My friend Don often gets nostalgic for his growing up years . . . it was such a simpler time, things were so innocent. He chooses not to hear me when I suggest
we might have been simple and innocent but the world most likely was just as chaotic and complex as it is today. We had far more shelter from the world at large than kids do today -- even as we left the house in the morning and didn't come back until we got hungry or were called in for supper, whichever came first, and kids today have cell phones so parents' can track there every move and they cannot go anywhere without a water bottle.
When I was nine, my family moved to Vermont from New York. I had gone to an elementary school with Black kids and Jewish kids. That was the last of that until I went to college. Vermont in the 1950's was a new reality. My parents returned from a VT house hunting trip with maple sugar candy for us kids. I decided right then and there that I did NOT want to move. My wishes were overridden. I learned many years later that my mother had not wanted to move either so I guess neither of us had a say.
It's an acquired taste.
We moved to a small town where you either belonged to the Catholic church or the Congregational church. We learned about Pilgrim's and had a turkey hot lunch at school. The school Christmas program included the Bethlehem reenactment and caroles. I can still remember when "The Little Drummer Boy" shocked some for its break with a solid traditional line-up. We drew names and had a Christmas party in a classroom festooned with Christmas decorations, including a real tree. I remember one girl whose family were Jehovah Witnesses in my fourth grade class. She had many out of the room errands to run during that time. That was the totality of diversity.
Perhaps I am just not the nostalgic type. Perhaps I just don't think of things as having been simpler then. Perhaps I never did see things as black and white in life. Perhaps I was overly sensitive and moody as a child. But then most of my childhood memories are about being lost in books and reading.
I will confess that I am really happy I am not a kid today though.
we might have been simple and innocent but the world most likely was just as chaotic and complex as it is today. We had far more shelter from the world at large than kids do today -- even as we left the house in the morning and didn't come back until we got hungry or were called in for supper, whichever came first, and kids today have cell phones so parents' can track there every move and they cannot go anywhere without a water bottle.
When I was nine, my family moved to Vermont from New York. I had gone to an elementary school with Black kids and Jewish kids. That was the last of that until I went to college. Vermont in the 1950's was a new reality. My parents returned from a VT house hunting trip with maple sugar candy for us kids. I decided right then and there that I did NOT want to move. My wishes were overridden. I learned many years later that my mother had not wanted to move either so I guess neither of us had a say.
It's an acquired taste.We moved to a small town where you either belonged to the Catholic church or the Congregational church. We learned about Pilgrim's and had a turkey hot lunch at school. The school Christmas program included the Bethlehem reenactment and caroles. I can still remember when "The Little Drummer Boy" shocked some for its break with a solid traditional line-up. We drew names and had a Christmas party in a classroom festooned with Christmas decorations, including a real tree. I remember one girl whose family were Jehovah Witnesses in my fourth grade class. She had many out of the room errands to run during that time. That was the totality of diversity.
Perhaps I am just not the nostalgic type. Perhaps I just don't think of things as having been simpler then. Perhaps I never did see things as black and white in life. Perhaps I was overly sensitive and moody as a child. But then most of my childhood memories are about being lost in books and reading.
I will confess that I am really happy I am not a kid today though.
Excellent post! I would hate to be a kid today, with parents constantly a flutter butting into the important business of being a kid and learning the way of the world. I liked walking out the door and not being accountable for anything except being back by lunch.
ReplyDeleteI doubt things were simpler, just not on the cable channels and twitter 24 hours a day. Remember we had to hide under our desks in the absurd hope that we could survive a nuclear attack. But then again we did not have active shooter drills.
Amen. I am glad I was clueless, phoneless, tv less. I devoured books and built things and used my imagination which have all served me well. Some things were better then and some things not so much. (race relations, women's rights etc.) My role models were family members not youtube entitle rich kids that I wanted to emulate. Those are the things I think your friend thinks are far better in "our day" As for the "acquired taste" of maple sugar candy. I ate it once in VT and LOVED it. When I went back last October I got some to bring home. Rick did not find it wonderful. I did not grow up with diversity. But as soon as I could leave I sure as hell did. Now I live on a single block where everyone is vastly different. Be it from another country, a religion, a race. It is just so diverse here and I will miss that immensely.
ReplyDeleteI was raised a Catholic, but look at me now, I am an atheist. Religion is not important. Living a good life is.
ReplyDeleteI swing back and forth on that. Some things I really miss but you are right, times globally and nationally were probably more challenging. I spent many an early year in the south so diversity wasn't a concept.
ReplyDeleteI think instant news and tell-all news has changed us from the innocent and simple world we once lived in.
ReplyDeleteI don't think they were simpler times.. but I think due to not have immediate access to EVERYTHING, they were easier times to live in. Now, people can offer a rapid-fire opinion without even taking consideration to others' feelings. Also, people had manners back then (even when I was growing up). Etiquette. There were times and forums to discuss things. You say excuse me or thank you. People usually didn't assume they were morally obligated to have things; they simply worked hard and saved up for it or did without. Times have changed, but for the worse!
ReplyDeleteI think I pretty much agree. They were not simpler times. But as you suggest, we were younger and more innocent. And I have to admit, I sometimes get nostalgic about my (our) innocence.
ReplyDeleteOlga, I do feel that we grew up in a simpler time... but it could all be perspective. But I do agree that the world may have been just as chaotic then as now - in a different way - but we weren’t blasted with it daily then. And to me, things have never been black or white.
ReplyDeleteI can relate. I grew up on a small farm and rode the school bus to school in a small town in Oregon. There were only white kids in my school. Everybody celebrated Christian Christmas. The only diversity was in where you lived, town or country, what your dad did for a living, and how expensive your clothes were. I was one of the few who went away to college and became a city girl.
ReplyDeleteMy childhood was not the best of times. In fact, I think right now is for me.
Every era has its issues. Rural Ontario ahd that Catholic Protestant divide, as well.
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