Giving kids a 90’s childhood

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:90s had tv and video games, sports and all that.

+1. It wasn’t as strict as today but kids were still busy with school activities and sports and not just roaming the streets with their bikes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You cannot go back in time.

No, you can't, but you can do some things to create a childhood similar to this.

Not really. Unless you have a community that values “free-range” parenting, this is pretty impossible. Your kid will be the only one walking to and from school, with unscheduled after-school time, riding their bike around alone.

Yep, this is our experience. Sad for my kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know how old your kids are, but this is what we did. Our kids are 2 years apart in age, so if there weren't other kids around, they played together:

PreK:
- Almost no screen time (maybe a movie a month)
- Lots of art supplies, imaginative toys like play kitchens, toy animals/dinosaurs, dollhouse
- Max one structured activity per kid per week

Elementary:
- Limited screen time (a movie once or twice a month, no more than 30 minutes of iPad on weekends)
- Max one structured activity per kid per week

Middle school:
- Covid increased screen time to multiple times a week, with family, and eliminated many structured activities
- Phones in 6th grade, no social media

High school:
- Free reign on screen time and school-based activities
- One social media platform no earlier than second semester of 9th grade

I talked to the younger one, now a HS junior, towards the end of the summer. She said that sometimes as a kid she missed not knowing the shows the other kids were talking about, but now she thinks that compared to her friends this made her more creative, gave her a longer attention span and the ability to amuse herself, and increased her media literacy.

FWIW, I grew up in the 80s and my parents limited our TV and we were weird even then.

I love these suggestions. Thank you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:90s had tv and video games, sports and all that.

+1. It wasn’t as strict as today but kids were still busy with school activities and sports and not just roaming the streets with their bikes

Even that, kids weren't that busy, not aa busy as they are today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Getting hit by a car in front of the school, sustaining a brain bleed, and the Headmaster telling my parents it might have been my fault anyway?

No thanks, OP.

When my kids were in elementary, they spent a lot of time running outside with the neighbor kids. We all kept an eye on them.
In middle school, that changed because they all made their own friends at their respective schools, spent more time on screens, and academics and extra-curriculars got more serious. But I don't bedgrudge that. Screentime can be very educational. Don't hate the device, monitor content instead.

Now one is in college and the other is in high school. They've had a pretty good life so far. I do not miss any decade of the 20th century when it comes to raising children.

Id still encourage middle school kids to go out and play and not overschedule them. Sure, they are making other friends, but surely they still have friends that live in their neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

You can’t OP. It just isn’t the same and even if your kids aren’t on screens, everyone else’s are. Or they go over someone house where they sit on screens.

While not a 90s childhood- I think 7 week sleepaway camps are excellent for giving kids back some of the experiences they’ve lost with the infiltration of screens. My kids LOVE going. No screens, no electricity in cabins, and tons of kids always around. There is plenty of free time and down time for cards, long talks, board games, field games, and such. Sleepaway camp is largely the same as it was 100 yrs ago

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can’t OP. It just isn’t the same and even if your kids aren’t on screens, everyone else’s are. Or they go over someone house where they sit on screens.

While not a 90s childhood- I think 7 week sleepaway camps are excellent for giving kids back some of the experiences they’ve lost with the infiltration of screens. My kids LOVE going. No screens, no electricity in cabins, and tons of kids always around. There is plenty of free time and down time for cards, long talks, board games, field games, and such. Sleepaway camp is largely the same as it was 100 yrs ago

The problem with that is your spending an arm and a leg to give them something that shouldn't cost anything. It's so weird to me that so many parents, not you op, complain about screen time, complain that kids aren't going outside, are busy all the time, yet don't really do anything about it. I commend you op for trying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:90s had tv and video games, sports and all that.

+1. It wasn’t as strict as today but kids were still busy with school activities and sports and not just roaming the streets with their bikes

Yes, it was. We weren't free romaning the neighborhood and had clear expectations and consequences. We had school, activities, volunteering, work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:90s had tv and video games, sports and all that.

+1. It wasn’t as strict as today but kids were still busy with school activities and sports and not just roaming the streets with their bikes

Yes, it was. We weren't free romaning the neighborhood and had clear expectations and consequences. We had school, activities, volunteering, work.

Sure we had expectations and consequences, but we were still allowed to roam, we weren't made to be as busy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:90s had tv and video games, sports and all that.

+1. It wasn’t as strict as today but kids were still busy with school activities and sports and not just roaming the streets with their bikes

Yes, it was. We weren't free romaning the neighborhood and had clear expectations and consequences. We had school, activities, volunteering, work.

You might not have been, but lots of us were. I knew very few kids who had activities, and those that did were like once a week rec soccer. We were absolutely free roaming the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:90s had tv and video games, sports and all that.

+1. It wasn’t as strict as today but kids were still busy with school activities and sports and not just roaming the streets with their bikes

I started high school in 1991. I don’t know anyone in middle school who did sports. We were city kids. We roamed around and watched endless MTV. Made mixed cassette tapes, called the radio station for concert tickets, took the subway everywhere. We had all sorts of adventures. Our parents worked. It was a good time. I don’t think you can possibility replicate that era.

My own kids are actually having good childhooods. I live elsewhere now, and I think they’re living the dream. The only downside is screens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:90s had tv and video games, sports and all that.

+1. It wasn’t as strict as today but kids were still busy with school activities and sports and not just roaming the streets with their bikes

I started high school in 1991. I don’t know anyone in middle school who did sports. We were city kids. We roamed around and watched endless MTV. Made mixed cassette tapes, called the radio station for concert tickets, took the subway everywhere. We had all sorts of adventures. Our parents worked. It was a good time. I don’t think you can possibility replicate that era.

My own kids are actually having good childhooods. I live elsewhere now, and I think they’re living the dream. The only downside is screens.

How are your kids’ childhood like? Are they roaming their neighborhood with other kids and going on adventures too?

[Anonymous]

Driving around in a Toyota Previa minivan listening to Fine Young Cannibals on a CD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:90s had tv and video games, sports and all that.

+1. It wasn’t as strict as today but kids were still busy with school activities and sports and not just roaming the streets with their bikes

I started high school in 1991. I don’t know anyone in middle school who did sports. We were city kids. We roamed around and watched endless MTV. Made mixed cassette tapes, called the radio station for concert tickets, took the subway everywhere. We had all sorts of adventures. Our parents worked. It was a good time. I don’t think you can possibility replicate that era.

My own kids are actually having good childhooods. I live elsewhere now, and I think they’re living the dream. The only downside is screens.

We were similar, except didnt grow up in the city. But, still plenty of free time, roaming and adventures. So much fun!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Running around when my parents have no clue where I was, finding beer at the creek, being hit on by creepy men as I rode my bike, molested by my uncle while no adults paid attention to us. No thanks.

+1