THEN AND NOW, NOW AND THEN.

There have been several moments in the last month that I've thought to myself  "things were drastically different when I was that age..." Technology, human relations, and all the new "rules." Man, I am OLD. That is the REAL problem, I sound like my parents. I used to swear I would never, EVER, be like them. *sigh* It is, clearly, inevitable.

Technology; holy crap. Fisher-Price makes baby toys that holds the iPhone/iTouch, they also have a series of apps. What kid hasn't had contact with a smartphone or a tablet? My kids school has an iPad for ever student during their 'technology' class, my kids are in elementary school. The kids will never know the inconvenience of having to adjust a TV antenna, rolling down manual windows, or rewinding a VHS or cassette tape. When I was a kid we had home phones with ridiculously long cords, a computer was a monstrosity we called the Tandy 500, and the best game system has 8 bits. Measuring in "bits" for something as broad as an entire computer is redundant. Modern components are measured by their clock speed in Hz, Bits have meant virtually nothing ever since the graphics stopped being dictated so much by the CPU. Technology, wow.

Safety: Seat belts and car seats are imperative now, when I was a kid we hardly rode in a car seat after we could walk... I never even heard of a booster seat when I was a kid. Also, we only  had lap belts in my parents vehicles, and now they say its not safe at all to only use a lap belt. In addition to car seats and proper restraints, I remember my family members drinking beer while driving regularly.  

Necessity: Alexis wanted a drink, I suggested water. She skips off and returns moments later telling me that we are, in fact, "Out of water." WHAT?! What she meant to say was "Hey, mom we are out of bottled water." I suggested getting a glass, putting some ice in the said glass, and turning on the tap to fill her glass. The look she gave me was a complete look of disbelief and a face of complete disgust, like I had offered her a glass of horse urine or something equally as foul.  "Seriously, mom?!" Gross." I almost went down the road of "When I was a kid..." but I stopped myself. We used to drink from the water hose in the yard and if there were not a hose we would put our lips to the spigot. Am I suggesting I want my kids to do this now? Absolutely not, things are funky now.

I'm getting older, damn it, so I suspect there will be a few "When I was a kid..." stories that will come out of my mouth and I am sure I will feel embarrassed yet proud in a sick and twisted way.