I’ve been thinking a lot lately about “the good ol’ days.”

I realize that ages me and makes me sound old, but I’m serious. I just keep thinking about the world I grew up in and the childhood I had. I played outside till my knees were scraped and black from all the dirt and grime. We played pretend till we couldn’t pretend anymore. We had no clue what an iPad was, what a cell phone was (except for those GIANT box CAR phones… that actually stayed in the car…), and there was no HDTV.

Sure, we had our own challenges, but life was just a whole lot less… complicated… than it is now. And my childhood was even more complicated than my PARENT’S generation’s childhood… if that makes sense.

I think about the things that I look back on fondly as a child… playing outside, enjoying time with family, reading through all my American Girl doll books, curling up on the couch watching T.G.I.F. (Sister, Sister! Family Matters! Full House! COME ON!!), Saturday morning cartoons… It was awesome. I miss that stuff so much.

And I think about today… there’s no T.G.I.F., Saturday morning cartoons, people are wary of letting their kids play outside… there’s just so much more to worry about these days. I can’t even let commercials play on TV or before YouTube videos without covering Lilly’s eyes! Who’s with me?!

I’m not an alarmist by any means, but we just have to realize that life is different for our kids. It’s different. Not bad, but different.

It’s just gotten to the point that I’m very aware of everything around me and everything that Lilly is exposed to and it’s made me grateful for the simple, wonderful childhood that I have. And I can only pray and hope that we can give Lilly that same sense of security and freedom as she grows up.

Am I alone here? What do you guys think? Do I just sound like an old curmudgeon? 🙂