In the Time of Ago
When dinosaurs roamed and there were no iPhones
Facebook, December 12, 2020
Dan is currently lecturing the boy about wise spending, using Almanzo (from the book “Farmer Boy”, not the “Little House on the Prairie” television show) as an example. The overheard conversation is punctuated by questions such as, “Who’s Almanzo?” “Who’s Laura?” and “What’s a fifty cent piece?”
I don’t know if you’ve heard, but childhood these days is pretty wild. I’m a proud Gen X-er, so I totally relate to the stories of drinking from the hose, leaving the house in the morning to play in the woods and not emerging until I heard my mom whistle, and living for Saturday morning cartoons. I remember writing long letters to pen pals from far away, and how exciting it was when their responses were in the mailbox waiting for me. Unlike some of the social media rants I’ve read, however, I don’t necessarily think all aspects of my childhood were superior to what my kids are experiencing. The hose thing, for example — good thing we found out about that.
Several years ago, out of curiosity, I asked my class to tell me what they thought school was like when I was in 4th grade. Incredibly, I saved the document (teacher hoarder alert) and will now entertain you with the results:
Then most people wrote letters, now we email and text and call.
Then probably didn’t use iPads to teach, because they might not have been invented yet.
Computers were probably too expensive.
Back then the schools probably weren’t as big as schools now.
They probably had to pay a little less money for things.
You guys probably didn’t have SmartBoards.
They probably had class pets.
They couldn’t print paper because printers weren’t invented. So you wrote papers.
They probably used chalkboards instead of whiteboards.
Most then people took tests on paper, not iPad.
They probably didn’t have playgrounds.
Our classrooms might be bigger now.
You guys were probably taught differently than us. Sometimes in math you say, “That’s not how I remember it.”
You probably had more homework.
They used computers with huge hard drives, now they’re much smaller and more compact.
Most of the time you wrote in cursive.
You probably used more books than technology.
You probably played tag in dirt.
You probably played games differently than us. Maybe the rules were different.
Probably played a lot of board games.
Your school pictures were probably in black and white.
You had to walk to school. (Horse and buggy, maybe?)
Most of this list — generated by this year’s graduating senior class, by the way — was thoughtful and reasonable. It showed me that they understood how much had changed in a relatively brief amount of time. Well, more likely it demonstrated that they think 38 (which was my age at the time) is ancient and that 9 year olds have zero concept of time!
Technology has made such an enormous difference in the way that our generation’s children view our childhoods, as opposed to how we saw our parents as kids. I understood that my mom had to wear skirts or dresses until sometime during college, and though I thought it was wrong, I wasn’t shocked. I knew my dad went home every day to eat lunch, and then went back to school, but I understood it. We weren’t so far removed from either scenario that it seemed alien. On the other hand, trying to explain to my students what a “landline” is — well, you know that look that dogs get when you meow at them? It’s a lot like that.
I’m happy to report, however, that I just received a text from my friend Sacheen that read:
Both my girls just looked at me and said: "Raaaaaad"
So yes, the 90s are 100% back.
Fetch me my flannel shirt and square-toed Docs… STAT!
Thanks for reading.
Love, Susie
im actually really impressed with those answers and not rolling my eyes. Also, rad stained glass in the pic ya old hag. I know exactly where that was taken. Guess the dimentia hasnt caught up all the way yet. ;)