For those of us who are 35+ years old

I'm not sure I'm wanting to admit how old I am LoL!!!

Not really but now that you started it...I am now. However, I disagree about commercials and cartoons being better. With the advancement of technology, I think they are much better nowadays. I do agree, however, about the air.

Well I am 52 and in the 70's I was working and finishing high school. In some ways I think that there was less pressure, less stress and more fun. The world was a much more relaxed place. There were no computers, TV shows were simpler and probably more wholesome but there was also sexism. As a girl I got lots of mixed signals about what I should be aiming for and what my expectations would be for the future. It was definitely much simpler for boys though.

Yes I do get nostolgic. There is a country song by Bucky Covington that kind of sums up what you're saying. Its called a different world and even if you don't like country its worth a listen. I can can actually remember when King Kong was going to be aired in 3D on tv and it was pretty exciting getting the glasses and getting ready for it. All the kids in the neighborhood were at our house to watch it, but after about 15 min we were all back outside because we got bored. Imagine kids today going outside because they were bored LOL. And yes, I too had to be dragged inside every night.

Just attended my 35th class reunion from high school last night. A few of us who grew up in the same block were talking about the things we used to do when we were kids. One thing was being able to play 'dollar in' out in the street. We played hide and seek, croquet, tag, statue, and all other kinds of outdoor games kids used to play. We roller skated, not roller bladed. I loved the sound of those metal wheels on the concrete of the sidewalk. We had skate keys and the skates fit on our shoes...didn't need special extras that cost a fortune. We had skinned knees and elbows just like all our friends. We rode bikes. The one thing that was 'different' that we talked about last night was that one neighbor and I--best friends--would practice all spring doing funny acrobatics on her swingset, in her apple tree and on the ground...then we would send out special hand made invitations to all the neighbors on the block, set up chairs in the back yard and put on an afternoon show on the weekend. And really! All the neighbors would actually come and watch us put on our stupid little show! And they would have fun, talk, laugh, applaud us, and everyone had a good time. By the time I was grown and raising my own family, the neighbors didn't even know each other, rarely talked, and the kids were not playing together as a group of kids. We had to check out the kids, their parents, etc, because we didn't know who anyone was and they didn't either. Video games were just coming into play and we started having to tell the kids to go outside and play just so they would get some exercise. Kids started getting into trouble more because they didn't have anything to do--they were bored. Back when I was a kid, we were too busy to be bored. If we couldn't think of a game to play, we made them up. Music was better, TV was better, kids grew up using their imagination and creativity instead of having toys and games that do all the thinking for them as well as all the activity. Like I mentioned in another response about the cartoons...technology may have improved, but subject matter stinks today.

ah - such good times! we used to have a 2 block are where the whole neighborhood would play hide and seek - neighbors didn't need to worry that we were trespassing - they all knew all of ur parents! haha then there was a beautiful lawn between these 2 blocks on the credit union property where we would play football - it is a little amazing that we never got in trouble for damaging their grass... we actually PREFERRED to ride the bus to school - as there is no hierarchy competition for the back seats when you drive your car. we knew that if we wanted something that our parents couldn't afford, that we had to EARN THAT $$$ for ourselves! we understood the value of a dollar, good friends and family - ah - such good times! thanx, sweetdesign - this came right behind "the baby" turning 17!

I get homesick for the neighborhood I lived in. We could play outside and we did not have to worry about predators and neighbors could kiss and hug us and no one got arrested. I remember my mother baking cookies and cakes and she was not that good, and now you buy the food in packages. I remember that everyone had a piano, and even though I hated to practice, I did. Now the living rooms are too small and the only instruments they plan are those guitars. Oh and everyone had a garden. The mothers stayed at home and did not have to work to make up enough income. Fathers made enough to support the family and the only married women who worked were doctors and nurses and teachers who had a profession.

I do get where I would love to go back in time and take my family with me and show them how we did things. We do alot of the same but of course didnt have a computer and all these game systems, we also only had a couple of channels. Spent more time riding horses and going to my grams when you didnt have to afraid of your child/children taking off and riding for miles. I am lucky in the way too that my kids dont really care about name brand and expensive clothes, they realize that they dont make the person. But to go back and not worry when a child was late would be amazing!

yep, we always long for the things of the past. Life always seems to be better and simpler back then. Sometimes, I think that it probably is because WE were better and simpler back then. I'm missing them again right now...

I am 47 and I do rememeber my growing up with nostalgia, but maybe it wasn't better it was just different, people who grew up in the '50's say those were better times and so it goes, so I guess it just depends on who's looking at it.

