Stuff you did as a kid that you wouldn’t let your kid do

[ihhawk]

when I was home for the holidays my father made the comment that my 11 year old boy is a pansy and needs to do physical labor. It got me thinking about stuff I did around the farm at that age that I would never let my son do.

Starting at age 8, my dad had me mow hay with the old WD with a 7ft sickle mower. I would drive to the field about a mile down the road and mow all day.

What’s everyone got?

 

[LesClaypool]

LSD

 

[CJ Beat Hard]

I've been banging OPs mom since I was 12. I am hoping my son waits until he is at least 14

 

[ihhawk]

I've been banging OPs mom since I was 12. I am hoping my son waits until he is at least 14

I actually laughed out loud

 

[artradley]

Rode in the back of pickup trucks

Rode on the axel of my grandpa’s Ford tractor while he pulled a disc plow behind it.

I assume these are only things that our parents approved, otherwise the list is very long.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

Rode in the back of pickup trucks

Rode on the axel of my grandpa’s Ford tractor while he pulled a disc plow behind it.

I assume these are only things that our parents approved, otherwise the list is very long.

I had a hard time thinking of one because my oldest is 5 and I don't remember much from when I was 5 and my oldest is on the spectrum and while I can't say definitively that I wasnt/am not I can say it certainly didn't affect me the way it does him.

But riding in the back of a pickup is a good one. I did that a few times as a kid, it was fairly normal at the time. These days I wouldn't be surprised if that sort of thing got you arrested (as an adult).

 

[TarponSpringsNole]

Zero seat belt use. “On the floor!” my mom used to yell as she got increasingly nervous driving down I-65 not thinking that our 70# bodies would have been ejected and mangled if we were ever in an accident. Loved that old mustard colored Valiant.

Leaving the house at 10-11 years old, and heading to beach/wherever all day. There was a group of us that would do this all of the time sans adult supervision.

Buying cigs for your parents. Booze sometimes too. Just lol.

 

[SeaPA]

I was the youngest kid in my family. When I was little, we took a summer car trip from Florida up to Boston, then over into Canada, down through Michigan, then headed home. Nobody wore a seatbelt at any point. In fact, I got tossed around to various spots in the car based on what my siblings wanted. If they wanted more room to sit, I had to lay down on the floor. If they wanted leg room, they'd stuff me in the flat area in the back window. I don't think I was in an actual seat for more than five miles on the entire trip.

 

[torbee]

When I was 17 and a senior in HS my folks let my girlfriend and I drive from the Quad Cities to Colorado on a ski trip unsupervised. We drove my mom’s 1984 Ford Escort into the mountains.

No freaking way would I let my high school kid do that.

 

[artradley]

I was the youngest kid in my family. When I was little, we took a summer car trip from Florida up to Boston, then over into Canada, down through Michigan, then headed home. Nobody wore a seatbelt at any point. In fact, I got tossed around to various spots in the car based on what my siblings wanted. If they wanted more room to sit, I had to lay down on the floor. If they wanted leg room, they'd stuff me in the flat area in the back window. I don't think I was in an actual seat for more than five miles on the entire trip.

My parents used to put pillows on the backseat floorboard to level it out, then gave me a quilt so I could nap on the floor of the backseat while my older sister (nopic) napped on the backseat.

To save time, when my parents switched drivers, they didn't pull over but rather my mom slid under my dad so they could change positions while hurling down the highway at 70mph.

 

[SSG T]

I wouldn't let my kids ride their bikes all over all day. They could stay in the immediate area, in town really, but not ride on the highway to the next town over.

What am I talking about? When I was 10, my dad was stationed at Ft Stewart, GA. I would ride to a friends house (son of another officer) in Fleming, GA, which was about 12-13 miles away. At 10...on a busy highway...by myself. Thinking back on it now, I have no idea what my mom was thinking letting me ride that far on those roads with no ability to contact me while I was between houses.

