Tuesday's Topic

The first thing I can think of is that we travel into space on a regular basis. This will probably age me but I remember watching the landing on the moon when in school. To see how we have changed in those years since is just amazing. The disappointing turn to today versus when I was a child is that my sister and I used to ride our bikes and walk all over the city. Today I wouldn't even let my children ride around our block with out me with them. I think thats sad that I can't trust other people. What has changed for you all?

I agree with riding the bikes and walking. I don't let my kids down the road in our one way in one way out neighborhood w/o me knowing exactly where they are (and that's just the 6 yr old - he's allowed to walk or ride his bike down to our friends from church house, I can see their house from mine).We were also allowed to go to the toy department by ourselves whenever we went shopping. I could go to the bathroom by myself when we were shopping, too. I do not allow my boys to do either of those things.Computers have changed, too. I can remember how excited we were to get our first computer. The screen was black and the words were yellow, and the games were all just words. We had monopoly and some other game. No graphics at all, but we thought that was cool!I didnt' even know what the internet was until I was in college. Now it's common for kids to play on line.When I was a kid businesses were closed on Sundays so employees could go to church if they chose. Now, it seems common for people to sleep in late on Sundays and businesses are open on Sundays.

ah well, at least you had computers. When I was a kid there was no such thing as a PC. When I was a kid we had black and white TV.. and got two channels. But that was okay, because TV watching was just for evenings and Saturday morning cartoons anyway. We could spend hours and hours playing dolls or trucks. We thot we were so cool when we were old enough to buy our own 45's. Those were records! Singles... one side had a top ten hit, the other side another lesser known song by same artist... the second song was usually lousy. We rode stingray bikes without helmets all over town. We would give two friends a ride at the same time: one on the seat behind us, the other on the handle bars. Roller skates had four wheels, two up front, two in back, and came with a key to adjust the size to fit over your shoes. We wore a dress to church every Sunday. Actually, till I was a sophomore in high school we had to wear a dress to school every day! Girls were not allowed to wear pants unless there was snow on the ground. Penny candy still cost a penny, and for a dime you could get a full size candy bar! Kids never back talked their parents... actually once in awhile they did. And Dad took off his belt. Teachers whacked knuckles with rulers too. And if you were really bad you would get sent to the princepals office and he (there were no women principals) would give you a spanking. Not everything from the good old days was good. Obviously, the "when I was a kid" was a long, long time ago.

ahh, Ms. Red, I'm in your timezone. Yes, dresses or skirts to school, not pants wrapped around your ankles. The one thing that may be on the positive side is that in the days of June Cleaver, everything was hush-hush so child abuse was quieted, never discussed, bad uncles in the family were shoved under the carpet. I raised 4 children in the 70's and am raising 4 now. It is VERY different. I allowed my other children to visit friends all over the city on their bikes and walking. Today, my children are not allowed off the block unless I have arranged a play date with a family that we know well. Very sad. I feel like the ogre mom. I also think that "family" has changed, not as close, not as involved in the child-raising as they used to be with moms having to work to make ends meet. Again, very sad.

The one thing that I miss from being a kid to now for my children is that I can't even let them play in their own yard without me either outside with them or looking out the window to watch them as they play. How sad is that?

Everything is at a much quicker pace these days and people are always in a hurry to be first. They don't smile all that much either or say "hello". Cell phones...I always had a dime & then a quarter on hand when at the mall or wherever so I could call my mom from a pay phone. Now it's like we can't be out of touch for even 5 minutes. Pop Shoppe - miss that...where you could fill up your bottles with pop and then bring them back? Kids from the neighborhood would do things together...hide and seek with 20 kids all over the place or we'd have a ball game up at the park. You might not like some that well, but you'd tolerate them for these things.;) Kids worked things out themselves more too. Not saying it was always right, but we'd settle things ourselves instead of having our parents call the police/teacher etc. And for that matter, if we fell down and broke an arm playing at someone's house, our parents didn't sue. Oh, and you could kiss a boy/girl in 1st grade and not be accused of sexual harrassment. Terrorism on our soil wasn't a reality and going to the airport wasn't considered a "risk". Love that microwave though and remember when we first got ours. Remember switching from 8 tracks to tapes to cd's and dvd's. Media influence has changed a lot. The newspaper used to be "it" along with 1 newscast, which we never saw as kids because Dad had the paper and the news came on when we were in bed. Now we are bombarded with it everywhere and kids learn about things much earlier in life.

Crick you bring back such great memories....Wish it was still the same for our children!

Knee pads and helmets? Nah, we bonked our heads and got skinned knees.We never had to be home unless we heard a parent calling or the porch lights came on. And nobody had to worry about where we were 24/7.The little old man at the country store used to give us rides in his old car while Dad shopped. He'd be waiting for us outside after our spin, having just left the money he owed on the counter.My best friend's dog was a good enoguh babysitter when we were out of our parents' sight.Kids dressed like kids, no like mini Britney Spears.My parents never had to worry what the characters would do or say when we were watching Saturday morning cartoons. (Smurfs, Gummy Bears, etc.)

I wish those days could be for our children. I just wonder what our children will say when they are our age with their children and how it has changed.

Oh boy has it. Remember when you could go to the store and leave your house unlocked? Now it is like closing down Fort Knox. I believe people used to be much friendlier when I was small. If we needed to talk to people we would have to wait until we got home. None of this cell phone calling. We played outside a lot more than kids these days.

Actually, one of the reasons we threw the towel in and moved back out to where I grew up is so that our kids could still do most of the things I did. We don't live in Mayberry and we still have to be on top of things, but our neighbors are my parents, two cornfields, a woods and some Amish. Eve will be able to play outside almost the same way we did. As for the rest of it, well, I guess we're paying the price for all that progress people crow about.

for me, I turned 40 early this year, and it has changed, as I think it does for every generation. No video games, we played outside, friends entertained us and a conversation was held in person or on the phone, not via multiple text messages, no computers, although I am not complaining now, we used our imagination for play...too many things to say