Yes, I definitely feel sorry for today's children, not having the fun of freedom the way we used to. When I was a child, we used to leave the house in the morning and come home for tea - I don't think our parents worried about what we were doing, but we'd be riding our bikes, going to the beach, playing in the park - all kinds of things parents wouldn't dare let their kids do now. We didn't have any television where I lived until I was 10 - so up until then, reading and listening to the radio were high on the agenda! We definitely didn't have name brand clothes, and there wasn't any peer pressure to own all the latest electronic equipment or games. Sports shoes came in one type - white Dunlop Volleys! No choice, so every kid had the same! It was a much less complicated life - and I'm glad I was a child in those days!

Nothing beats the 'good old days'. There's so many times I wish I was back there and everyone was still around. My neighbor and I were just recently talking about things we did as kids. How we could play outside until the street lights came on and we were safe. There were stores (confectioneries, as they were called 'back in the day') on the corners in the neighborhoods that had penny candy and a one scoop ice cream cone for a nickel and two scoops would cost you a dime. Twelve ounce soda's in real glass bottles were 12 cents and 16 ounce were 16 cents. And pinball machines that were a nickel a game. We came from a much simpler time. If we got into trouble we generally got our butts busted by our parents and we turned out fine. No lasting psychological scars. It wasn't considered child abuse---it was called discipline!!!

Well, I have the same feelings .Sometimes when I alone I felt nostalgic for my childhood,playing games ,going to school together.That's gotta ba a nice picture.

Ah..the good 'ol days. Remebering the time of the 80's and 90's seems to bring back more memories. Thse are the best time in my life. It seems quite safer on those days regarding the violence nowadays. Everything seems to be so nice back then. Even we take every percaution ensuring our safety.

Well i'm not 35. I am however 30. I do remember doing the same thing. I remember trying to catch tadpoles in a little pond one time. Getting wet in the ditch next to our house (we lived in the country), running around barefoot. I loved it and miss it. Now a days my children want to get on the computer, watch tv, and play video games, when its not baseball season that is.

I remember all that too. We had rules but it seemed like we didn't have our parents fussing over us as much as parents do with their kids these days. We didn't have cell phones so if we wanted to get in touch with our friends we would simply pick up the land line phone, dial their number and hope they were home to answer the phone. Or, we would walk over to their house, knock on the door and see if they were around to come out and play. Our games were things like Pong and Pac Man. No crazy realistic graphics that get more real life every single year. And, not everyone had a game system at home. No one had a computer. We rode our bikes without helmets. Our portable music came in the form of a clunky tape cassette player which needed batteries and didn't last very long. Then later, they came in an even bigger and clunkier CD player...again in need of batteries. We played games like hide and seek, Charlie's Angels, Cops and Robbers and other outside games that required our imaginations. We rarely sat inside playing video games. What little TV we watched was the wonderful Saturday morning cartoons like the Smurfs and primetime TV like Growing Pains where we learned life lessons. I know that every generation gets more advanced than the last. But, it seems like kids play less outside now than we did back then.

You are so incredibly right on the money sweetdesign! My son is almost 14 years old and I have trouble ever getting him outside. Well, actually, at this point, I cannot get him out to "play" ever. My best bet it that area is getting him involved in sports. Unfortunately, right now he is not in a sport. We just moved into this area and I wanted to get him onto the cross-country team at his school but I would need to pick him up after practice and/or meets. I do not have a car right now, we only have one which my husband needs for work. I will be able to get a new car hopefully within the next few months so then he will be able to get onto a team after school. Thank goodness because, as you said, I can never get him outside! Earlier this morning, I told him to walk up to the corner (about 2 blocks) to buy me a Sunday newspaper. He about drove me crazy arguing with me about doing it! So, to answer your question... I really wish he could have grown up in the days when I did. I was born in 1969 so I grew up mainly in the 70's and 80's. I loved the cartoons then too! They were the best. I hate the ones they have on television today. They stink!

Ah sweet! You are so right! We always found things to do to amuse ourselves! We didn't need toys we just found things outside to have fun with! We used to climb fences, play in the dirt, climb dirt mountains, find rocks that were pretty, run and hide from each other, play on the swings! We didn't want to go inside! What for? There was nothing to do in there! It was such a different world and time and you are so right. We grew up so differently. We didn't have all this technology and we were fine, happy just to go outside and play! These kids have no idea and we could never explain it! It really is a shame!

I was a child in the 50s and a teenager in the 60s. We did not have a lot in the 50s but we enjoyed ourselves outdoors like you. In the 60s in the UK there was a great music scene. I think the children of today have a lot more pressure on them to do well. They have a lot more homework to do than I did. I do not think it is as safe for them to play out like we did either althugh there was always an adult about when we were small. It is very difficult for amilies now because both parents have to work to be able to afford a house. I think we were very lucky.

yes, i often think of the pass but i ry to gorget the bad things of the pass i miss my child when it really was fun ioften think of the fun i had in high school and when i was traveling on the road these times i can,t relive be it,s nice to think about where i have been and what i have done.