Back To School – Is It The Same As When We Were Kids?

Back to school, back to school, to prove to dad that I'm not a fool.  Great line from one of my favorite comedies, 'Billy Madison', with Adam Sandler. 

Billy Madison went back to school when he was in his 30s, and he found out pretty quick that things had changed a lot.

So look back when you were getting ready for back to school and then take a look at what back to school is like for the kids now.  Just a quick glance, but here are some things that I picked up pretty quickly.  Maybe you can help me out with a few more.

THEN:

Getting ready in the morning - We didn't watch TV, we got dressed, made our bed, and high-tailed it to the breakfast table for a hot breakfast.  My older brother had to be called several times and usually missed breakfast.

We normally wore faded Levis and a collared shirt.  If the jeans weren't faded, we didn't want to wear them.  They made us look like nubes.

Where I grew up, we were one of those small towns that had one central school that we went to...it was several miles away, so that meant we took the bus.  We piled on the bus in a not so orderly fashion, and hoped the heater worked for the day.

We didn't tote our books to school in a backpack.  Our desks held all of our stuff.  Mine was always a mess and I was lucky if I could ever find my school work in there.

I recall elementary school having 3 recess times...one in the morning, one just after lunch, and one in the afternoon.  I don't recall how long each were, but I recall that they were pretty short.

School lunch was rarely, I mean rarely, brown bag or lunch box.  The school made hot lunch, so that meant we ate hot lunch.  Usually even if we liked it or not.

After school was homework time before playing outside until supper time.  After supper, weather permitting, we were outside usually until dark.

Bed usually at 8:00 during elementary years.

Now:

Breakfast seems to be in front of the TV, watching cartoons on a very wide selection of channels.  Spongebob, Paw Patrol, Teen Titans, etc.  TV goes great with Pop Tarts or Toaster Streudel.

Clothing is pretty much the same, except more expensive brands like North Face, Under Armor, Aero, and more.

The kids are bused where we are because they are certainly not close enough to walk, and these days, you really don't want your kids going anywhere by themselves.

One recess...after lunch.

School lunch - they publish a calendar that shows the menu of the day.  The kids decide if they want that or if they want a bagged lunch, which is typically an insulated bag to keep that turkey sandwich from getting too warm.

So many choices with backpacks.  Most of them with your child's favorite movie or cartoon character, and it usually crapped out after the first couple of weeks because they weren't designed to carry 200 pounds of books that the teachers make these kids lug around.

After school is still homework time, however, most of it is done on the computer.  After homework, maybe they are outside for a bit, but then its inside for Xbox and/or computer games.

Bed usually by 9:30.

So take a look at your own routine.  Just how different are things from when you were hitting the school?