about three times. The 15 year old spent his transport money for the week in the first day on candies! The 9 year old when asked where it went just said "I don't know". The 9 year old loses clothes, watches jewelry etc by just leaving them in restaurants etc. It seems like they think I will look after them forever. Nothing, not even money seems to have any value to them. I even offer them very good pay to help out with things like t-shirt sales etc but if they do it at all they just waste the money. I think the difference between my culture and theirs is part of the problem so I need to understand them more.

MEMORIES...... I LIKE THIS THREAD.....Nice one SIR FRANK!!!! Two Thumbs UP!!! :wave:

Only thing I can share here is when theres still no cellphone and phone lines are not yet available in our subdivision. We used to use sound signals by using our hands ( dunno what they call it) clasping your palms together and blow it forcefully. sort of a whistle but actually not a whistle. Its the signal we use to get friends together. =b And also the vacant lot with a big mango tree where we built a tree house using ipil-ipil trunks... damn it was a work of art that time, last time I saw it the tree was cut down. Plus, I can go around the subdivision w/ my honda mini-trail. No registration nor papers but police they were not really visible around the subd.that time and with gas price at P9.00/ liter, WOOHOO!!! My P50 will take me to BF resort, dip in the pool with snacks plus I still have some money left for the day after. That thing got no pipe and hell it sounded like boiling water (embarassing, isn't it?). hehehe! I enjoyed those days but... those were the days. That was then, this is now. :m

I feel the same way as you do Frank.

when I was a kid , I didn't get any money allowance even until I reached high school. had to work at my family's business to earn my allowances. I coudn't buy myself all the fancy things my peers had. Now, I have 3 kids in school and I try my best to give them what I once never had but still let them know how hard we have to work for to buy these stuffs. Now they are starting to understand what I am teaching them. But sometimes I feel guilty like when I buy myself an expensive bike then try to cut back on expensive stuffs for my kids.

I LIKE THIS THREAD.....Nice one FRANK :cheers:

Ronel, i like the push ups thing for punishment

I miss the days when we play marbles and Tex on the Roads, tumbang preso Syoto (siyato). and Fresh Gusto for 25 centavos (rootbeer) those where the days



keep it comming

But sometimes I feel guilty like when I buy myself an expensive bike then try to cut back on expensive stuffs for my kids.

I don't think you should feel guilty at all. You have worked and saved for years for the bike. You earned it and deserve it. The time will come when the kids can do the same if they learn the same lessons but if they depend on you too much and don't learn they will be useless when they are older and will never achieve much.

I don't think you should feel guilty at all. You have worked and saved for years for the bike. You earned it and deserve it. The time will come when the kids can do the same if they learn the same lessons but if they depend on you too much and don't learn they will be useless when they are older and will never achieve much.

Yep! you said that right! Frank! I hope my kids would grow up to be achievers!


oh and back to the TOPIC:


those were the times when:

there are no "limited access" roads that push us riders aside

where travelling north from makati takes 30mins at most

a liter of regular gasoline costs 6 pesos.

take a jeepney downtown and get change for 1 peso.

you can still distinguish the difference between a thief and a gov't official :O

I also remember settling disputes by "suntukan" & then afterwards, for some wierd reason, after the boxing match, you shake hands with your opponent. Now, its all by "guns". I always thought that kind of approach was a "Chicken-sh*t" way of dealing with your opponent rather than the old way. Kinda makes me wanna say to a robber, "look, i'll give you my wallet if you beat me in a fist fight, simple as that". Now, just for a mere pocket change, theyll resort to taking another persons life...Go figure. :M

Mr. Woolf,
It seems that you are having a tough time with your two kids... I don't know what to share but have you tried telling some drama like you don't have money anymore and things are going to be rough. Maybe they'll freak out and start straightening up.

I have tried variations of that and have even said they may have to go back to Davao. It didn't have much effect.

I guess part of the problem is that I am not bringing them up from birth but am trying to make them unlearn what they did in a completely different environment before and relearn new habits. Maybe they just need more time.

Thanks for this thread, Frank. Oh yeah, d' good ol' days. Lemme se if I can remember mine.

Who still remembers jolen, tumbang preso, piko, sungka? Who played patintero and luksong tinik and rode the pinoy version of a trolley?

I remember during my teens looking up in the clear night sky and appreciating the thousands of stars and inhaling the clean crisp air. I enjoyed every minute of it despite of the thousands of mosquitos feasting on my arms and legs.

I remember gasping and rocking and hitting my head here and there inside my uncle's van because the roads going to his house weren't paved yet then. Forget the roller coaster and bump cars of today. My uncle's van was the real thing and my uncle was one heck of a driver!

I remember swimming in the flood after a downpour and catching small brightly colored fishes for my aquarium.

I remember my friends competing who can piss the highest and farthest. Guess where they were doing the competition? Along the street, in full view of everyone! Oh, we were still little kids then =b

I remember watching kung fu films with my Tatay and thought those bald headed monks were absolutely cool! Actually, had I watched more of that stuff I probably would be in Tibet by now or somewhere chanting some mantra or something.

Oh... d' good old days. If only we can turn back the clock.... I could have won the pissing contest :nuts:

Late 60's: I was about 9 yrs old then. First time Ive seen a 50.00 pesos (in our house), i was with a friend then who convinced me that we'll have lots of funtime with it in the fair (peryahan). So called another couple of friends to join us and off we went to party.
I was getting real uneasy as time went by.
WHY? Coz i came to realize that it was my dads money !!!
PROBLEM? We had done all the rides over and over again and ive still got loads of change that if I go home with it, for sure my parents will know that I took the money and its getting real late.
SOLUTION? I told my friends (at least the other two, coz the first one knew) that it was my dads money and since were in this together they might as well keep the change for me! Fair enough? They said NO. So, i have to throw down river the change, all of it.
RESULT: I got a real good spanking when I got home. A real good one !!!
LESSON LEARNED???
1. Do not be tempted by loose bills...go for the sackfull !!! or hack your way to banks and financial establishments!!! :banana: Just kidding...From that time on, i made sure that whatever money I have in my hand is MINE and earned it.
2. Some friends are there for fun with you or enjoyment for themselves. At the end of the day the rewards can be shared, but if things turned sour...its you by yourself and no one else (who wants to be punished anyways). FRiends are great to have a laugh and fun, we always do and I expect nothing more.
3. Never throw away any change...hehehehehe
OVERVIEW:
The 50.00 pesos, with 4 of us??? We all got dizzy riding the rides and still left with a change. How much do you need now to do a 5 hour fun in a carnival ???

This seems like a novel now...anyways :cheers: to us all golden boys !!!!
EXPERIENCE OF THE PAST IS THE WISDOM OF THE FUTURE !!!

you hit the nail right on the head there Sir frank, as always ,

After so many years you get to have a good aim with the hammer :D

1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs and toys were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bicycles, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE
actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, bread and butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, 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 O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes, trees, walls a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell 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.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did the worms live in us forever.

We rode bicycles or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!

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.

Thank you so much for this post. A balsam to the soul. Yes, those were the days. And one hopes they would never end.

N.B.

I sort of missed that part when one would curiously listen to the good old English rugby songs and then starting to figure out what part of them was naughty and what part was nice. But just the same, one would learn them quickly and sing one's lungs out. Then one feels good... and naughty.