90′s Childhood vs. Todays

Good morning!  Last night we went to see the last movie showing in the park downtown.  The movie deal was only for the month of April, so we will have to wait until next year to do it again. Saddening. But they played probably the most perfect movie for that type setting.

You can never go wrong with The Sandlot! We had perfect weather and a perfect movie, and of course the KETTLE CORN.

My hott dates for the night!

They weren’t too excited to have a picture taken, and neither was this little guy who was giving me a stare down.

While we waited for dusk, a huge group of kids ran around in front playing soccer. 

They were having so much fun playing some serious ball and getting nasty dirty, but they didn’t have a care in the world.  Watching the movie and watching these kids play brought back so many memories of my childhood.  It really got me thinking.

How much have childhoods changed since the 90s?

Technology is changing and advancing so often its ridiculous. It seems like lately all you hear about is video games.  I know 3 year olds that can work an iPhone with no problem too.

The last thing I want is for our children to sit in the house all day with no exercise.  I have said over and over again that when the day comes, we will not put video games in our kids rooms.  I realize that taking the tv away isn’t realistic, considering I had one.  We want our kids to have a childhood like we did. Outside.

From what I can remember, growing up in my neighborhood, my house was the one where everybody came to play.  We would run in and out, in and out, in and out of the house.  My mom would get so fed up and lock us all out saying “Don’t come back in this house unless your bleeding, dying, or have to use the bathroom. If you get thirsty use the waterhose. Your letting all the cool air out!”   With so many kids running through, I completely understand now, but it made us so mad back then.

We had about ten kids in our neighborhood group that would play until the street lights came on.  If we weren’t out on the street rollerblading, having bike races, riding our friends go-cart, or getting in trouble in the woods, we were at mine and my brothers house. 

Our trampoline was so much fun, until we would play too hard and break it.  Or break someones arm from “double jumping”.  We also had a playhouse that we would play in.  After we outgrew that, my dad built a fort in our back yard that sat on telephone poles.  It was the coolest thing being able to see the neighborhood from up high.  Especially after we had a fence put up in the back yard.

During the day time, our sitter would take us to the YMCA so we could swim all afternoon.  It was pretty funny when she would come to tell us it was time to go, and we would go under water or swim to the other side just because we didn’t want to leave.

On weekends or weekday evenings when it was hot, since nobody in the neighborhood had a pool, we would run through sprinklers. Or sit in my dads coolers full of water.  Redneck pools for sure! But hey it was a way to cool off. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I had some time inside to, as I was OBSESSED with Barbie dolls of course! Had to have something to do after dark before bedtime.  We had the occassional game of Super Mario and the duck hunt game, but by no means did we sit inside in front of a video game all day.

I do not have kids at this point in my life, and I understand that when that time comes there will be times when I want them out of my hair doing something, but I hope that it doesn’t have to be sitting on their butts in front of a game for hours.  It is proof that they will not live a healthy lifestyle, cause I gained weight super fast the first summer that we didn’t have a sitter making us go outside and play.

I want to make sure my kids know the importance of excerise, while fully enjoying their childhood to the fullest!

What were fun things that you did as a kid?

Do you plan to keep your kids outside instead of stuck inside for hours?