Let’s take one more week break from our series on mindfulness. This week, I’ve compiled a list that I have been pondering. Life is very different for my daughter than what my childhood looked like twenty or so years ago. Here are eight ways that her childhood differs from mine:
Technology
- Lera finds it completely normal to be in front of my phone camera throughout the day. My family communicates through Snapchat and we send numerous pictures and videos all day long.
When I was a child, photos were something you took with your camera, printed out at the store, and then sent in the mail.
- Lera knows she can talk to Amazon’s Alexa and the radio will play whatever song she wishes.
When I was her age, we listened to music with cassette tapes.
Possessions
- I might have a book problem and am thrilled Dolly Parton Imagination Library sends each of my kids a new book each month (for free!). We love to read and collect books and Lera thinks that owning your own children’s library is normal. To add to the book collection, we rotate about 15 books from the library each week.
I was a book lover as a child too, but my collection was much smaller.
- We shop for many items online: groceries, clothes, books, tools, and diapers. Lera finds the UPS man in front of our house several times a week. At Christmas time, he is at our front door daily.
When I was a girl, the UPS man rarely came. He visited our home like some people visit church- on Easter, Christmas, and once or twice just because.
Location
- Kansas is all Lera knows as home- a land of big skies and windy weather.
For the first five years of my life I lived in the Philippines with my missionary parents. We lived in a massive city and I thought smog and hot weather were normal. Then we moved to Michigan where you have the very pronounced four seasons, but winters are long and snowy.
- When Lera was born, we stopped attending a church and began fellowship with a home church.
I was a PK (pastor’s kid) and I was in church every Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and on Wednesday nights too.
Parenting
- Joel speaks to Lera using Spanish everytime he talks to her. She understands two languages, though she speaks primarily English.
My parents spoke English in the home. Lera is going to have a much easier time learning foreign languages.
- Lera and I have very different personalities. So, my mother’s role in parenting me looked different than the way I am parenting Lera. Lera can appeal a command like a professional, and soon I am convinced of her side of the issue. She has a strong personality and is a tough little princess. When I was a child, I was more compliant and people pleasing.
To reflect on similarities and differences in my daughter’s upbringing versus my own reveals I need to take the wisdom from my parents but make it useful to the new age we live in. It is a joy to remember my childhood and ponder my girl’s growing up years.
How about you? How is your child’s upbringing different from your own (or if you don’t have children, how do you see other’s raising kids uniquely in the time we are in?). I would love to have you share what you observe!
-Kassie Joy
