My How Times Have Changed ;)

Love the story, but I can't help but notice that at first you are a 14 year old in 1982, then you are 13 in 1940? Or is the story of someone else?

ETA: Never mind, I read it over again more carefully...thanks for sharing!

Thank you so much for posting this and I totally agree with you that we really underestimate our own kids and don't give them enough credit or responsibility. I was in 7th & 8th grade in the late 80s and used to baby sit a 1st grader every day after school and all day every weekday during the summer. I was 12 & 13 at the time and I was someone's full-time child care provider. I also watched my 3 younger siblings when I was 10 or 11 and had my first paycheck job at 14. I had a checking account, savings account, did my own banking and filed my own tax returns.

The number of things that my 13 year olds don't know how to do is shocking (and we're working on it LOL). But as limited as their scope of responsibility is - they can mow the lawn, weed whack, use the snow blower, vacuum the pool, vacuum the house, wash the kitchen floor, bake from a mix and prepare very basic meals - they are miles ahead of some of their friends, who can't do a blessed thing around the house.

We treat our kids like incompetent, irresponsible idiots and then wonder why they can't function on their own, won't leave the nest and are crippled by perpetual adolescence in their early 20s. Time to get some perspective and loosen the reins a bit!

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I grew up in a very rural community. I remember being 14 (very early '90's) and baby sitting several kids in the area. Dad would take my brothers to the tobacco patch, he would pick them up at lunch time, I was in charge of having lunch on the table for all the kids I watched, my brothers and my Dad everyday. I also did all the house work and usually cooked supper to while my parents worked. I think technically I was proably over the adult to child ration they have at daycares now days but Im not sure that really counts since I wasnt an adult either. We survived and I think those years helped contribute to me being a good mom now. I also remember riding in cars with out seat belts, riding my bike with out a helmet and drinking water out of our spring instead of out of water bottles. Heres to surving our child hood.

Here you go with this inflammatory "helicopter parenting". Why haven't you realized that the major difference about NOW vs THEN is technology and sexualization? You want to live pretend that 1982 is the same as 2011 when the fact is that it's NOT. If you are so confident in your way then why do you have such a need to put down parenting skills or lifestyles that aren't just like yours? For such a free spirit you constantly come off as superior, condescending and narrow-minded.

I'm 5 years older than my brother and I was always in charge of him during summer vacations (not for a week at a time, but still...). My mom owned a toy store which gave her flexible hours so she was mostly around during the school year - when we got home. But inevitably we'd be left to our own devices in the summer (starting when I was 13) I remember all the "crazy" stuff we did - like climb onto the roof of our house and hang out there just because it was cool. I also gave my brother a mohawk during one of those summers. Luckily my mom actually liked it. I enjoyed your story :)

lol, I remember my dad telling me of stories when they had to watch his sister. They tied her up to play cops and robbers on top of an ant hill. He also burned down an entire hill side haha (I still tease him), I think it's like now there's good and bad stories. But you are definitely right, people may not be as risky now, but hey sometimes the gamble doesn't work out in the parents favor :)

I def agree there were creeps back then too. My aunt refuses to come in my dad's house, we found out the guy who built it molested her when she was a child. Sickos in all generations. I think a lot of people are just more careful then they were, live and learn. People now are the products of the last generation, if they are "overprotective" about their kids, maybe it is caused from not having enough protection in their own childhood. I do different things with my daughter b/c I remember how crappy I felt when my mom/dad did it to me.

That's awesome Katie, Hell I'm 23 and we used to climb on the roof and just hang out. My best friend is 25 and he grew up the same way, left to his own devices, there were both types of parents back then and now. My dad seriously told me that I should think of what he would do and do the opposite, he said he regrets some of the things he did while raising us even though he thinks we turned out great. He said that it could've easily been a flip situation had fate not worked in his favor. I turned out great, but also learned I had a concussion at 1 b/c my mom let me play by myself with my 3 yr old brother and I fell off a table... docs at the ER had to keep shaking me awake so I didn't get brain damage or die.

Times certainly are different. I grew up in the 60's - 70's and I remember being gone whole days and nobody was looking for us. The entire neighborhood of children would go have a picnic, play ball, swim, whatever we thought of, and nothing happened to any of us. Our mothers were home because very few mothers worked then, but they were very busy keeping the house spotless. Sure we had a few issues but it was a large age difference and we always figured it out, by ourselves, imagine that! I think kids in general were much more adaptable back then because we had to be. It was either get along or no one would play with you. It has helped the entire group of kids to be responsible, upstanding adults. I don't think the world is more dangerous today, just that we have the big mouths (Nancy Grace, etc) over and over again making a big deal about every little thing that happens.

I love it!!! You were a very ingenious 13 old.

In the late 70s, when I was 13, I decided I wanted a summer job. So I walked a few blocks to a local pre-school and applied for a job as a summer counselor for 2 and 3 year olds. Got the job, then told my father. LOL I spent the summer packing my own lunch, and walking back and forth to work. Normally cooked dinner for my (older) sister and father also, along with normal household chores.

I walked or rode my bike everywhere I wanted to go - the convenience store, McDonald's the park.

Oh, there were creeps then also - we had one park on our street exposing himself to us kids as we walked by. We stopped at a neighbor's house and called the police.

I love your story!!!!

LOL Love your story !!