The Top Ten Things My Boys Will Never Understand

Well, Todd's surgery has come and gone. The holiday's have come and gone. The old year has gone and the new has come...and here I am....full of thoughts and ideas and struggling to find time to put them to print.

I am troubled by all that is going on with this world. And although it bothers me greatly, make NO mistake, it does NOT challenge my faith. My faith is what is getting me through this crazy world right now. So, as the topic of all the crazy things that go on comes up, I start thinking about how different things are now. I don't want this to be another story about how hard we had it (walking up hill both ways to school in the snow - blah blah blah), but just more as food for thought on how things have evolved. I just think of how radically different this world is going to be for my boys and I just can't help but question how long it will last. So here you go - some are good, some are bad....but here are the top ten things I feel my boys will never know/understand as I see it. (And these are in no particular order of importance - except for #10 being #10.)

#1 - CELL PHONES - Okay, now this is both good and bad as I see it. While you will no longer have to sit at home and wonder what everyone is up to (thank you facebook), sometimes it's good NOT to know what someone is up to :) While I can contact you at any time should an emergency arise, I can also contact you at anytime when there is no emergency. I can call, I can text, I can video, I can send pictures, I can even track your phone to see where you are....BUT I can also forget my manners, talk loud in public about subjects that shouldn't be talked about, stalk you, send inappropriate pics/texts/emails that might hurt myself/friends/family/job,and actually forget to LIVE in the moment instead of trying to capture it on video/picture.
My boys will never know what it is like not to have a phone by your side whenever you want/need it.

#2- PLAYING OUTSIDE - I grew up in a small town - probably like 800-1000 people. It was a safe place. I don't ever remember being scared of anything bad happening, except maybe for any trouble I caused :) I was given pretty much free reign most of the time. We rode our bikes to the swimming pool. Rode them around town. No adults with us. Went down to the river. Played outside 'til dark. I didn't stray too far from home, and usually I think my parents knew the general vicinity of my location. My best friend lived about 1 1/2 blocks away, and I would walk up to her house or ride my bike. We would walk to school together, which was probably about 5 blocks away. We would go play at an old salebarn. Lots of things to do in a small town :) Now, as we currently live in Manhattan, obviously it is a lot bigger town. However, when discussing with Todd (who grew up here ) - his Mom used to let him go walk by himself about 5 blocks to get home. So the two towns were pretty similar at that time. I wouldn't dream of letting my children walk anywhere by themselves. I had a hard time letting my niece and nephew stay at the neighborhood swimming pool without me this past summer, and they are 14 & 11. There are too many risks now. Heck, I panic when I am in a store and I can't see Nick. I scold him and tell him, " You can't hide in the clothes or walk around the corner without me, I have to be able to see you."
My boys will never know what it is like to play without direct supervision.

#3 - FAMILY - I grew up about 1 block away from each set of grandparents (who's house I frequented quite often). If I couldn't be found with my best friend, most times I was at Grandma and Grandpa's house. My family means the world to me. I hope that I can instill this in my boys. We need family. We need them all the time, both physically and emotionally. It just so happens that I am not too far geographically from my family. My parents live about 30 minutes away and we get together often. They are very active in their grandkids lives - both helping take care of them and coming to activities/events. My brother and his family are outside of Manhattan. Todd's Mom lives in town, and his Dad in Riley. We are able to get together whenever we can with them, sometimes not as often as we all wish, but busy busy lives are like that!!
My boys will never understand what it's like to just walk to Grandma's house.

#4 - ACTIVITIES - As I mentioned above...busy busy lives. This activity and that activity. You can get your kids involved in dance, piano, soccer, wrestling, t-ball, cheerleading, football, basketball, track...the list goes on and on....This sometimes leaves parents running from place to place for this practice and that practice, and this game and that game, and dividing and conquering to make sure kids get where they need to be. This is exhausting ( and I am NOT speaking from experience here - just from what I have heard). Not only are parents exhausted, but kids are too. They are stuck into a sport now so early, that sometimes by the time they get to high school, they hate it! They are spread so thin it reminds me of a saying...jack of all trades, master of none.
My boys will never know what it's like to just be a kid without all the worldly pressure to DO MORE.

