I lived in the 'Olden Days'

I don't consider myself to be 'that old' yet. I'm in my 30's.
Although, my kids often ask me if I lived in the 'olden days'.
My first response is NO! Why would you even think to ask that?

Then, I give it a second thought:

I can remember listening to records.

I put 8 tracks in our station wagon while sitting in the front seat.
I was not in a booster seat, or even wearing a seat belt.
When our family went on long car trips, I stared out the window.

I remember renting a VCR.

We had 1 small, 19 inch, screen tv that was a huge, heavy box for our entire house.
It had a tacky antenna, with scrunched foil on the top of each end of the bunny ears.
I had to get off the couch, walk to the tv, and turn the knob to change the channel or lower the volume.
I didn't mute it, and I watched commercials.

I remember our first microwave.
We would microwave frozen pot pies and burritos.

We only had 1 new cartoon movie in the theaters, maybe every 2+ years.

I remember school teachers using purple carbon paper to make a copies for school work.
It was always hard to see the light lines of work we were suppose to do on the paper.

Once in a while we would watch a movie at school on a projector.
It made funny sounds and the film would spin around really fast, when the movie was over.
Often teachers would spend time, trying to get the projector to work.
We would also watch a movie on a slide projector.
Everyone in class would beg to turn the knob on the "beep"!

I used a typewriter to turn in my college application and essay.
In high school I took a typing class.

We didn't own a computer when I was growing up.
The family finally got one after I was at college.
I sent my first email in college.
I had an assignment in my later years at college to look up a website.
To do about 5 things on the internet.

We had 1 phone in our house growing up. It had a long cord.
In college, 6 girls shared 1 phone with a long cord.
I talked to my parents 1 a week on Sun. in college. Even that was expensive.

Yes, I realize now, that I lived in the olden days.

Now, with my own children-I'm finding it hard navigating all this technology with them.
They love it! They go from screen to screen.
We have tv's, computers, cordless phones, smart phones, video games, etc.
I'm trying to have balance with all this stuff. But it's tough. Really tough.
Getting rid of it all, doesn't seem to be the answer.
I don't have any answers, really, I'm just doing the best I can.
There are positive things we all enjoy, use, and learn from this technology.
I just try to have balance the best I can.
Following counsel from church leaders really helps.
I find: family prayer, Family Home Evening, scripture study, keeping the Sabbath Day Holy, eating dinner, etc. provides much needed balance for all this tech stuff.
It's a nice way to get everyone off a screen for a break.
Homework, and from time to time doing extracurricular activities helps too.

I've thought about doing charts, earning hours, points, etc. for screen time.
Carefully watching how much screen time each child is getting.
But I'm too tired. It's too much work for me to keep track of it all.
I just try to be aware, when my kids need a break from it.
Food bribes work great!

I love Elder Bednar's talk, Things As They Really Are, on this subject.
I will use it as a guide from time to time, when I think we are getting off balance on our screen time.