 

[coloradonoles]

At the FSU games when I was a kid I was in the Ronald McDonald club... you got a happy meal before the game and a ticket to the game. They had their own bleachers in the endzone where all the kids sat. Just dropped them off and off to your seats.
We rode our bikes to the convenience store for candy and to play video games. Many miles and crossing some major roads. Gone for hours.
We had station wagons growing up... not sure this is even legal anymore.

 

[hydro2.0]

Senior HS year my parents let me and 8 others drive to Apple River (Sommerset, Wisky). Told them it was a camping trip.

In reality it was a 3 day camping, floating, drinking, drug induced bender.

 

[ParkerHawk]

Eat a Spam sandwhich and wash it down with Tang

 

[ihhawk]

The glory days of laying under the back window in the car.

 

[Tenacious E]

when I was home for the holidays my father made the comment that my 11 year old boy is a pansy and needs to do physical labor. It got me thinking about stuff I did around the farm at that age that I would never let my son do.

Starting at age 8, my dad had me mow hay with the old WD with a 7ft sickle mower. I would drive to the field about a mile down the road and mow all day.

What’s everyone got?

the main ones that come to mind are: jarts, riding tonka trucks down a steep driveway into the street (and trusting that a 6-year old kid will identify any oncoming traffic and step before going into the street), same for for sledding, riding a bike around town starting from about age 7 or 8 from sun up until sundown with friends with absolutely no idea where my kid is.

 

[Tenacious E]

The glory days of laying under the back window in the car.

Oh hell yeah I forgot about that. My brother always got the seat to lay on. The cars were RWD so the hump meant you couldn't lay on the floor. I spent many a roadtrip as a kid sleeping up in the "loft" under the rear window. Today if my parents did that the car wouldn't have made it more than a few exits on the interstate before a trooper would pull them over from all the calls to the authorities that would come in.

 

[RunRonnieRun]

Riding my bike to the (lifeguard-free) beach and spending the day there with my friends and no supervision, starting around 10 years old.

 

[Bum Leer]

Climbed to the top of silos at night and spotlighted pigeons.

 

[longliveCS40]

My parents used to put pillows on the backseat floorboard to level it out, then gave me a quilt so I could nap on the floor of the backseat while my older sister (nopic) napped on the backseat.

To save time, when my parents switched drivers, they didn't pull over but rather my mom slid under my dad so they could change positions while hurling down the highway at 70mph.

"Take a nap kids. Your mom and I are going to "switch drivers.""

Little Art Radley: "Geez, it's taking them a long time to switch drivers and this sure must be a bumpy road! Mom's getting tossed up and down."

 

[Formerly Rockymtnole]

Seat belts for sure, and riding 50-60 miles in the pickup bed.

We had a go cart that would hit about 45mph. Used to ride friends’ three wheelers all day, every day. Nobody I knew even owned a helmet, much less wore one.

Bottle rocket fights. These were big deals in my youth. I’d get geared up, pack my arsenal of bottle rockets, Roman candles and M-60s, and my Mom would drive me to war.

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

Other than driving a 74 Honda Gold Wing motorcycle that was previously laying on its side full of dust in my buddy’s dad’s barn 100 mph on a small 2 lane road in rural Iowa, not much.

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

Seat belts for sure, and riding 50-60 miles in the pickup bed.

We had a go cart that would hit about 45mph. Used to ride friends’ three wheelers all day, every day. Nobody I knew even owned a helmet, much less wore one.

Bottle rocket fights. These were big deals in my youth. I’d get geared up, pack my arsenal of bottle rockets, Roman candles and M-60s, and my Mom would drive me to war.

Ya we had a go kart. It absolutely flew, lived in town too. Had a passenger seat. Ya absolutely no helmets or anything. Accelerator always stuck too which was nice driving down Main Street

 

[NDallasRuss]

My uncle had a flat-bed truck and all us kids used to ride in the back as he'd drive down the road for a mile or so, and then through the different fields to get to the cattle. That was really not safe.

