My kids and I constantly jam out to music at home and in the car, but traditional radio is a relic of the past for us. Instead, we groove to my carefully curated playlists or our go-to Pandora station. If they request a specific song—be it Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” or the catchy tune from The Muppets—YouTube is always just a click away.
Recently, while driving, Pandora played a song my 7-year-old adores. When it ended, he immediately asked, “Can we hear that again?”
“I can’t play it again,” I replied.
This concept baffled him. I tried to explain how the station curates its playlist, and that once a song is gone, we just have to wait for it to pop up again.
“Wait for it?” he echoed, clearly puzzled. And I can’t blame him. In their world, everything tech-related is tailored to their whims and delivered on-demand. They can skip songs they don’t like with a simple thumbs down, binge-watch cartoons on Netflix without commercials, and capture every moment with a digital camera. They’ve never lived in an era where technology wasn’t at their fingertips, and while that’s impressive, it’s also a bit sad.
There’s much to appreciate about today’s tech advancements, but I wouldn’t trade my own childhood—filled with tangled phone cords, cassette tapes, and issues of Teen Beat—for anything. We experienced life in a way that taught us lessons that our kids will have to learn differently. Here are a few of those lessons.
We Learned to Cherish the Moment.
Do you remember the thrill of hearing your favorite song come on the radio? Time seemed to freeze for those three glorious minutes. It didn’t matter if you were parked in the driveway or idling in the school lot; it felt fateful. You couldn’t just pull out your phone and replay it. You had to wait for your next trip to the record store to grab that cassette single.
Today, we savor less. The urgency to soak in a moment has diminished because we can recreate it at will. With iTunes and Netflix, everything is accessible whenever we want. Back in the ’80s, if I missed a show, I’d only record it on the VCR if I absolutely had to. Those animated holiday specials? They were a once-a-year treat, not something you could pull off the shelf at any time. We’ve grown entitled to instant gratification.
Waiting Taught Us Patience.
My sister and I would spend hours glued to the radio, listening to Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 countdown, fingers ready over the “record” and “play” buttons on our boombox. Obsessed with a song? It was a true labor of love.
Today, a delay of a few seconds during a video load sends my kids into a frenzy. That impatience is creeping into our adult lives too; cliffhangers in binge-worthy shows lose their impact when we can jump right into the next episode. Waiting used to be part of the experience, and there was something gratifying about that.
We Could Focus on One Thing at a Time.
In the “good old days,” phone conversations required us to stand still—at least as far as the phone cord allowed. Multitasking meant twirling the curly cord while chatting about the latest gossip.
Now, we easily juggle watching TV while scrolling through social media or texting friends. My kids may not be there yet, but they’re definitely absorbing this tech-driven multitasking from us.
Celebrities Were an Enigma, and That Was Fine.
We devoured every issue of Teen Beat, but outside of that, we knew little about celebrities. They didn’t have Instagram or Twitter accounts, and we weren’t bombarded with updates from tabloids. This mystery allowed me to have innocent crushes without becoming overly obsessed.
When my best friend and I sent a fan letter to the cast of a show, we waited weeks for a response. The disappointment of receiving an unsigned postcard instead of a heartfelt reply was hard, but life went on without a social media rant. We learned there were bigger things in life than whether a celebrity acknowledged our existence.
We Knew We Weren’t the Center of the Universe.
Voices like Casey Kasem’s captivated us with stories that didn’t revolve around us. We were just listeners, absorbing narratives about others. Nowadays, my kids have Siri, a voice that listens and responds to them. They adore her, but the difference is clear: She serves them, while we simply enjoyed being part of a larger world.
Though they have the luxury of instant information and entertainment, I feel a sense of nostalgia for the lessons learned during a simpler time. My kids might be fortunate to have technology, but I cherish the lessons learned in a world where we had to wait, focus, and appreciate the little things. For more insights on parenting and life lessons, you can check out this post on our other blog.
In conclusion, while technology offers conveniences we couldn’t imagine in the past, it’s also reshaped important life lessons that today’s children may have to seek out in different ways, like visiting Cryobaby for family planning or reading articles from News Medical for more information on pregnancy.