Blog Swap

Thanks to Keep it Classy Jen and her inspiring blog swap idea, PBD is being invaded this week by a very cool mom known on her blog, Mommatudes, as Knitpurlgirl.

Please enjoy her take on the easy life here, and be sure to go over to her blog to see what I have to say about smear campaigns started by your kids.

Want in on all this blog swapping fun? 'Course you do! Pop on over to The Classy Closet and hang out a bit. It's a very fashionable place and you might find someone cool to hang out with like me, or Knitpurlgirl:)!

Take it away Knitpurlgirl...

Kids These Days

Whilst running around the house like a mad-woman, arms full of toys and dirty socks and mouth on auto-pilot, “Kids, clean up this mess… NOW,” a few thoughts came to me. Our kids have it SO easy. Everything is so different for them than it was when we were kids. From their TV shows to their kiddie songs to their playtime – it’s all easier. Let me explore for you their world and ours – shall 1?

THEN: Our moms sang us a lullaby – “Rock a-bye baby on a treetop. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall….”
NOW: The kids hear happy songs about trees from their favorite TV shows: “Wubbzy lives in a tree, he likes to play, play, play…”

THEN: Barring tornadic activity – my mom’s standard line was: “Go outside and play.” It was up to us to wander about the neighborhood and find other displaced children to play something with on a daily basis.
NOW: My kids enjoy scheduled ‘enrichment’ activities and contrived playgroups.

THEN: We could watch The Muppet Show once a week and some Saturday morning cartoons. If we were REALLY lucky, we might get to watch after-school cartoons (if we had all of our chores done). But this had a limit. Either the TV programming would interfere or our parents would start with, “Go outside and play.” [Insert kid eye-rolling here.] And of course – we didn’t have our own TV. And WE were the remote control.
NOW: Kids have entire channels loaded with bilingual TV shows devoted to their viewing pleasure 24/7 and we call it “educational children’s programming.” Our kids have their own entertainment centers in their bedrooms: TV, DVD player, Cable (with parental lock), game console, and computer because the learning should never end.

THEN: Our playground looked like something out of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. There was “good ol’ American Steel” (as my grandpa put it) on our playground. -Wonderful steel structures that sat upon blacktop or concrete in the hot, hot sun. From the jungle gym to the slide – it was like torture zone for kids. Sliding down the hot, metal slide at 1:00 in the afternoon was not for the weak.
NOW:The playgrounds are rounded. Some are cushy. Some are indoors. Outdoor playgrounds sit upon recycled rubber or mulch. There are free-standing First-Aid kits and water fountains. It’s like a kiddie-paradise.

THEN: Mom would yell or rant and we’d eventually do what she was asking. –Sometimes rolling our eyes or sighing just loudly enough for her to hear. Only to be told that she’ll “Knock those eyes right out of your head” if she sees you roll them again.
NOW: We exhaustively explain to our children the concept of responsibility. We listen to their whines and endure the eye rolls as self-expression. We calmly discuss their behaviors and ask how they feel about what we’ve discussed.

All in all, I think kids have it easier. Things are definitely different. But one thing never changes: Moms are always running around, hair sticking out in a hundred directions, arms loaded with toys and dirty socks, and spouting the mantra of moms everywhere: “Kids clean up this mess!”

Karrie aka KnitPurlGurl authors a blog about her daily life as a mommy and her mommy attitude – called Mommatudes. She is also the author of a knitting and crafting blog, KnitPurlGurl.