My family once drove from Dallas to Los Angeles and back. We had a station wagon and the whole back-end was used as a play area for my sister and I - forget seat belts, we weren't even in seats.

As a kid (12, 13, 14) I was allowed to ride my bike down to the lake (probably a little over a mile) where my friend and I would swim/hang out without supervision or lifeguards. There was quite a bit of boat traffic, but we'd still swim across and back.

Then, of course, during the summers growing up we'd all get kicked out of our houses to go play outside all day, parents having no idea where we were, with the only instructions being "be home before dark". There's no way I'd let my kid take off for the day without knowing where she was going to be.

 

[Tenacious E]

My uncle had a flat-bed truck and all us kids used to ride in the back as he'd drive down the road for a mile or so, and then through the different fields to get to the cattle. That was really not safe.

My family once drove from Dallas to Los Angeles and back. We had a station wagon and the whole back-end was used as a play area for my sister and I - forget seat belts, we weren't even in seats.

As a kid (12, 13, 14) I was allowed to ride my bike down to the lake (probably a little over a mile) where my friend and I would swim/hang out without supervision or lifeguards. There was quite a bit of boat traffic, but we'd still swim across and back.

Then, of course, during the summers growing up we'd all get kicked out of our houses to go play outside all day, parents having no idea where we were, with the only instructions being "be home before dark". There's no way I'd let my kid take off for the day without knowing where she was going to be.

How does one manage a 1,096 post to like ratio?

 

[RunRonnieRun]

I also rarely wore sunscreen as a kid. We slather that shit on our kids now.

 

[ihhawk]

Oh hell yeah I forgot about that. My brother always got the seat to lay on. The cars were RWD so the hump meant you couldn't lay on the floor. I spent many a roadtrip as a kid sleeping up in the "loft" under the rear window. Today if my parents did that the car wouldn't have made it more than a few exits on the interstate before a trooper would pull them over from all the calls to the authorities that would come in.

It was the best during the fall and winter.

 

[NDallasRuss]

How does one manage a 1,096 post to like ratio?

The posts have been accumulating since (I'd guess) 2002.

Likes only go back a year or two (not sure when they started)

The number of posts carried over from Warchant to here (although I think it includes some from previous posts on here). The likes did not carry over.

Alternate theory: the things that I have to say are just not very interesting or entertaining.

 

[Tenacious E]

It was the best during the fall and winter.

True. What is even more amazing as I think back on it was my dad didn't seem to care that he couldn't see out the rear window as he maneuvered the 218 inch long Oldsmobile land yacht through traffic with its 3-speed transmission. And look at that perfect sleeping ledge for a kid...

 

[Ray Kinsella]

I never drank underage but went to dozens of parties where there was plenty of drinking going on. I won't let my sons do the same.

I have ambivalent feelings about those parties, though; those were some great times but it was kind of screwed up on how many classmates drank (and how much.)

 

[TarponSpringsNole]

Some other things I just remembered.

BB gun wars.

Making a ‘Polish Cannon’ with steel pop/beer cans, fueling it with lighter fluid, and launching tennis balls 100’

Hitching behind vehicles/buses in the winter

My mother used to just shake her head and call us crazy kids. Lol. Never admonished for any of the chicanery.

 

[SeaPA]

In the summer, we used to just leave in the morning on our bikes & come home at night. One particular summer, when I was about 8 or 9, a few of us decided to build a tree house in the nearby woods. It was me, my brother (3 years older), and a buddy who was between us age-wise. We'd leave the house in the morning with a machete, a couple of hatchets, hammer & nails, and some rope. Our parents never asked us what the hell we were up to with all that stuff.
So we go about building a basic tree fort. Found a nice spot with 4 trees that were somewhat squared off with forks at a similar height, about 15 feet up. Build a simple platform, kinda like a Huck Finn raft; cut down a couple of small, sturdy trees & get them up going tree to tree, parallel with each other, sitting in the forks. Then cut down a bunch more smaller trees, and lie them on top of the cross-posts. It worked great, and we spent a lot of the summer in that thing.
One day late in the summer, we were all up in the fort together; I think the older two were smoking cigarettes that they pilfered from my dad. We were having a good time, right up until we hear a loud "crack." One of the cross posts broke, and we got a quick lesson on how gravity works. All came crashing down - and of course, the way things broke, we hit the ground, then all the damn trees that were the platform came down on top of us. Not sure how none of us got hurt badly.
Anyway, if I was to see my 8 year old gathering up a machete, a hatchet, and a bunch of other building supplies, I'd damn sure ask what he had in mind.

