When we think about all the stresses of modern parenting today, sometimes the good ol' days of parenting in the 80s and 90s seems way better than ever. Like, did our parents even wonder about how much screen time we had or if we could play outside by ourselves?
As we wax nostalgic for the "olden days", let's take a look at just some things our moms probably let us know that most of us wouldn't even consider letting our own kids do today…
Let you ride in a car without a seatbelt
Put a Coke in your lunchbox
I don't know about you, but I miss the days when it was acceptable to put a soda in your kid's lunchbox. It sure was cheaper and easier to find than organic kombucha in a kid-safe, bpa-free pouch.
Send you to the store for bread
Back when kids were allowed to go outside by themselves, moms used to send their children to the store. On their own. Without a cellphone. Without a GPS tracker. Now, another parent will report you to the authorities if they see little Timmy wandering the muffin aisle alone.
Tell you to walk to your friend’s house
I used to walk around 20 minutes to my friend's house, alone. Not sure what my mom was thinking, but I recall it was usually preceded by her yelling, "Out!" Now, shenanigans like that would guarantee a visit to parents from child services and worse—a severe lashing on Facebook.
Meet your date when they picked you up
Back in ancient times, dates (or "suitors" as ancient people called them) would actually get out of their cars, walk to the door and address their date's mom as "ma'am" or "Mrs. Somethingsomething." Now, since dates just honk their horns and sit on their asses in the car, moms have to quickly look up their license plates numbers to make sure they're not wanted in five states.
Send you to the neighbors to borrow a cup of sugar
There was a time when we all knew our neighbors, liked them even! Moms felt fine sending you next door to borrow whatever she needed to finish her baking. Now we don't trust anyone, and what if you came back with a cup full of cocaine instead of sugar? I cry thinking about how close I came to dying after eating my mom's pound cake.
Talk to your neighbors
Forget borrowing anything—who even talks to their neighbors anymore? I remember my mom spending hours talking to our neighbors over the backyard fence. She even invited them over for heaven's sake! Although in hindsight maybe they were finalizing their cocaine deals.
