The Joys of Modern!

Isn't it amazing how ingrained technology is in our lives?  It's not just computers and the internet, but our mobile phones as well.  I commented to the Caveman just a couple of weeks ago that it's almost hard to remember back to when we couldn't just check our in-phone calendar for appointments or to send a quick text to each other with a reminder to pick up a bottle of milk on the way home.

This is a technique he, in particular, is very fond of.  He often adds to my grocery list, even while I'm standing in the supermarket - usually with a text message along the lines of, "also: tomato sauce, dog food, paper towels", or whatever the items might be at the time.

A hundred years ago (or maybe it just feels like it!), before we were married, we had no way of getting these all-important messages to each other. If I was shopping and missed a couple of items, it was just too bad. If he was about to leave work and we needed milk, I couldn't tell him until he had arrived home. I love the fact that we can get messages to each other so quickly and easily now. It saves on petrol (not to mention the grumpy mood that might ensue when somebody realises they have to drive back out for one item!).

I often wonder about the "good old days" ... when people had to make their own bread, do all their laundry by hand, scrub the floors on their hands and knees and wipe their backsides with newspaper. A lot of the nostalgia is usually from the generation who were children then, not the ones who actually had to do the endless cooking and back-breaking chores (speak to one of them - trust me, they love their automatic washing machines and vacuum cleaners!).

Now, I personally don't mind making bread by hand, but I'd get pretty sick of it if it was a daily chore instead of an occasional fun activity.  My washing machine is easily my favourite household appliance, closely followed by the fridge.  As for toilet paper, well, I'm sure no one regrets that little invention!

When I was a teenager we lived for a while in a house where we had a proper "outhouse" - since there was no indoor toilet - as well as an ancient copper tub to have a dip in (that was just for fun, there was actually a bath in the house), an old-fashioned combustion stove to cook on ... and we even had a wringer in the laundry, which we had to use for the washing.  It was an unusual thing for someone of my generation to experience, and was great fun at times, pretending to live in the "olden days", but I'm not sure it was so enjoyable for Mum!

It's nice to be nostalgic about times gone by, but there are plenty of conveniences available now that none of us would be too keen to give up. Indoor toilets, for one thing, are great (it was no fun walking to that outhouse on cold, rainy nights!). I love the fact that, on the weekends, I can put a load in the washing machine, do the floors and then spend time with my family - I'm not tied up with never-ending chores like my own grandmother was when she was raising her seven children.

Getting back to technology, very few of us would be happy to go back to the days before the internet  - having information at my fingertips is still an amazing thing to me. As for mobile phones, I have one, the Caveman has one and our teenager has one. It means he can contact either of us if he needs to be picked up in a different spot after school, or at a different time.  There are people who moan about technology taking over our kids' lives and how "we managed fine without mobiles when we were kids, why can't they?". Of course, the same people comment that it can be dangerous for our kids to walk anywhere alone anymore. As with anything, it's a matter of weighing up the options and deciding what is best for you and your own child. It's all about balance.

As long as we still encourage them to be kids - enjoy their outside activities regularly and have time away from technology where possible (and maybe I'm just blessed, but I don't know many families who don't already do all that) - then this generation will turn out fine.

No doubt, when they are older, they will be reminiscing about their own "good old days"!