Birthday Party for One Of the Grandkids

One of my grandaughters had a birthday last week and the family got together for a party. My other grandaughter will have one this Sunday. I just marvel at the toys that are available for kids now. It obviously has to do with my generation growing up after WWII and getting to live in prospertify and peace. We were showered in toys and games and free time like no generation before us ever was and we used that magic to create even more toys for the next generation.

I'm sure my parents had some toys when they were growing up, but it's a fact that most of them spent the marjority of their time working rather than in play. There were no organized ball teams, the scouts were for rich kids and there was little money available to purchase toys for the kids. People grew their own livestock and everyone had a garden and the kids went to work when they were in their early teens, if not sooner. And, it was real work like cotton mills, cotton picking, canning factories or other types of hard, manual labor.

My mom tells of growing up on a working farm and the challenges it presented. The kids toted water from across the street until they were able to put in their own well. The older son had to get up first and build a fire in the fireplace and kitchen stove. Of course, heating with wood meant that the boys had to cut firewood every year with a cross cut saw, split it and stack it. The had livestock that had to be fed before they went to school. In the summer there was a garden to be worked. I'll never forget one time complaining about raking the leaves to hear me uncle laugh and say they considered that fun when they were growing up. It was a hard life for years until the county put in gas to the area and my grandad was able to make improvements to the house like a shower and central heat.

So, after the stress of the war, those who made it through and found good, solid jobs had the money to spend some on their kids. They also had more time on their hands because they worked 8 hour days in most cases and did not have to work a farm on their off time in order to make a living. Their kids were also able to enjoy the benefits of a prosperous economy by receiving toys to play with. They did not have to help their parents as much by working the gardens and feeding livestock, etc..

Now our kids are not only enjoying the fruits of a prosperous era, but the added benefits of technology. They hold in their little hands a computer with more processing power than the one used to put a man on the moon. Their toys stretch the limits of technology and imagination and give them little opportunity to be bored.

My grandaughter is 5 years old and has a hand-held computer with numerous games; somewhere over 15 baby dolls or characters; a couple of art sets; a complete makeup set; doll strollers, high chairs and beds; and more clothes than a child in a developing country will see in a lifetime.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, I'm just making an observation. We had fewer toys as kids and still had a great time. I just hope they don't take it for granted and think it's their right in life to have stuff. I hope we can somehow show them that its a privilege and a blessing and not a right.