What did your parents do to you that would be illegal now?

No car seat or seat belt. We would always ride around in the back of my dad's truck or I would wander around the family van while driving. My dad had me drive starting at 10 yr old. They started buying me alcohol for special occasions when I turned 12. I never got the belt but sure was threatened with it plenty of times. My mom fed me milkshakes made with a raw egg every morning and I turned out just fine. (I think). I would play outside till the sun went down, and would be sent to the store quite a ways away all by myself (about 8 yrs old).

I was about 9 yr old when my neighbor's house got raided. Yep, SWAT folks with big guns and bullet proof vests. What did my mom do? She sent me to ride my bike up and down the street so I could see what was going on and come back and tell her. LOL

My dad had a pick-up with a cap on the bed (shell for you folks out west)...I used to ride back there from PA to DE (about 2 & 1/2 to 3 hours) every weekend.

i use to do that from bossier city, LA to san antonio texas every time we would go see my "pops" and grandmaw there. That was a 8 hour drive! lol...my dad made this little make shift a/c vent for me for during the summer, which was a dryer exhaust pipe that was connected to one of the ac vents inside the truck ! lol.....i liked to ride back there with the dogs!

I was a "latch key kid" from about the age of 6 or 7. This gave me free reign to cruise the neighborhood, watch and eat whatever I wanted, when I wanted. I don't recall ever wearing seat belts. I was not ever grounded and never had toys taken away from me. If I got in trouble, I got the belt (or anything else that was in reach that served the same purpose lol) I showed horses and was given a brand new, pink 'scooter' that required a drivers license as well as a license plate/registration for my 12th birthday. I was not supposed to ride it on public streets, but I did anyway. :laugh: I learned to drive a car at 14 and remember taking the car alone before I had a license.

I tried alcohol a few times when I was very young, they were hoping I would not like the taste. Backfired.

I remember may times being young (as in under 10 years old) and out "working" with my dad in the yard, whatever, and he'd have a beer. "Hey, you want a sip?" And I remember one time my sip turning into half a can, mostly because dad wasn't paying much attention.

Yeah, that would probably get someone in big trouble nowadays.

My parents used to let us ride in the big gravity wagon full of soy beans or corn, whatever was in the fields that year.. we used to "swim" in the beans up in the corn crib, I've been driving since about 12, always rode in the bed of the truck, and yes, lets not even talk about the belt!! ouch!! Oh, and when we were misbehaving in the car, my mom would make us get out and walk, no matter how far from home we were.. we live about 15 miles out of town, so sometimes it was a pretty LONG walk!!!

I rode everywhere without a seatbelt - in the front seat of the car, in the 'way-back' of the station wagon and in the open back of a pick-up truck! I rode my bike everywhere and went skiing without a helmet. We played on our Big Wheels in the middle of the street, went all over the place without parental supervision - even after dark! I walked a mile to school with no adult presence in kindergarten and first grade. My parents let us play with sparklers and set off small fireworks. The house was never childproofed - cabinets opened freely, electrical outlets weren't capped and the toilet lid was not locked down. Somehow, I prevailed!

This was in the mid-70's. My parents were completely normal, responsible and loving people. Times were just different. :-)

Your life sounds almost identical to mine, including the time frame! Not only did we always ride in the very back of the station wagon where there were no seat belts, my little brother used to ride in the "way-back" seat of my dad's '56 Beetle, too. If you've never seen what I'm talking about, it was basically a big pocket under the window. He was around 7, 8 and 9. There were 6 of us in that little thing riding to church on a Sunday morning. Our other vehicle at the time was a full sized van with two chairs up front and a bench seat in the back. Only two fit comfortably on the seat (no belts, of course) so the other two were usually sitting on the carpeted floor. I also remember my parents smoking in the car with the windows up when I was younger. Thankfully, they both quit smoking by the time I was 10.

We'd disappear for hours without any sort of parental supervision and go play in the woods. We'd walk a few miles to the convenience store and spend our pocket money on cookies and soda. Any calories we were eating we were definitely burning off! Probably why I stayed so thin during my childhood.

We didn't get spankings, we got BEATINGS. That's what you get in an Irish Catholic household. He'd pull your pants down and you'd get spit on the hand smacks until it hurt for days.

My dad being a typical Irish Catholic likes to drink. He used to pick us up from school and take us to the bar with him and leave us out in the car for 3+ hours. I was 5-8 and my brother was 8-11 when he did this. Now mind you my mother had no clue and we were threatened within an inch of our lives if we told her. OH and his mother lived 4 blocks from the bar! So not only would he be arrested for leaving us in the car, he'd get it for driving drunk with kids in the car too!

Of course having grown up in the 70's & 80's we didn't have chest straps on the seatbelts on a lot of cars and whoever heard of a booster or child seat? Not us!

Not sure if they'd get in trouble, but I remember being 3 and the neighbor kids told me a dirty word and told me to go tell my mother. I did and MAN did she use a WHOLE BAR of ivory soap in my mouth! YUCK! Took years for me to curse after that even with a father who curses like a sailor!

My grandma used to put coffee in a baby bottle and let us have coffee with her, LOL

My mom and dad used to rub whiskey on our gums when we had a tooth ache or were teething when we were babies.

My mom and dad also let us drink beer with supper once we were in the 3rd grade and older (traditional Polish / German roots)

I was never spanked by my dad EVER growing up, but my mom became abusive to us (which was illegal then but overlooked) once she went on Dialysis.

I would walk to the gas station when I was in 1st/2nd grade with a note and some money. The note said to allow me to buy cigarettes for my mom. And they would let me! My reward was a free crappy sucker (like the ones you get at the bank)

Ooh, this too! I forgot about being able to buy cigarettes for my parents.