Is it just me?

[curly_kate]

It's all about balance, grasshopper! I work with kids, and they really run the gamut from ones who are given the new iphone, and another new one once they break/lose the old one, to ones who have to earn money to buy their own phone and minutes. I think there's a tremendous value to having to buy a replacement phone if you lose the original, or paying for your own minutes. The kids who do that inevitably take much better care of what they have, which is a GREAT lesson in how to be a conscious consumer. As for the other gadgets, I think everything in moderation is a good rule of thumb. One thing that I think families miss out on is a lot of good family chats in the car because the kids are watching dvds, playing on their ipads, etc. We used to have great times on car trips playing games (like the license plate game), and listening to my dad tell stories. By the time I was 12, I had bought a walkman and could listen to tapes if I wanted to, but I always turned them off when Dad was telling a story.

 

[so lucky]

I realized just how much electronic activities influence kids when I heard my 3 year old grand-daughter, while rough-housing with her siblings, yell "Pause the game!"

 

[Carol Dee]

Mama Chicken, Good For You ! My boys are now 28 and 31. They only had one game system back in the day and where never allowed to sit inside and play it when the weather permitted outdoor activities or there where chores/homework to be done. We bought the 1st cell phone when #1 son went off to college. I was still using mine from the same purchase until it gave up the ghost a few weeks ago. Each got a real beater of a car to get to and from sports practice and jobs, when they wanted better they bought it. Yes they worked from an early age. No allowances. Both are very good with their money. (Wish I could say the same for DIL- recently she ran over her phone & son said she would have to do without until there was extra in the budget, her Mom bought her a new one that night!) If they wanted something frivolous they had to buy it themselves. Amazing what they could do with out. My youngest still watch little television.

 

[Chick1043]

I know what you mean!! I am a teen and really hate when little kids have that stuff because they try and act older than they actually are. It bugs me.

 

[897tgigvib]

My Uncle Matt, who was born in "double ot", 1900, was about 20 years old when the first phone lines came to the ranch in southwest Montana. They got "them fancy telephones in town" a few years earlier.

Uncle Matt was never much for talking on the phone. I mostly remember hearing him say things like, "can ya hear me from all the way over there?" or, "Here, talk to your aunt Val."

I guess I take after Uncle Matt some. I feel the same way about Cell Phones. Lol!!!

 

[so lucky]

My Uncle Matt, who was born in "double ot", 1900, was about 20 years old when the first phone lines came to the ranch in southwest Montana. They got "them fancy telephones in town" a few years earlier.

Uncle Matt was never much for talking on the phone. I mostly remember hearing him say things like, "can ya hear me from all the way over there?" or, "Here, talk to your aunt Val."

I guess I take after Uncle Matt some. I feel the same way about Cell Phones. Lol!!!

Do you remember "party lines"? My grandpa's favorite hobby was listening in on other peoples' conversations. He even wrote down recipes that he heard the ladies giving each other. A person could sure keep up on the gossip that way. Better than facebook!

 

[897tgigvib]

When I was a kid, our phone number began; Swiss4-****, and yes, we had a party line, until sometime while Kennedy was President. Yes, it was a little old lady we called Mrs. Beasley. I don't think any of us listened in...well, maybe my oldest sister did...