Ok so I say way back when but truth be told I am only 32, point is a lot has changed since I was a kid. Thinking about it my genereation alone went through a lot of changes:
when it came to music:
-we had vinyl records
-we had cassette tapes and walkmans
-then we had cds and portable cd players
-then we had little devices to store music MP3 player then the ipod
-now my cell phone has its own music
Hell a cell phone when I was younger was the size of a kids shoe box!
when it came to movies:
-we had drive in theaters and yes we hid people in the trunk
-Betavision was before my time but we still had one in our house
-then it was VHS
-then it was DVD
-then Blue Ray
-Now my cell phone plays movies
when it came to video games
-We thought PacMan and frogger was the coolest on the Atari
-Colecovision
-sega
-nintendo
-sega genises
-super nintendo
-playstation
-nintendo 64
-dreamcast
-playstation 2
-nintendo gamecube
-xbox
-xbox 360
-playstation 3
-wii
-wii u
-playstation 4
-xbox one
and a list almost as long of various handheld gameing systems!
When we were kids we played on our bikes, we played cops and robbers, we played hide and seek and when the street lights came on we went home.
Cartoons were not on the TV 24/7 they were only on Saturday mornings until lunch time.
Our parents drove station wagons that we played in the back while they were driving, and I don't think I ever sat in a carseat until I was 8 years old and I am pretty sure I rode home from the hospital in my mothers arms.
Schools had chalk boards, then dry erase boards and now mimeo boards!
Computers were huge! and not as in a "big hit" they were literally huge compared to what we have now. There was no such thing as flat screen or laptop or even a tablet back then!
Most of all we had respect, discipline, and we knew what the word "no" meant. If we did something wrong we got a look and most of the time we knew that meant to get right, immediately. If we didn't get right we got our butts wore out. We never talked back, we did as we were told at home and at school, and when food was put in front of us we ate it because our mothers only cooked one meal per sitting and it was what she wanted to cook.
Looking back it makes you wonder if things stayed the same would there be shootings in school? Would there be so much hype about fancy name brand clothes? Would parents be going broke trying to keep up with the Jones'? This generation is heading for disaster and is spiraling out of control and we take for granted every day. Yes technology has made life easier but it has also created disaster in our lives.
There has been so much change in the last 30 years, what I would give to live way back when, again, when life was simpler......
One of the kids therapists told us a year ago that TV and Video games should be limited to 20 minutes per day. I about fell off the therapy couch! 20 MINUTES????? I said and she replied yes with a very therapy related answer as to why that I just can not remember because I felt like such a bad parent for allowing 30 minutes to an hour per day and sometimes more.
We have redeveloped our routines and schedules AGAIN to reduce the amount of electronic devices our children are using on an every day basis and we have found that we have much happier/nicer/more respectful kids. At first you would think we were trying to murder them when we told them of the changes, but we are impressed with the results! I dare you to take the challenge and challenge yourself too, you would be amazed at how much time you actually have in a day and how great it feels!
Until next time.....Jenn
