Technology Throughout the Years

It is a little sad that I think back to all of the things that I did when I was a child that my kids will not experience. Have you thought of these? There are a TON of them!!

– I remember true team work, as you turn the antennae on the roof little by little until the three channels you had came in clearly.
– We had rabbit ears on the TV that you encased the ends with aluminum foil to get even better reception.
– We had to reference the TV guide for what shows were on TV.
– We had CB radios in our cars and houses.
– Yelling to get someone into the room to change the channel because you had no remote control and were comfy on the couch under the covers.
– Not having a VCR and missing your favorite show completely if you were gone. Oh, no hulu.com to watch it either.
– We had to watch commercials.
– We had a telephone with a cord, you can only go so far.
– The telephone had no hold button.
– We dialed the telephone, with a rotary dial. No push buttons.
– If your friends were not home, you just didn’t reach them. There was no machine.
– If your friends were on the phone, you just didn’t reach them, you got a busy signal. No call waiting.
– If you turned on your radio, you had to manually move the dial to your station. There was no scan or seek. Same thing in the car.
– We grew up with records and 8 tracks. Then came cassettes.
– We had to lock each car door individually, there were no power locks.
– We had to manually hand crank each window down and up, there were no power windows.
– There was no ABS braking system. You had to pump the brakes.
– There was no power steering.
– There were no air bags.
– There was no fuel injection – you had to pump the gas before you started the engine.
– There was no remote lock, you had to walk to the car and put the key in the lock and turn it. Then remember, no power locks? You had to crawl across the seat and unlock everyone else’s doors.
– There was no computers, internet, email.
– We hand wrote and received letters via the US Mail.
– We had to hand wash dishes, no dishwashers.
– We had to cook everything the long way – the stove – there were no microwaves.
– When we went out at 16, our parents had to know where we were and the phone numbers. We didn’t have cell phones to check in or receive calls. When we were not home, we were not home.
– We had to apply for jobs old school, by typing up a resume and hand delivering it or via US Mail.
– We didn’t have radar detectors.
– We didn’t have remote start on the cars, we had to walk to the car, unlock the door, pump the gas, start the car, and scrape the windows.
– We didn’t have GPS… we had maps. We had to read them.
– We could walk to the grocery store and buy 1 cent candy.
– I used an outhouse as a child when visiting my grandparents.
– We took pictures and had to wait until all 36 pictures were taken so we could develop them and see if the picture turned out worth a crap.
– We had paper books which we rented from the library that we used the card catalog to find said book.
– When we researched for a paper, we went to the library and used the card catalog to find books that we had to read to find supporting information.
– We didn’t have fax machines in our homes.
– We had black and white televisions.
– We didn’t have a Wal-Mart.
– We know what carbon paper is.
– We said the pledge of allegiance every day as school started.
– We had to flush our own toilets and turn on and off faucets to wash hands and hand crank the paper towels out.
– We didn’t have ATM cards. We had bank books. The teller would write down the transaction in your bank book.
– We wrote paper checks – no debit cards.
– Our typewriters were not electric.
– We didn’t have alarms in our schools.
– We didn’t have video cameras or cameras to take pictures at a moments notice.

But, we played outside, rode our bikes, watched cartoons on Saturday mornings, did our chores and we minded our manners so that we didn’t get spanked. We talked to grandparents on the phone and it was special. We made prank phone calls because there was no caller id. We didn’t have a lot of conveniences of today but we have memories.

Did I miss any?

Advertisement

Life in the Fast Lane – New Parents should Buckle Up.

Regardless of how much you try to enjoy life, it seems to go 300 miles per hour after you turn 18. I always heard that as I was growing up, however, when you are in school counting down the days to graduation, it goes on forever it seems. But, they were right, once I turned 18, it seems like my life has been a whirlwind. From waiting to graduation, I have gotten married, had two children, gained new family members through weddings and births as well as lost some due to death.

Now that my daughter is turning 18 in a few short months, I reflect back at the last 18 years, which truly seems like weeks ago. I remember vividly finding out I was pregnant and the pain with bone movements associated. I remember labor and delivery, especially the delivery. I can see this little baby sleeping in the baby swing and being awoke to the sound of rewinding it. It was so noisy! Then came crawling and eating people food. I remember how she loved peas, but her father and I did not. I gave her all the foods that I didn’t like because I wanted her to get a taste of everything.

She started walking, running and then we had to get rid of the pacifier – oh my, that was horrible. I remember this little 20 month old girl with little blonde pig tails screaming, stomping and crying she wanted her “nanniefire”. But she couldn’t have it because it was causing her to get a rash around her mouth. That lasted about a week, then she adjusted.

It was such a joy to see the world through her eyes. One time, we got a really heavy snow when she was 3 years old.  When  she looked out the window she said, “Oh my! Pepaw made a mess!!”. I don’t know why she blamed my dad, but it was just hilarious.  Another time, she picked up a Polaroid camera and while directed at her, she hit the button, the flash went off and a picture came out. She ran to my mom and I and said, “It scared me so bad I almost peed my pants.” I saved the Polaroid. It was her first “selfie”.  🙂  Then she started school, made friends, did dance, gymnastics, learned how to read and write. She still was Mommy and Daddy’s girl. We were so proud of her. She cared about her friends and loved ones.  Especially her baby brother.  He was born just a week before her third birthday.

Baby number 2 on board!

A few years later, when we went to the visitation for a grandfather of one of our friends, it was a good time to introduce her to the world of loss. When we entered the funeral home, she asked, “Why is that man in the box?” and I told her “Well honey, he died and went to heaven to be with Jesus.” And she just responded, “Oh, my, bless his heart.” She had never met this man, but still felt compassion for him. A very proud moment for parents.

I wish that we could have been at home more during their childhood.  Instead, she watched her dad and I both return to college to obtain our bachelor’s degrees, then our master’s degrees. Although that took us away from her and her brother, I know that this will instill in them the importance of education and making a solid plan for your future earlier in life as opposed to later. The one thing that I would change if I had a “do over” would be to finish my education so that I could focus all of my attention towards raising my family. But, we know that we can not do that. I do believe that did instill in her the importance. She is already planning on continuing her education at the local community college to become an Radiologist Technologist. She expressed that interest a few years ago and we worked to get an opportunity to job shadow. This is one thing I pressed hard for. It is one thing to have a plan to further your education but what a downer to get into the career and learn that you hate it. She observed two full days of different types of radiology, a very good experience. She has taken dual credit classes her senior year and work study to prepare for college.  Again, a proud parent moment.

What is the point in all this rambling? Well, if you are a new parent:

– Hold close the memories, big or small, that your children provide you with. Even the rough times, they can make you smile and proud.
– Take every opportunity to spend with your child. You have them until they are teenagers, then they start to sprout their wings and are no longer in need of your guidance, most of the time.
– Don’t be so quick to move forward. You always hear that you wish they could talk, then you wish that they would be quiet. Well it’s true to an extent. You want them to grow up and become a little person, but they grown into an adult faster than you want.

Literally, I feel like I have turned around, or blinked my eyes, and both kids went from toddlers to adults. So proud of the people my kids have become, but yet, still long for the little kids that came running to the door, so excited to see me and give me a hug. They are still in there somewhere and before long, they will come to us to ask us questions again. I think all kids do. 🙂