 

[CoachH]

when I was home for the holidays my father made the comment that my 11 year old boy is a pansy and needs to do physical labor. It got me thinking about stuff I did around the farm at that age that I would never let my son do.

Starting at age 8, my dad had me mow hay with the old WD with a 7ft sickle mower. I would drive to the field about a mile down the road and mow all day.

What’s everyone got?

Looking back at my childhood on the farm, I did lots of things that you can't do now. The one I think of the most was from age 5 (along with siblings) riding on the back of the feeder wagon when my dad would drive 2 miles down the road on the highway to the other farm. I remember actually sitting down and letting my feet drag on the highway at times.

Glad I didn't fall off and get killed. Still, I loved those days.

 

[ihhawk]

Looking back at my childhood on the farm, I did lots of things that you can't do now. The one I think of the most was from age 5 (along with siblings) riding on the back of the feeder wagon when my dad would drive 2 miles down the road on the highway to the other farm. I remember actually sitting down and letting my feet drag on the highway at times.

Glad I didn't fall off and get killed. Still, I loved those days.

Farm kids still do this. I wish I was still around farming so my son would be able to experience this type of stuff.

 

[hawkeye54545]

Walking around town with our BB guns. Cops would just wave back in the day. Now I can only imagine the consequences walking around shooting birds off trees and electric lines.

 

[Lone Clone]

Rode in the back of pickup trucks

Rode on the axel of my grandpa’s Ford tractor while he pulled a disc plow behind it.

I assume these are only things that our parents approved, otherwise the list is very long.

ALWAYS rode in the back of the pickup.

Sat on the axle of Dad's Oliver when he was listing corn, facing backward, and manipulated the row markers at the end of each round -- pulled a rope to lift one side, eased the rope to drop the other. If I'd slipped off, I'd have been killed by the shovels before Dad knew I was gone. I was 9 or 10.

Marked for the aerial crop sprayer by standing on the row he was supposed to spray next, got soaked with whatever it was he was putting down.

Ironic thing about this is that Dad was a lot more protective of me than were the fathers of my friends. I wasn't allowed to drive a tractor by myself until once or twice when I was 12, wasn't allowed to go hunting (BB gun doesn't count) without him

 

[artradley]

ALWAYS rode in the back of the pickup.

Marked for the aerial crop sprayer by standing on the row he was supposed to spray next, got soaked with whatever it was he was putting down.

Ironic thing about this is that Dad was a lot more protective of me than were the fathers of my friends. I wasn't allowed to drive a tractor by myself until once or twice when I was 12, wasn't allowed to go hunting (BB gun doesn't count) without him

Lol!

 

[NDallasRuss]

Marked for the aerial crop sprayer by standing on the row he was supposed to spray next, got soaked with whatever it was he was putting down.

At least years from now you'll be able to pinpoint where the cancer came from.

T's and P's

 

[orod741]

We painted our house every 7 years in the summer. It was built in 1903 and is an old Victorian home. My twin sister (no pic) and I helped first when we were 8. We climbed up 40ft extension ladders and worked off a 2x10 that was hung between the two ladders. After we moved out, they hired it out to guys with scissor lifts.

 

[Mattski]

Jump off the roof into a snow covered evergreen bush. I was surprised how little trouble we got into for that one. I even dragged my then 6 year old sis up to do it too.