Recently, my granddaughter came to me and asked if we had fun when we were children – after all, we didn’t have computers or phones. How did we know where our friends were if we couldn’t call them? Looking at her, I just smiled and decided to tell her about the games in our yard. I told my granddaughter how much fun we had after school and during summer vacation.
We had a big house and there were always many children of all ages in the yard. We always played together and everyone had fun. After school, in the warm autumn and early spring, we always played with a ball and a skipping rope, and drew on the asphalt. On weekends, when more children gathered, we always played hide and seek. Everyone tried to come up with their own unique counting poem so that the others could not predict when the counting would go to find the hidden children. I remember once I spent the whole summer composing a poem to surprise my friends when I returned from the village in August.
In the summer, most of the children went somewhere. Some went to the camp, others – to visit their relatives by the sea, others – to visit their grandmother in the village. In the village, many children also gathered at my grandmother’s house, so we always played in the yard. I don’t even remember when we were sitting at home. Even if it was melting, we would find shelter and play on. What to do at home? Cartoons were only shown on TV at certain times, and I quickly got tired of reading. We didn’t have the variety of games and educational activities that our grandchildren have now.
Loud laughter of children was always heard in the yard. Every time we met, we decided what we were going to do. We used to jump through a rubber band, play square or “edible-inedible”. Both girls and boys participated in all activities.
We were not at home in winter either. Tobogganing, skating, skiing – these are all winter sports. In addition, there were always snowball fights in the yard. Snow castles were built and each team defended its fortress. After the battle, as a sign of reconciliation, we would all build a snowman together. When we came home, we looked like snowmen ourselves – so much snow was stuck to our clothes. We hardly got sick and managed to do everything. It seemed like there were so many more hours in the day.
Well, and most importantly, we learned to communicate and negotiate. We were physically developed and much more resilient. We learned that people can be different and react differently to words and actions. We went through the school of courage and leadership. That is why we have achieved more in life and persevered through difficulties. When I look at my granddaughter, who started attending the first grade, I don’t see any independence in her at all. How will she find her things at school?
However, at the age of seven, she can handle a phone, tablet and computer with ease. She finds the information she needs and can video call her best friend or mom at work. When I’m struggling, I turn to her for help. It makes everything faster and easier. I thought that probably every generation has its advantages. We ran fast and were agile, and our grandchildren are quickly mastering digital reality. Perhaps there is a time for everything, so we must accept progress as a natural phenomenon and not look back.
