Then and Now

My husband and I were reminiscing about our childhoods and realized how different our kids lives are.  For starters, when we had to do research, we went to the library.  Actually, my husband went to the library. He had to ride his bike there and haul all the books home in his backpack.  I didn’t go to the library.  My mom worked there, so I’d call her.

The counter under the phone was never that clean.  Junk is much easier to collect than to draw.

I could never figure out why my mom always said this when we called.  We never called about anything trivial.  It was always super important. (Also I was going to put books on the shelf behind her, but my drawing skills haven’t yet reached that point.  It’s harder than it looks.)

Mom was always late coming home those days.  Then I had to read the book and write a bunch of stuff with a pen.  I never got to bed until really late and was exhausted the next day.


My kids, on the other hand . . .

The best part about drawing instead of real pictures is I can make myself as skinny as I want.

Then they copy and paste the information directly into a document, print it, and have it ready before bedtime.


When we played, we went outside. It was time to go in when Dad yelled my name for the third time. (I was never sure if he was serious until the third call.) 

My kids don't spend as much time outdoors.

They have all the entertainment they need inside.

We had video games too.  They just weren't as colorful.

What color we lacked on the television screen was made up for in the wallpaper and carpet.  The 70s had its own style and flare.

Kids have gotten soft.  They carry cellphones in case of emergency or bad weather.

We had something in case of bad weather too.  It was called a coat.

Please note the shoes.  I did not walk barefoot in the snow for a mile uphill just to get to the mailbox.  That was my parents generation.  They still complain about how tough they had it without flushing toilets or cars. And gas was only 5 cents a gallon. (I'm still not sure what the horses did with 5 cent gas.)