How Times Have Changed

I know I am not old. But, sometimes a thought will pop into my head and I realize that the years are starting to go by much too quickly. Today, it was Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" playing on the 80s station. For my children, the 80s station is the equivalent to "The Oldies" stations of my childhood. When Girls Just Want to Have Fun came out (1983) I was only 6. Not much older than Jack and Anna. But, that was almost 30 years ago. So, in 1983 when Cyndi Lauper was blaring on the boombox, my parents could have been listening to a song that came out in 1953 (probably on an 8-track in our shag-carpeted living room). Cyndi Lauper is the equivalent to 1953 in my parent's years!!!

Then, I started down the rabbit hole. Besides the incredibly obvious (the internet), what else is different. What are some of the "small" things in the world that have changed.

1. Car seats. My kids will be sitting in them until they are 40. They will buckle themselves in, pull the strap until it is super-snug and the chest plate lies precisely two inches below their collarbone. The driver will be given just enough mobility to steer the car (as it takes off in flight...). I feel like that is only the slightest of exaggerations. Seriously, in a booster until they are 8? By the time I was 3, I was sitting on my mom's lap, in the front seat, cruising along at 60mph (sing it: I can't drive 55--thank you National Speed Limit, in place until I was 10). Of course, there were no air bags to worry about. My mom actually had to have seat belts specially installed in the back seat of one of her cars because they weren't standard (granted, this was before I was born, but still)! Now, we have side air bags, front air bags, rollover bars, parking sensors, back-up cameras, and so many other safety measures.

2. Saturday morning cartoons. I still remember the thrill of waking up on Saturday morning, rolling over, seeing 7Am on the clock and jumping out of bed in excitement. Time for Smurfs/He-Man/Wuzzles/Jem, etc!!! Now, cartoons are on around the clock, so they are nothing special. We have entire stations devoted to children's programming. My kids will never know the pure pleasure that comes from sitting in front of the television for hours on a Saturday morning, knowing that was pretty much it for the week. Oh, and commercials. We actually had to watch commercials.

3. Speaking of commercials and television, anyone else remember Beta versus VHS? It got pretty intense there for a while. Now, it is Blu-Rays, DVRs, and 1080p on your LED. But, enough about television. Moving on.

4. Arcades. This is a shout-out for Thomas. He was just commenting this weekend how he misses arcades. He is convinced he still holds the high score on Kung-Fu Master at Karl's Silver Club in Reno. Our kids will never know the joy of begging for quarters while waiting for a pizza to arrive at the table. Although, I suppose they will always have Chuck E Cheese.

5. Kid-centric parenting, mainstream attachment parenting, spanking=abuse, choice over whether to vaccinate... you get the idea. The other day, I found myself getting overly excited as I took to the internet for some intense research. The twins will be 4 in only 4-months--time to start planning. I am leaning toward a mobile petting zoo, complete with pony rides. Seriously, how awesome is that?? Can you imagine if you had asked your mom if you could have some sheep and a chincilla over for your birthday? I suppose kids still had clowns, so maybe it's not all that different.

6. Bike helmets. Another safety rule. We have definitely gotten a lot more safety conscious. By the time they became mandatory for children, I had already graduated high school. Now you see even three-year olds on trikes wearing them. This rule could have saved my sister a concussion and trip to the hospital. I haven't made my toddlers wear them on their trikes, but soon we'll be moving up to training-wheeled bikes and they'll get to don them then. On this same note, I noticed today at the pool that most of the kids (mine included) were wearing shirts in the pool. I lathered them up in their broad-spectrum 10000 spf sunscreen, put on their shirts and shorts and sent them into the pool. No more little suits, or heaven-forbid bikinis, for my kids. One kid even had on a long-sleeved swim shirt, his mom said he didn't mind and I asked her where I could find them.

7. Digital cameras. Do you remember the excitement of getting a role of film developed? What treasures would emerge? Did you capture the moment as you remembered it? Remember not wanting to take a picture because you didn't want to waste film? Well, those days are loooonnng gone. Now, we can and do take thousands of pictures. Jack is proud he did a puzzle and wants his picture taken--sure! Anna likes her dress and wants a picture--no problem! Instant gratification abounds. I frequently take 5 (or more) pictures of the same thing because something wasn't quite right. With film and a camera, I am sure I would live with a lot more imperfections and have a lot less pictures to deal with.

I know this list is a bit silly. None of these are game-changers. Most are pretty insignificant. Obviously, the internet is huge. All that information in the literal palm of your hand. How else would I have ever known that Girls Just Want to Have came out in 1983 (with the movie that followed in 1985 starring a young Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt)? And, we have cell phones and navigation systems. But, that stuff is just too obvious. It is the little things that matter. Like when I am my dad's age, and my kids are listening to the radio with their kids they will hear a song, which will make them thing about the oldies of 2013, when they were kids. Didn't that just blow your mind???