Kids Today

I can't believe I am old enough to say this, but.... when I was a kid....

I was playing outside! As an adult I love how far we have come with technology, but with the good comes the bad. My children are six and eight. Most of their time is spent on some sort of electronic device. My eight year old is trying his hardest to convince me that he is old enough to get his own laptop. He wants it so he can play this computer game that he can not get anywhere else. I, of course, have said NO! Although he is a good and responsible kid for his age, he is not old enough for a computer. When I was his age I was playing with my barbie dolls in the barbie fold-n-fun house. I was climbing trees. I was digging in the dirt. I occupied myself most of the time, and that was just fine. I was not devastated if I did not have something to focus on for two seconds or if my mother did not spend every waking moment of her life paying attention to me. In school I got on my first computer, on dos. We learned how to make pictures. We learned how to type. I did not get on the internet for the first time until I was about 15 and even then it was this thing to do when all other avenues of entertaining myself had been exhausted. I had a beeper then. A clear purple one that was mostly used for my mom to check on me when needed. She would page me and I would use the change I had to have at all times to call her back, from a payphone! My kids have never seen one. I got my first cell phone when I was about 19. It was a very heavy little Nokia. My 11 year old nephew is about to get his first cell phone. It seems crazy to me. However, if your child is at an age where they are starting to do things on their own then I suppose it is needed. How else will they call someone in an emergency? There are no more payphones. My kids, again 6 and 8, have a tablet, MP4 players, PSP, playstation, x-box, portable dvd players, and a 32 inch flat screen t.v. in their room. When I look at that list I think wow, they are some spoiled kids, but in these days that is just the way of it. It did not seem crazy when we gave them those things. If anything, they are a bit behind as far as what they have sometimes. Fortunately, my kids are appreciative of everything they have. They do not act spoiled, and they still enjoy some simple things. Like movie night with popcorn, little toys from the dollar store, and hot chocolate on a snowy day. I remember the most expensive thing I ever asked for for Christmas was this name brand jacket that everyone seemed to have. I never did get it, and my world did not crumble. The cheapest thing on my son's Christmas list's is usually about $50. It is so crazy to see all of the differences between the generations.