Gen X

 Ok. So I hear a lot of folks talking about gen X. Well hello world! I am one! We lived off "where there is a will there is a way" "FAFO" "don't do it if you don't want to pay the consequences" and pretty much all the live it type stuff. We were not coddled. We were sent out to find the world. I made forts, caught squirrels, lit fires, got lost in the woods, rode my bike to places I wasn't supposed to ride it, lived by the street lamp rule, ate what was served or went hungry, earned my own money for things I wanted, and if I was presented with a person that wanted to fight, I knew not to throw the first punch but make sure I got the last one in. We are a whole different generation.

I'm not saying my boomer parents didn't love me. No. I'm saying they raised me to be independent. Y'all, I flew the coop one day after graduation. I left for a job working at a summer camp before college started in the fall. You see, I had horses. My folks were middle class. We didn't have fancy things. I grew up in garage sale clothes. If I wanted new things, I mowed yards and cleaned pools to get it. When I started driving, I didn't get a new car. I got the third handed down 1984 ram charger that my brother drove and had been stolen 3 times. You could roll the windows down with your fingers. It didn't have a radio. I had a boom box in the back seat. Cell phones? Yeah, that was for emergencies only! 25 cents to the minute! I had a pager and if my folks paged me, I better call back within five minutes or I was in trouble! Cell phone of pay phone. I was raised to be some one, some day. I was expected to go to college. We didn't have cable tv. I was only allowed 1 hour of tv a day. If I uttered the words "i'm bored" then I got put to work! I cleaned stalls to pay for my horse's board. I mowed lawns, cleaned pools, babysat, dog sitting, you name it! If there was away I could make money to pay for my horses, I'd do it. 

Looking back, I have to say that it was a great time to be alive. For real. My mom tried to kill me plenty of times. Mostly due to an eye roll. You just didn't have sass with your folks back in the day. The things I see these kids do to their parents make me want to shake them. 

I bring all this up because I'm not the category of gentle parenting that my older siblings were for their kids. Nope. I'm raising mine like I was raised. If he wants something, he has to earn it. If he gets sassy, he gets in trouble. He says ma'am. He is respectful. The bonus to living in this era, I can track him. Something my parents could not do or I would have never gotten away with half the crap I did as a kid. I'm not beating my child. Nope. I can give him a simple look and he KNOWS. The sad thing is, he doesn't have the ability to go stay with his grandparents during the summer. Oh my. My grandma, we'll both of them, set me straight. They just knew when I did something wrong. He is missing out on that aspect of growing up. But, he goes to church with friends. He loves his Christian camp. I think that really helps. 

It's so funny to me to watch the millennials with their kids..... I'm not sure how that generation will thrive. But gen x's kids, well, they will be fine. Does my 13 yo have a phone??  NO. Does he have a tv in his room? NO. Why not? Because I didn't, his dad didn't, and well.... it forces him to come out of that room! I'm super proud of my son. In fact, I just sent him out to feed horses. He said yes ma'am. No fuss. That is the way we roll. 

Now all y'all that look at us Gen X'ers not acting our age, y'all need to understand that we don't know our age. It's just a number. We were raised to be adults when we were little. I was balancing my parent's checkbooks when I was in junior high. I learned the value of a dollar. I learned what stupid does. I learned how to thrive without a pat on the back. We didn't get trophy's just for showing up. That gave us the opportunity to find pride in our job well done without outside congratulations. We thrived. Yes. That means we are a little messed up in our heads but dang it, we LIVE!!!!! I'd say we lived but I'm still alive!