A friend and I spent a while reminiscing over the 'good old days' the rose tinted spectacles firmly in place. We then got to thinking about those areas of life that are better than in 'the good old days' .... not that easy.... came up with these as our top three (in no particular order)
These days ................are better than those days because
Child/baby seats in cars
No / very little dog mess all over the pavements
Dads and granddads pushing prams and push-chairs
.......... any other suggestions
Beth x
25 Replies
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Things are better today because we now have ...
washing machines (not handwash and a mangle)
dishwashers (I hate washing dishes, but don't mind drying)
hoovers (no more carpet beaters)
internet (so much information at your fingertips) ...
Today is good as I don't have to heat an iron on an open fire as my mum did and I can use the computer to stay in contact with friends all over the world.
Thinking hard,
Advancement in medical treatments
Better communication world wide.
Photography improvements
Global travelling
Cuisine
Reflecting that there were lots of good things about years ago, too.
• in reply to
Hi Carrie Toci and Annie
We had thought of most of these too, its very hard to think of things that are not 'gadgets' isn't it? It sometimes seems that all the changes that are 'good' are 'things', mostly electronic..... they give us more time and less effort of course .... so that we can go on the internet .... which is maybe not so good for some ... especially the young.
My friend and I went round and round, circular arguments!
My friend and I also included no 11+ for kids so fewer thrown onto the educational scrap heap at start of secondary school.... tho we both felt that may not be as simple as it seems.
Hope you all finding something to keep you cheerful, all the best
Bethxxx
I must admit I was one of those who passed the 11+ and I think streaming is a good thing. Having all abilities in a class isn't fair to any of the children. The more academic ones are held back and get bored, the more practically minded ones don't get the extra attention they need and get bored... And why does everything have to be by your age and not your abilities?
• in reply to
Hi Carrie .... interesting points
I also think streaming is a good thing and happens today in comps. My son was in tops set maths and science , middle set English etc at our local comp
We meant that in those days opportunities were different, depending on a single test at a young age.
I failed my 11+ (lived in Surry at the time) so went to sec mod .... would have done CSEs ... no chance for A levels or Uni)
As it happened we moved to Somerset when I was 13 when suddenly my 11+ results were good enough to get into the girls grammar, so did O levels and so on...It opened up a whole area that being in the sec mod would have denied me....
I think it is wrong to think that a test at age 11 determines the potential of a child
as you say abilities are what matter and a child's abilities can change as they develop
Here in Bucks there is still the 11+ or 12 + I think it is. So streaming in parts of the UK and not others. But, I have always felt (Having failed my 11+ in the year 'dot') that life is all about streaming and exams of one sort or the other, we cannot avoid them.
Well if you want me to answer that question, make yourself a cup of tea, sit down for a couple of hours. Now I'll begin ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
One more i thought of was how did I manage without my inhalers,, in the fifties I was always poorly with asthma and pneumonia (as KOTC said smoke free zones, were very welcomeI well remember trying to get to school in pea soupers.) In those days I was given an injection in the thigh that put me to sleep for days, It gave me terrible nightmares,, or the tiny ephedrine tablets.
Some of us would be gone and buried without the new medical advances .... sometimes its too easy to moan, and forget how hard things were
I was in hospital when I was 4, for a few months , 2 or 3 I think, I can remember bits of it, the main one being the 30min visiting time and how I cried when my mum left
Thank goodness for double glazing just had a football hit my window and the window didn't break !!! at least the children said they were sorry xx
Running water,& electricity,would be on the top of my list! Can do so much with both.
Parenting being more equally shared,financially on equal footings with partners,freedom of having choices today,over religion,politics,education etc.
Love Wendells xxx
• in reply to
Hi Wendells
I would so agree wrt the shared parenting .. I remember being kept up, in dressing gowns to say good night to daddy during the week and then on Sundays there was a two hour spot when dad would play with us ... other than that he took no part in my upbringing .. apart of course from the ... just you wait until your father gets home... etc etc
I think most dads these days are a totally different thing and a very very much better one .....hands on and showing their love for their kids
Beth
When you had a baby you were in hospital for days ... Now you're in and out within 24 hours.
Central heating / Gas fires (No more dithering whilst trying to light the fire with rolled up newspaper and trying to draw the flames with the shovel covered with a sheet of newspaper.)
Teabags, no more clogged up sink.
Dryers. No more wet clothes on the fireguard taking all the heat.
Deep fat fryers. No more chip pans full of boiling lard balancing on the cooker.
Mobility scooters, freedom for the less mobile.
Takeaway/delivered food, a day off for the cook of the house.
Prescription delivery for the housebound.
My favorite has to be central heating, couldn't cope without it.
How about smogs? they were awful particularly for chesty people. But also the freedom we enjoyed as children was so much greater in the 'old days' - out all day in the hols with a bottle of water and coup[e of jam sarnies. must have been bliss for our Mums! My computer cannot spell smogs or sarnies! Hey ho, all for technology.
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