Small Town America Part 3

 Learning to Accept Responsibility

Growing up during the 1950s and 1960s, had its advantages. Life was much different before all the social media issues. We grew up in the "here and now". We were not influenced by much else accept family values and Christian principles. Under those auspices, we were held accountable for our actions. 

Our projects were our own with no parental involvement, just guidance and supervision. We were shown love and grace within boundaries. We participated in activities that built character: Camp Fire Girls where service to others was emphasized, attending church camp and singing in the church choir and learning handbells, taking piano lessons that created a discipline like I had never experienced. I was left to my own devices. There were no 'helicopter moms' intervening on behalf of every detail in a child's life.  We were dropped off at places to go and do as we pleased, but we were expected to behave appropriately. In a small town, word got around if we didn’t behave. We were expected to complete our homework in a timely fashion and keep our grades up, following the teacher’s instructions and paying the consequences of not doing so. There were no “soccer moms” screaming like banshees on the sidelines. Parents seldom went to games because dads were at work and moms were at home for the children. Only the winning team got a trophy and maybe second and third place got ribbons. Last place losers accepted their loss and went home with ambitions of being better next year. Just because you lost, didn’t make you a loser — it made you a good sport and you didn’t need a trophy for that. Teams had tryouts and not everyone made the team. We learned to deal with the disappointment. That, too, is part of life. It taught us to be responsible for ourselves and to learn how to increase our skills and thought processes. This led to a philosophy of being independent and working hard for what you want.