#5 - SCHOOL - I don't have to put a lot of explanation into this in lieu of recent public tragedies. What parent in the last month (regardless of our skill), hasn't considered home schooling? Will my boys have to be searched? Will they have to go through metal detectors? Will they have an armed guard? Instead of fire alarms and tornado drills, my boys will have "lock down" drills for school shootings, abductions, and the likes.
My boys will never know what school used to be like when safety wasn't an issue.

#6 - CANCER - It's everywhere now. Cancers being discovered we didn't even know about. It's quickly approaching the number one killer (heart disease). I think with advances in modern medicine, this is actually a good thing. We have learned to treat and cure cases of cancer that previously would have died (and maybe we would not even have known the cause of death). However, this brings a certain paranoia with it. Too much of this causes cancer, too much of that causes cancer.....This fear of the unknown, "the crazy cancer cells developing," leaves a person quite confused about how they should live and what they should eat. And it leaves us hoping that sometime in our lifetime or the next, there will be a cure.
My boys will never understand a world where cancer didn't exist.

#7 - TECHNOLOGY - This is also everywhere you look now. Cell phones I hit on above. Now I am referring to the rest....DVD players, laptop computers, IPAD's, Iphones, IPods, kindle...the list goes on and on. Do you remember what it's like to write a research report? To go to the library, look in the catalog, use the dewey decimal system. Find a book, write by hand or use copier to get the information you need for your paper. Do you remember life before Google? When you had to wonder about information, or look it up in a book. Now it's at the tip of your finger. Look through a phone book lately? Yeah, me neither. Why should I? I can type it in my phone faster. Now again, I don't think this is all a bad thing. We are a generation of information. It's everywhere. We have access to some of the greatest things ever at the touch of a button. However, keep in mind, not everything you read is true, and one must always question the source.
My boys will never understand what it was like before computerized devices went mainstream.

#8 - AIRPORT - Another topic that likely doesn't need much explanation if you have flown in the past, and then flown anywhere lately. 9-11 changed everything in regards to flying. Body searches, luggage scanning, fluids 3 oz only, no shoes....
My boys will never understand what it was like when it was easy to travel by air.

#9 - HATE GROUPS - So the previous generation had their share of groups that we would consider hate groups, this is a known fact. However, in today's world, you can scan the paper, the news, the internet, and pull up thousands of hate groups. There is a particular group close to our area that is known for it's hatred of soldiers, "fags" and such. This group was present during my college years, but really is ALL over the news now with the current information highway making it easy for them to get press.
My boys will never understand a world that is filled with such hate.

#10 - RELIGION - This is the topic that breaks my heart. There is such division. People all over the world getting killed in the name of religion ( and yes I know we can date this all the way back to biblical times). But what hits more closely to home is how God has become like this "white elephant" in the room. You know, the one that everyone knows is there, but no one will stand up and talk about. GOD FORBID I MENTION GOD OR PRAYING. Might offend someone. It's become such a HUGE issue to separate church and state. I used to stand up everyone morning in school before class and say the pledge of allegiance..."One nation under God". Do they even say that anymore? I honestly don't know, I don't have grade school kids yet. We prayed before playing sports. As of today, there have been legal cases fought and won all across the nation of statues being removed due to the fact they had religious words/suggestions, cases where someone's religion came into play at the workplace or school, and cases where someone asked/spoke about religion and "shouldn't" have. There are few other topics that get me fired up besides this. I believe this nation was created with God and it should exist and end with God as well.
My boys will never know what the nation that was built under God used to be like.

And so I will leave you with these final thoughts...
"But blessed is the man who trusts me, God, the woman who sticks with God. They're like trees replanted in Eden, putting down roots near the rivers - Never a worry through the hottest of summers, never dropping a leaf, serene and calm through droughts, bearing fresh fruit every season." Jeremiah 17:7-8 MSG

"Don't fear: I am First, I am Last, I'm Alive. I died, but I came to life, and my life is now forever. See these keys in my hand? They open and lock Death's doors, they open and lock Hell's gates." Revelation 1:18 MSG

"God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near." Revelation 1:3 NLT