if you appreciate the way you were raised.

Let me tell you about MY life.

When I was a kid, small portable radios were almost a big deal. In fact, they were called transistor radios! I looked them up in wikipedia, and they were developed less than 10 years before I was born! Transistor radio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia We didn't even have cassette tape! It was reel to reel! Arcades probably weren't as prevalent, and were MECHANICAL! Play wasn't on some electronic gizmo, but that was actually a good thing. OH, and we had chicken delight! They were like KFC, but crispy, and they delivered. And when I was a really little kid, I remember that like half the TV channels we got, at least in the morning, were college courses! BTW WE only got (2,4,5,7,9,11,13) so 7 channels on VHF. On UHF you were often lucky if you got ANY! And that was IT! NO Cable, and apparently NO satellite.! Relatively few people even had encyclopedias, so some research had to be done at a library. If we wanted to know how to spell a word, we had to look it up in dictionaries!

A lot of people in the 60s would have been ECSTATIC to have some of the potential that kids today take for granted. They would have been shocked to see it squandered so.
And encyclopedias were never viewed as a human right, that all were to provide for the poor, when I was a kid. I was one that didn't have such luxuries. EVEN the hand held electronic calculator didn't appear until I had been through several grades in school, and they were not allowed to be used in school.

It was a simpler time, but kids didn't feel disadvantaged. In many ways, I like THAT time BETTER. I wouldn't even mind if I had to go back and forget about computers, etc...

Steve

ANOTHER THING. On Household batteries, for example, we had AA, AAA, C, D, 9v, and the large 6v. So everything was standardized. And people used a given size for a REASON! These days, even for watch batteries, you may have dozens of types and sizes. CRAZY!

Steve

I think you guys are missing the point of this. It wasn't about telling who had the harder childhood technologically and who had less stuff or more outdated equipment. It was about whether you appreciate being raised without all of the excess technology that kids have now days or being spoiled or the worst of all, everyone getting trophies or ribbons just for trying by parents that want to be perfect.

I agree with the TC. I didn't have much growing up until I was about 12. Then I got a Nintendo (original), but was only allowed to play it a couple of hours a day. The other times, I was shooed out of the house to go out and be active. Good message from my parents. I didn't have it all, but I had friends and the freedom to be anything from a soldier, to athlete, or whatever my mind contrived. We played hide and seek, tag, and many other classic games. We rode our bikes with no helmets or pads and came in when it got dark. I miss those days. Now children are spoiled beyond belief. They sit inside all day and play on the gaming platforms, eat food I barely received such as McDonalds quite a bit, and are coddled to prevent their precious "psyches" from being hurt. Here's a tip. Not all people are exactly equal if you work the same. Giving trophies to all of the kids just because and telling them not to eat dirt and disinfecting everything and letting them play on their ps3's all day is just leading to overweight, allergy ridden, disillusioned adults. Try not to be perfect, just a great parent.

So as the TC said, I'm reposting with one minor change about the good grades:
When I was a kid, I didn't have a laptop, iPod, PS3 or iPad. I played outside with friends, bruised my knees, made up adventurous fantasies and played hide and seek, also not to forget Six Flags if i get good grades. I ate what my mom made and KFC was a treat. I would think twice before I said "no" to my parents. Life wasn't hard, it was great and I survived. Kids these days are spoiled.

I think it could have been better. I didnt go out much and used to stay at home which is still the case. You know thats why old times look better where you hang out and have fun instead of being on your electronic gadgets.

Guys, past are should never forgotten, right?.
I can't imagine what will happen in 20 years after now, where people can read their grandpa's diary in blog (provided their grandpa renew the domain and hosting each year :p).

I cant remember when we're playing outside our home and thinking nothing, just pure decent fun.. Simple happiness.. Now, it's hard to make kids happy, they have so many demands

Do not forget about the robberies ( am talking about the fruits and flowers from neighbours) we have done when we were kid !