| Over the course of spring and summer breaks, my | | | | could indulge; resorting to playing guitar, singing, painting |
| teenage kids find multiple ways to antagonize me. One | | | | or cooking. And yes, kids actually had to turn on a |
| of my daughter's favorite complaints is, "...I'm bored. | | | | stove to cook the infamous Ramen Noodles. Today, |
| There is nothing to do." Of course, my response is | | | | microwave has made cooking a breeze. Specially |
| always, "...there's plenty of things to do," with a | | | | marked packages of mac-n-cheese, and many other |
| continuation of the myriad listing of ideas, tasks and | | | | easy-to-cook foods are now microwavable. No longer |
| other events in which she can partake. Ideally, she | | | | do we have to wait forever for a quick snack. |
| would have me take her mall shopping, cruising the | | | | Mealtime is mere seconds away.Television: Saturdays |
| beach strip, and ultimately become her sole | | | | were the ultimate in animated television programming. I |
| entertainment planner and provider during her | | | | still recall wasting my morning sleep on 7am Saturday |
| "vacation" period.Suddenly, it dawns on me that I was | | | | mornings just so I could go and watch Scooby-Doo. |
| once the tyrannical 10-year old who "had nothing to | | | | Because then, Saturday morning was the ONLY time |
| do..." My dad's exhausted reply to me then was, | | | | kids could watch cartoons. During the remainder of the |
| "...stand on your head and laugh." That was, of course, | | | | week, there were three channels - not including public |
| at a time when television wasn't quite as controversial | | | | television. And worst of all, if the President was holding |
| and diverse as it is today. I can't even begin to imagine | | | | a press conference, he was on ALL three channels. |
| the many channels my kids have at their disposal. I | | | | Needless to say, kids didn't have the infinite viewing |
| think I stopped count after 300-something. If movies | | | | options then as they do today.Phone: Years ago, we |
| aren't on their menu, then they've got the ultimate in | | | | would have marveled at the now common |
| gaming audio - not only the Sony Playstation, but also | | | | "touch-tone" and "cordless" phone. Our minds would've |
| the Sony II, Sega Genesis, and many handheld | | | | been blown by global "walkie-talkies," (now called |
| computer games as well.Not being a house-recluse | | | | cellular phones) - not to mention Internet access. Of |
| myself, I always preferred enjoyment of the great | | | | course that was a different time though.Extracurricular |
| outdoors. Okay, we didn't live on a mountainside, but | | | | Activities: Swimming would've been one of my favorite |
| our backyard was equally just as fun. Whether it was | | | | pastimes. I said, "... would have been," because back |
| catching frogs, playing in tadpole-infested puddles, | | | | then, families had to travel miles to get to the nearest |
| playing Frisbee or ball with the family dog, playing | | | | public pool or swimming hole. At that time, commercial |
| Marco-Polo, Redlight-Greenlight, Simon Says, softball, | | | | pool clubs were far and few between, and if you |
| jump rope, hopscotch, bicycling, soccer, tether ball, | | | | couldn't afford a membership - well, then you had the |
| roller-skating, volley ball, tennis, sprint-racing, or simply | | | | rare pleasure of "running through a sprinkler" on hot, |
| sitting on green, dewy grass - there were ample things | | | | humid days. Even with our own private in-ground pool, |
| to do.Kids growing up in the 1970s despised rainy days. | | | | my teenagers are sometimes "too tired" or just don't |
| We didn't have the cool conveyances that children | | | | "feel like swimming." Modern generations of kids never |
| have in modern society. Back then, if it rained - you're | | | | cease to amaze me. Even with so many choices |
| "vacation" or "school in-service day" was shot. We | | | | available to them, they still cannot seem to get |
| actually had to find things to do with our time - like | | | | "un-bored."In conclusion, after all efforts have been |
| reading, drawing, and listening to music. If we were | | | | depleted, I simply tell them to "Stand on your head and |
| fortunate, we had some type of talent in which we | | | | laugh. |