Saturday, November 7, 2009

Do You Remember When.....

we had record albums and not CD’s?

going out to eat was a big event….even if it was just McDonalds?

you would walk or ride your bike to school/work?

you were expected to have a job to earn your own spending money?

we had to use pay phones and not cell phones?

no one had computers?

getting a VCR was a huge deal?

we had Atari and Pong?

most teens you knew had a job?

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Here we are years later when all of the above have changed.

We all have CD’s and DVD’s.

Most families eat out at least once per week if not more.

Most kids drive or are driven to school.

Pay phones? What’s that?

Families own more than two computers.

We have at least two VCR/DVD players as well as a DVR.

At least one game system is owned…..ours is a PS2 so rather old for the times!

Most teens don’t have jobs. (But not for the lack of trying.)

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Have we failed our children? Have we given them more than we should? Have we “spoiled” them into thinking they only deserve the best?

I worry about the future of our children. Will they strive to be more? Or will they expect it to be handed to them like everything else?

I am sure our parents said the same thing but as I was just told by someone younger than I….

Times are different now.

But are they?

Or have we made it that way? Have we given into the pressures that life hands us?

What do you think?

5 comments:

Jill said...

Somehow I think we have created children who think WE owe THEM something.....

Not sure how this happened, and I am truly hopeful that MY daughters do not end up this way!

Thanks for the flashbacks! LOL!

Laurel said...

Great post! Yes, I think that we have raised / are raising a generation of very spoiled "kids" that expect to be handed everything on a silver platter.

But ... I think that our parent's thought (and rightfully so) that our generation was spoiled, too.

First, let's talk about this new generation of teens and young adults (of which I have 8 ... ages 13, 16, 19, 20, 20, 22, 24, 25). It IS still possible to raise them differently than the majority of their peers .. but it is TOUGH.

We eat out once or twice per YEAR, not weekly. Our teens do NOT have their own cars, nor do they drive or are they driven to school. Our teens have all learned to get around quite well on their feet, on their bikes and on the city bus system. We do not watch television (therefore we do not have cable), we do not have a DVR (I don't even know what it is.) We do not own a game system ... never have, never will. Our teens have ALL had jobs. They have all worked outside the home starting at age 13 or 14. Our teens do not get their own cell phones. We have a "kids' phone" that the teens share (for emergency situations or when we know we will need to be in contact with them).

Now ... let's look at "our" generation. Obviously, I'm a bit older than you are ... but we are both parenting teens.

I know a couple who got married in the early '80s and they "expected" to get everything right away, that their parents had worked 30 years for. They wanted the nicest cars, the fancy house with the pool, the "toys" and the extravagent vacations. Now that they've been married 27 years ... they are contemplating filing for bankruptcy for the 2ND TIME. Hello? Didn't they learn the first time? No. Their parents were VERY hard working, and not extravagent at all. But ... they bought in to the lies of this world that say, "we can have it all".

Is that what we want for our kids. Absolutely not. My eldest daughter (24) shocks all of her friends with the fact that she doesn't have a credit card. She actually saves money and pays cash for things. And, my 22 year old son just saved money and paid cash for a $1,500 engagement ring. Woohoo! He didn't "need" to buy a $3,000 ring, like many of his peers. He didn't need to "charge it". No. He saved up, and paid cash. Unheard of nowadays ... So sad!

Are times really different? I don't think they are as different as our teens want us to believe they are. I think that parents need to stand up and parent differently than their peers, just as teens/young adults need to stand up and live differently than their peers. It IS possible.

Laurel
mama of 13

a Tonggu Momma said...

I think we have created the tremendous sense of entitlement we are seeing in the younger generations. I remember when having two cars was seen as a luxury - if my mom needed the car, she got us all up early and drove my dad to work.

Livin' out loud said...

Hmmm, I will tread lightly here as I have huge opinions on this. Let me just say friends, that the work of deception has many faces and progress and DISTRACTION are his main goals. He is a theif who aims to steal your time, your money, and much, much more.
Hugs
Susan

Jboo said...

Oh yes, I do remember! I was just wondering why kids don't rake leaves or shovel snows to make some cash anymore? We did that all the time when we were young!

Hope you have a great week!

Janet