My kids think I was born with the Cavemen

We had very basic TV when I was a child.  Until I was 5, we didn't have cable and just had the very basic ABC, NBC, CBS and so on.  Our TV was small and one of those tube TVs with the very large back.  When we did get cable, our cable box was hooked to the TV and had buttons on the box itself.  The buttons weren't regular buttons, rather they were those hard buttons that popped one up when you press down another. (I know I'm not explaining it right! lol)  Picture to the right of a similar box to what we had.  

There were no remote controls to our television back then, we had to get up and change the channel when we wanted to switch it.  I remember laying on the living room floor with the cable box in front of me while watching TV.  Of course, my mom would yell at me that I was too close to the television and that my eyes were going to get hurt.  (Didn't all parents say that?)  Even our cable channels were few and far between.  I believe we had about 31 cable channels at that time.  Even so, that was a huge difference from the 4 or 5 regular local channels we had previously.  Yes, even our TV, while hooked up to a cable box, still had an antenna.  There was no digital cable back then.

Believe it or not, my two girls are in disbelief when I tell them about this.  They either think I'm crazy or that I was born in the days of the cavemen and dinosaurs.  This all came about when I made the decision to get rid of DirecTV.  The prices were getting outrageous and when I called to lower my bill, they completely gave me the runaround about why they didn't want me to lower the bill.  I got so frustrated with them, I asked them to put my account on hold while I tried to find a solution for this.  Right now, my kids are watching Netflix through my Wii and I don't mind that at all.  The minimal price of Netflix is much better than the pricy satellite service.  I think it's perfect because I hardly watch TV.  I'm too busy to watch anything and mostly watch Netflix at night or watch shows that I did miss on the computer.  I don't really see the need for expensive TV service when we don't really use all of the channels that we have.  I feel like it's a waste of my hard earned money.

My girls told me that they can't live without the TV and that actually scared me.  Do my kids think that TV is everything?  I get them out of the house and they get plenty of exercise, I don't let them sit by the TV constantly and I don't use the TV as a babysitter, but every once in a while when I'm making dinner or my mom is making dinner, they would sit down and watch TV.  I really do think it's sad that this generation of children think that TV is so important to them.  It made me realize that kids these days take a lot for granted.  They don't understand how it was when we were little and they don't want to understand either.  

I'm going to have to start limiting TV time and getting my kids to exercise their creative muscles.  After all, I'm an artist and I feel that being creative is much more important than watching TV and turning your brains into mush by doing so.  I'm going to really start to make my kids realize that there is more to life than watching Wow Wow Wubbzy, Dora the Explorer, Imagination Movers and whatever else they watch.  I'll show them that creativity and using your imagination is much more important and much more fun.  That's what we had to do when I was little, and I owe that to the reason why I am so creative and artistic today.  

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"Mommy, why was your childhood so boring?"

I remember being a child and having to use my imagination to play with Barbies, my doll house, Polly Pockets, dolls and other various toys.  Back in the 1980's, electronic toys were few and far between.  When I had a toy that was electronic, it wasn't very advanced; they were just being developed and were very plain.  I would get out of the house daily and for a long time.  I got exercise by playing with my friends, by going to the park, riding my bike, my scooter, my roller skates/ roller blades and using my imagination to play different games with my friends.  

Fast forward to more modern days where preschoolers learn computers as part of their curriculum in school!  By kindergarten, children are computer savvy.  Hell, some kindergartners even have their own computers.  I see 8 year olds with their own cell phones, texting and even with their own e-mail accounts.  I'm not saying that knowing the computer when you're young is a bad thing, but I know many parents who have young children and don't monitor what they're doing online.  I know many parents who tell me they trust their children and don't feel like they have to monitor what they're doing.  It's not the fact of distrusting your children, but the fact of distrusting others and knowing the dangers that are out there in cyberworld.

I understand the need for technology, however I also worry.  Kids aren't getting the exercise they need because of technology.  Sure, we have the Wii and I love Nintendo for coming up with such a great concept; a gaming system that conbines family time, exercise and fun.  Even so, children need fresh air and more physical movement.  I also believe they should go outside and enjoy their time because it's better than being stuck in the house.  Even voluntarily stuck.

It really dawned on me when I had brought some of my old toys up from the basement for my girls to play with.  My oldest, Alayna, asked me how did I play with the toys when it wasn't electronic.  I had told her that when I was younger electronic toys were just being created and she really thought my childhood was boring!  I had to explain to her that when I was a kid it was 1980 and most of our fun was created by ourselves.  We had to use our imagination to make the dolls talk and to come up with scenarios.   She didn't really understand why there was no electronics, but I realized that our kids now are brought up with Nintendo, Playstation, XBox, computers, toys that talk and walk and poop and pee...

My kids have great imaginations because that's how I raised them, but I think there are some parents who depend on the toys that do the work for them.  In fact, I know some of those parents.  More children should be limited to the technology toys and should spend more time with the toys that stretch the imagination and build the creativity.  Not even that, but kids should be able to get out of the house and exercise, play games outside, going to the park.  They need the fresh air.

Sometimes I see 4 and 5 year olds playing outside all by themselves.  While it's good that they're outside and getting the exercise, where are their parents?  I hear some parents talking about how they can't wait to get their little kids outside because they want the time to themselves. These are the parents who will act like the big and mighty protective parents when something bad happens, God forbid.  Honestly, I don't mean to criticise any parents, but when I see this and hear parents talking about this, I do go off.  And I have gone off on parents who have said they let their 4 and 5 year olds outside alone in a busy urban area.  It angers me.

What do you think about this topic?  What do you think about the parents who distract their children with video games and electronic toys so they can do what they'd like to do?

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