It’s funny how many from my generation shared much of the same life, just with different parents. Often times, these days, we refer to someone close to us as a “brother from a different mother,” or a “sister from a different mister.” Life growing up was depicted in many television programs which included, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The Donna Reed Show, and/or Father Knows Best.

Times were different back then. Behavior, work, and priority expectations and ethics were emphasized and there were consequences if the expectations for behavior, grades, homework, church participation, etc., weren’t met according to the design created by our parents. And speaking of our parents, you might say they were interchangeable, that we could trade our parents with most all of our friends, and the expectations, the consequences, the family routines, etc., would be the same.

We had chores and responsibilities, manners and respect were imperative, curfews were etched in stone, meals were non-negotiable (as were most things in our homes), and schoolwork always came before playtime. There was no such thing as boredom because our folks would always find things for us to do, if we tried to say we were bored.

When the family gathered in the living room after dinner, to watch TV, Dad usually picked out the program, Dad had “his” chair, Mom sat at one end of the couch, girls also on the couch and the boys sitting, or lying, on the floor. Life was a pretty much a mirror image, no matter which of your friends’ house you were visiting.

If someone was visiting us, for whatever reason, we had to be on our best behavior. We had to say hello to our guests. If we stayed in the room, we spoke when someone spoke to us. We excused ourselves when leaving the room, and if we were leaving the house, we expressed that it was nice seeing the guests of our parents.

When we did have visitors, there would always be fresh coffee, some type of baked goods on the table, and lots of conversation, regardless of the reason for their being at our house. This included, the plumber, hired carpenters, the mailman, Insurance man, the man who hauled trash after our annual basement/garage cleanout, and any repairman there to fix an appliance. If they came anywhere near dinner time, some of them found an extra setting at the supper table joining us for dinner.

Even the advice we were given by our parents that was echoed in many of our friends’ homes was the same. If you talk with anyone about child rearing, people agree that it is “hit and miss,” that it would be much easier if there was a book to follow on how to raise your kids. It was hard to believe there wasn’t a book when we were growing up, because our parents all seemed to have read the identical manual and kept it close to hand for reference, when dealing with the kids from my generation.

How many of us heard some of these 26 words, statements, and/or warnings of wisdom (and probably can remember more) from our folks growing up (and even as adults, and through some type of Divine Intervention these long past years since our parents have moved to a higher home):

¯ “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

¯ “Always make sure you’re wearing clean underwear, in case you are ever in an accident.”

¯ “Remember, always give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.”

¯ “There are always two choices at mealtime, what we are having, or nothing.”

¯ “Always save some money for a rainy day.”

¯ “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

¯ “Always try your best.”

¯ “Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

¯ “Never take candy from strangers.”

¯ “Always wait a half an hour after eating before going swimming.”

¯ “Treat others how you would want to be treated.”

¯ “Mind your Ps and Qs.”

¯ “Gimmies never get.”

¯ “Look it up in the dictionary.”

¯ “Look it up in the encyclopedia.”

¯ “You catch a lot more flies with honey, than you do with vinegar.”

¯ “The grass is rarely greener on the other side of the fence.”

¯ “If everybody jumped off the Third St. Bridge, would you want to do it too?”

¯ “Reach for the stars.”

¯ “Don’t spend what you don’t have.”

¯ “Get there five minutes late, but get there.”

¯ “You know what’ll happen if I take off this belt!” (HINT – Do not say, “Your pants will fall down.”)

¯ “If you don’t know, ask!”

¯ “Wait ’til your father gets home!”

¯ “If I have to stop this car…”

¯ “You’ll never know until you try.”

My guess is that many from my generation were raised on a high percentage of these bits of information and it didn’t make much of a difference who our parents may have been, as most owned, read, and used, the same fictitious book and passed along the majority of this advice. As much as we sometimes thought our parents were the most unintelligent people in the world while we were growing up, and looking at how many of us from my generation turned out, most all of us can probably agree that they were pretty smart people after all.