Someone said something yesterday that made me think. (Yeah, yeah, I know. "Wow, something made you think?" Okay, shut up). We were talking about how many toys kids have nowadays. It's an old discussion, that's been used generation after generation.
"Back in my day, we didn't have (whatever new technology). We made due with dirt."
And, of course, while I looked at the toy boxes in my kids' room, I thought to myself, as my parents did when I was young, "Wow, I never had this many toys." But...
Here's the thing. We always look at kids and go, "In my day." But let's look at current adult technology.
I live in an older house. The main floor is only 900 square feet. I've heard many people, while looking for a house, say "there is no way we could fit into a 2000 square foot house". Now the average house has become 3000 square feet. So why have our houses tripled in size? Do we have more kids? No, less actually, on average. So what is it?
More stuff. And not just more toys. Let's start a list...
Television. In the 1920's, there was one radio, it was big and it sat in the living room. In the 1950's, there was one TV, it was big and it sat in the living room. During the 1970's and 1980's, our culture began to add TVs. Usually there was one big one in the living room, while two small ones were added, normally to a master bedroom and to a family room. Then came today. The TV in the living room is often no longer big. It is enormous. And the multiple (and I do mean multiple) TVs are no smaller than 13 inches each. Some people even a have a room devoted to one giant TV.
Kitchen. Okay, I'm about to move into a sacred area, gadget speaking. Our grandparents could say, "In my day, I had to stir my own ingredients." Today, we have a blender, and a mixer, and maybe even a handheld mixer. We have to have machines stir our food. No wonder Americans are getting fat. We have a "coffee maker", a machine devoted to one job, making coffee. We can't be bothered with putting a perculator onto a stove and turning the stove on. We have one machine that sits there, taking up more space then a perculator, and makes coffee. Nothing else.
In the old days, there were ice boxes, they were small and kept cold by putting a large block of ice in it. In the 50s, we added an electric version, twice as big. Now, we have a giant fridge plus a large freezer in the basement. Our families are half the size they used to be, but we can store four times as much food. Looks like blenders aren't the only reason Americans are heavier.
We've added all kinds of new devices. Microwaves. Breadmachines. Espresso makers (to sit next to the coffee maker). Smoothie makers (a specialized blender to sit next to the blender). Food processor (another specialized blender to sit next to the smoothie maker and the blender). Electric carving knives (to take the back-break out of carving). Dishwashers (heaven forbid we should put hot water in a sink and wash a dish by hand).
And I haven't even begun to list the entertainment machines used by everyone, not just kids.
Next time you complain that kids today have too many toys, remember your blender and your microwave and your giant fridge. Remember you have a dryer, and don't need to hang clothes outside (which is good. As housed got bigger, yards got smaller so there isn't any space to hang clothes anyway). Remember your dishwasher, microwave and giant TV. Thank the heavens you don't have to stir your own cake mix or knead your own bread. (I know I do).
And be thankful, we don't have to know how to churn butter or smelt our own bronze. I like my new toys.
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