The differences between my childhood and that of my daughter are glaringly obvious and prove just how much has changed and how the world has adapted in 26 years! *ahem*
When I was younger, children’s TV programmes stopped at 5.30pm, by 6pm you were made to sit and watch the nightly news and on a Sunday evening, you knew your bedtime was nigh as soon as Coronation Street finished… maybe that was just a Northern thing, but as soon as the music ended, I knew my time downstairs had ended!
Nowadays children have the choice of numerous Kids TV programmes… that dare I say it… are available 24/7. If that isn’t enough, then streaming options such as Now TV and Netflix also offer childrens’ programmes on demand. Let’s not even get onto the fact that you can pause TV these days… 26 years ago, if you missed an episode of Neighbours, that was it and you had to wait for the next day to attempt to catch up on whatever drama had unfolded!
As children back in the day, we pretty much walked everywhere or jumped on our bikes. Children, especially on our estate do tend to ride on their bikes in gangs, however nowadays, there are other forms of getting around on wheels. Heelys and inline skates, such as these funky wheels from Proline Skates… how awesome do they look? Trainers that have wheels in them… are you kidding me? I had to make do with a pair of My Little Pony roller skates that made me fear for my life!
My childhood was about staying out all day long, getting as mucky as possible and begrudgingly trawling home when the street lights came on. These days technology has taken over to the point that it can sometimes be a chore for children to go outside into the fresh air and play… chatting to their friends is even done online. In bygone days, you had to physically knock on for your friends, hope that they were in and hope they had not been grounded!
Dolls… I had the choice of Barbie or Sindy… I’ve totally lost count of even just the Bratz dolls my daughter has, let alone Barbie and all the others… whatever did happen to Sindy anyway?!
I’m just being an old grump! It’s lovely to be able to spoil my daughter and give her everything I didn’t have and clearly the rise of technology means I am able to sit here and ramble on… but my memories of a carefree childhood are priceless!
*Runs off to watch Emmerdale on catch up* 😉
