Our Parents Had It Sooooooo Easy

Posted under NOTEBOOK

You know that old “back in my day” line, where older folks grumble about how hard they had it; carrying half a library, barefoot for ten miles to school, uphill both ways, that sort of thing? Well, you don’t hear too much from them like that about how they had it as parents. Earlier generations had it friggin’ easy.

This viral post from the brilliant author and blogger, Bunmi Laditan, rantingly illuminates how much more difficult parents have it today than the ’70s or ’80s.

“For 45 minutes I’ve been comparing children’s vitamins, reading online reviews, and, inflammatory blog posts backed by no science that I both fear and respect…

“…Do you know what vitamins I had growing up? NONE. DAYLIGHT WAS MY VITAMIN.”

Being a modern parent is terrible. I'd give my left kneecap to have parented in the 70s or 80s when all you had to do to…

Posted by Bunmi Laditan on Sunday, September 25, 2016

(Click the See More button to read it all)

Personally, when I was a kid, I rode my bike without a helmet, miles from home in a so-so neighborhood. Today, my neighbors give me dirty looks if they see my helmeted son ride up our upscale block a few houses.

When I was a kid, we had just whole milk, whatever it was. Today, my wife and I spend $14/galloon on raw milk that hopefully comes from mermaids and has been thrice blessed by Buddhist monks.

All this isn’t to say we should necessarily revert back to that carefree, occasionally careless, style of parenting, but let this at least stand as a profound acknowledgment of how absolutely effing harder parenting is these days.

““