New take on nostalgia

[Eric Iverson]

I saw a girl on the train talking with her friends, all smart kids. She had some great lines:

These people are all savages at heart. And Kindergarten was the best. All my friends from pre-K were there in kindergarten again.

NOSTALGIA ABOUT KINDERGARTEN?? First time I ever heard that one!

Seriously, I think she could be a comedienne or writer one day, if she chose to. Lots of talented kids out there, dont doubt it for a minute. Lots of DUMB ones, too, of course. But I did my share of dumb things as a kid, too, and survived somehow!

 

[whitefang]

Sure. But some things never change.

 

Young kids still want to be older, and older kids want to be adults, while adults wish to be TEEN AGERS again.

 

But, eventually we all learn....

 

I remember a phone conversation I was having with my second daughter, back when she was about 25 or so, and she interrupted it saying, "I gotta go now and get ready for bed. I have to get up early for work in the morning."

 

I looked at my clock and declared, "But, it's only NINE-THIRTY! What happened to that little girl who at bedtime said, 'When I grow up, I'M gonna STAY UP as late as I WANT'? "

 

Yeah, it too, is amusing when I hear kids about 12 or so wax nostalgic about when "we were just KIDS."

Whitefang

[d halfnote]

The world's more modern societies have been advancing at pace for awhile.

Once, abt 100 yrs ago, there was no concept of "teenager" for instance.

Look at how kids are exposed to stuff many of us were at much later ages.

 

[whitefang]

Sure there was a "concept" of "teen-ager" back in 1916. Was just called something else. probably still considered "adolescents". It refers to the AGE RANGE of 13-19. ANY age in which is denoted as a "teen" number( thirTEEN and so on...).

 

When the PHRASE came into wide use I'm not sure of but....

 

I get your point. Actually, young people in their "teen" years WERE a bit more socially sophisticated back then than when subsequent generations were in that age range. We're back to that level of sophistication now, due mostly to wide exposure to the world around them from a multitude of different media sources.

 

There was a time when parents did, and were ABLE to prevent such exposure, but it's long got away from them.

 

Personally, I think it's for the better. At least, like previous generations, they won't be thrust into adulthood unprepared. That is of course, if their parents don't work too hard at trying to KEEP them kids for longer than they should.

Whitefang

[Larryz]

Kids like my mom, got married at the age of 15 back in the day and she had me when she was just 18. Kids like me got drafted and were out of the house and on their own at the age of 19. My mom and dad wouldn't let me on their auto insurance at the age of 16 for fear I might get a ticket and raise their insurance rates. "Kids" now days can stay on their parents medical insurance until they reach 26. My grandkids are not allowed to watch the evening news, and I have no problem with that! Who's protecting who? My doctors are younger than me! It is funny when you hear a 13 year old saying "when I was a kid"...I'm beginning to sound like Rodney Dangerfield LOL!

[whitefang]

Like I said, I see more "kids" having kids more as "social accesories" than as extensions of themselves and progeny that requires responsibility. More to have something to show off than anything else. And doing more "enabling" than parenting.

 

LARRY, my Dad too, wouldn't put me on his car insurance for the same reason.

 

Look at how some younger parents do...Every year there's some young-'un graduating high school in my family. I TIRE of hearing their parents WHINE about , "Where will I get the MONEY for their PARTY?" or buying them cars or lavish trips just for doing something that's EXPECTED of them. OY!

 

I always joke that when I graduated, my Dad gave ME, "A hardy handshake and a copy of the local paper already turned to the "help wanted" and

"apartments for rent" section of the WANT ADS!"

 

So, your grandkids aren't allowed to watch the evening news? Sounds like YOUR kids are doing an OK job with THEIRS. Kudos!

Whitefang

[Larryz]

I had never really thought about protecting my two kids from the evening news until I heard that they were doing so for my grandkids. With some of the over-the-top-video they are showing on the news these days, I find my kids are much wiser than I was at their age...One of my 8 year old grandkids told me that his Dad plays one of those video games [insert name] that he won't get to play until he's 15 LOL! Sometimes PG 13 is a good thing...

[whitefang]

I don't know if it's the Evening News from the "major networks" or also or mainly the LOCAL broadcasts, but one is as bad as the other.

 

The first, well, a lot of disturbing images for little kids and tha latter just beomes shills for what's "trending" or warnings about "What common everyday item in YOUR house can KILL you?"

 

I would discourage video games at ANY age.

 

But what some parents do in the name of "protection" IS kind of screwy....like I pointed out in one treatise I wrote on "Being American";

 

Many Americans turn a blind eye or otherwise ignore it when their kids watch cartoons or play video games for hours in which the "hero" beats up, shoots, stabs or blows up their enemy. But, GOD FORBID their kids should see TWO SECONDS of Janet Jackson's TIT!

Whitefang

[d halfnote]

Sure there was a "concept" of "teen-ager" back in 1916. Was just called something else. probably still considered "adolescents". Whitefang

 

Not to chase the wrong end of the tale here but my reading of social history is that well into the 20th C the age group we think of a teens didn't constitute a distinct social classification.

[whitefang]

Sure, it seemed they weren't too seriously a consideration except in mid 20th century Hollywood movies like the ANDY HARDY series and THE BACHELOR AND THE BOBBYSOXER.

 

By the 50's however, due to the post-war "boom" and the age group in their teen years were more indulged with liberal allowances and had more MONEY to spend, their demographic suddenly became important.

Whitefang

[Eric Iverson]

Well, MUSIC had a lot to do with the concept of "teenager" because of the money to be made selling records to them, especially since Elvis came on the scene. And the Beatles sealed the deal.

Not that my parents' generation wasn't crazy about swing music, too. My dad told me kids would sit around arguing about who had the best band, and who the best trumpet player was.

[whitefang]

Here's a freaky kind of take on the "kids saying 'back when I was a kid" deal.---

 

There's also connected with hindus in India who believe in reincarnation a sub belief that small children can still recall much of their past lives. One story involves a child demanding his Dad to "stop the car" at some houuse the parents never recalled being at before. The child, with a warm welcome by the owners, went around the house describing what this or that room USED to look like once, and it was discovered then that the homeowner's son had died just a few years ago at a very young age, and the kid in the story, a little girl, had perfectly described what the house looked like back when he was alive.

 

I mention this also because one day, while my wife and I were driving somewhere with our little grandniece in the backseat, we heard her talk about doing something she, to our knowledge, had never done before, and as she was only FIVE at the time, was too young to do whatever it was in the first place. My wife asked her, "When did you ever do THAT?" and the girl replied, "Back when I was a GROWN-UP." (cue the "One Step Beyond" theme!)

Whitefang

[Eric Iverson]

Reminding me of an old joke:

 

"Johnny, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

"A musician!"

"Now, Johnny, you can't do both!"

[whitefang]

 

Whitefang

[d halfnote]

Sorry but yer not even payin' attention.....

 

 

[whitefang]

Who? And to WHAT?

Whitefang

[d halfnote]

Who? And to WHAT?

Whitefang

 

That was then, this is now:

Me.

To this.