The only thing better than growing up in the fifties and sixties would be… to be a grown up in the fifties and sixties. Back in the day…You could smoke in picture shows, beauty parlors, and in the last couple of rows of an airplane! They drank whiskey sours at lunch, martini’s by five and a scotch with a splash was a drink for the road…WHAT kids?
We walked to school (minus the rain, sleet or snow…it was Florida) with friends or ALONE! Safety wasn’t an issue! Our parents would load up the car (poodle included) and drive for hours on two lane roads, smoking with the windows up, and as everyone knows… no seat belts. We fought over who would sit in the front on the hump or the flat across the back, and 1963, we rode bikes as far away from home as we could go… parents didn’t care. We had swimming pools, lakes and oceans. We did not have life guards, chaperons or sun screen. Archie Bunker claimed, “Those were the days”!
I got dropped off at jazz, tap, and ballet in the afternoon and in the summer I got dropped in North Carolina for four weeks at camp, as if they were the same. School, camp fire and dance were my only responsibilities, which seemed to be totally exhausting for my Mother.
When I look at what parents do for their kids today… It makes me want to go get in the bed (for days) with the covers over my head, and if I were the parents today…I’m sure I would be in rehab! Preschools today are having conferences to discuss toddlers academic progress (and the Fathers actually show up!) or worse… “PROGRAMS”… because stage fright must be overcome by TWO! Park and Rec registration alone would traumatize me today… not to mention the waiting list for kindergarten! (It’s not whether you win or loose…it’s how you play the game…which is why you hire a personal trainer for your kids t-ball team) Mom and Dad bought me a stryrofoam surf board every August for my birthday, and my destination was the snow cone stand. A VACAY today must include air travel to the Caribbean , private expeditions to historical burial grounds, and they order room service.
Whew! It’s hard work to have fun today! Remember when you fixed a cocktail and you called it a party! It will soon be the 2020 and I think it is going to get interesting. How old do you have to be to drive a car you don’t actually drive? Everyone will have cameras attached to a watch, phone, or TV (I hope no one has to scratch), and dear God, I can only imagine what you will be able to clap on or clap off!
Obviously parents are going to switch things up a bit. What we thought of as the more laid back days are behind us, but I look forward with great expectations to the days ahead. Neither time nor space can change the way we love our kids… to the moon and back! While our children and grandchildren alike will always find happiness in the same place…in their hearts.
Flying drones…with out chimpanzees…Please!
Happy New Year…I’ll have a vodka with a splash of kale.
Tis the Season
I couldn’t have said it better! Think back at Disney’s GE Carousel of Progress & the movie Back to The Future! These kids are living it! Merry Christmas!
Hi Carol,
It’s a small world after all 🙂
Hope your new year brings you a boat load of happy happy happy!
Love you
Tracey, you always are right on target with your blog. It is airways interesting to see where your mind is going to take us. Hope you have a very Merry Christmas.
Hi Jackie,
If I only knew where my mind is going! Circles mostly! Thanks for reading my blog and hopefully you’ll share. Love the comments for sure!
Merry Christmas!
Love this! So true. Happy New Year!
Hi Kim,
I hope you had a wonderful time in New York. Stay home for a minute and lets go have a drink and talk about “the good ol days”!
So I am only a few months behind reading your blog, but getting it done,none the less. Tracy,when I read this about your growing up in 50s and 60 s, I am so jealous. This in no way is anywhere near my experience or anyone I knew growing up. Yes there were very rich people in Pilot Mountain,as a matter of fact,it was the richest per capita for NC. But nobody had such a charmed life as your description. As far as what parents do today?????? I did the exact same thing except no husband being involved in conferences,etc as he was always traveling. I found “managing my childrens’ lives a likeable job”. No it was not easy,but anything of lasting value rarely is easy.It was a challenge to get your child into the “right camp or preschool or magnet school”. It took the right connections so getting all this accomplished did require strategic planning.
I did enjoy reading your very romanized version of growing up. I think the life was good for you but I wonder how hard your parents worked behind the scenes. At any rate,it was enjoyable. Keep it up.
Gilda, I didn’t think my life was easy or difficult, except for the homework part… that I hated with a passion! My parents were great, sure…but in NO WAY were they as involved in my life and activities as I was with my kids, (it just wasn’t like that then…it was more about Walter Cronkite as I remember) and I think I was a far cry from the way parents interact with their kids school life and social life today. (many thanks to social media I suspect) I am glad I survived…my kids survived and I have no doubt my Grandchildren will be just fine. A “do over”…NO THANK YOU! I like this Grand parenting thing just fine!
Thanks for reading Bubbie:)