Of childhood past and present

We are going to miss the second lesson at JG today. Kerri is sick. She's been sneezing non stop since tuesday night and her mucus has been dripping. She is not s very good patient. She will be very clingy, do not eat much and do not sleep much whenever she falls sick. So these few days are gonna be hell. Kae on the other hand is a very good patient. It's like she's not sick even when she's on medication which is supposedly drowsy. She will go on as if nothing is wrong.

I was reading a friend's blog and was looking through a few friends' albums on Facebook. It was just the mid autumn festival on Monday and surprisingly, people still celebrate this day with the traditional lantern and fire sparklers. Or maybe people have been celebrating this way all along, it's just that photos have never been posted. Heh.

This brings back sweet memories for me. We always go to my maternal grandparents' place for the mid autumn festival. We would all gather to eat moon cakes, and us and the cousins would then carry our paper lanterns together with the fire sparklers and walk 1 round around the neighourhood. It was an absolutely beautiful sight for me as a child, to see all the lanterns and sparklers brighten up the very dimly lighted neighborhood, as we were not in a brightly lit HDB estate. Instead it was along a line of houses on our right, and an empty field(then) on our left.

That was the kind of childhood I had back then. I suppose for most of us too. When we play with toys, run all over the place, play outdoors with our neighbors and friends. What did we know about computers then? I remember the first time my dad bought a computer was when I was in primary 3 or 4? Very few families have computers then. And instead of doing our projects and typing out the reports, my friends and I spend the whole afternoon playing with computer games instead. We played till the computer died literally. Seriously! Something burst inside, and luckily the purchase was still within the warranty period. You can only imagine how scared I was for killing the computer then.

As the years go by, hand held game consoles became the rage. No, I'm not talking about playstation. I'm taling about the individual game console. My favourite was the brick game. I do not know if any of you remembered that. I loved that so much I brought it everywhere. Until one fine day, when I lost it while playing poisonous ball with my primary school classmates at AMK park. I was so upset, that my friends actually pooled a sum of money and bought a brand new one for me! I was so touched by their gesture, as you know, we don't get much pocket money as kids, and they were willing to forgo their pocket money for me.

That is my childhood. And I loved it. Yes, I did attend extra classes, but only one class on Saturdays. And the classes are more for interest. I remember I attended drawing classes, speech and drama classes etc. But no academic tuition classes for me.

Look at the kids now. Their childhood is so different from us. They are the iFamily generation. Find me one kid who doesn't know how to use an iPhone, iPad or iTouch. It's almost impossible. Yes, I'm guilty of allowing Kae the freedom to use the iPhone and iPad whenever she likes. Especially when she is in a whiny mood. I get very irritated with her when she behaves such. So I use the iFamily to shut her up.

And she is attending classes other than going to school. Only ballet for her now as she is quite interested in dancing. We've decided to put on hold her speech and drama classes as she doesn't seem to like the teacher and is not learning anything much I observed.

And we are the typical "cosmopolitan" family. My way of saying, we only go to indoor shopping centers. Every weekend, we would bring the girls to shopping malls, eat and shop for toys and clothes. The only outdoor places we bring them to would be the beach and gardens once in a while. Are we depriving the girls? I've been bugging the hub to bring them to places like marina barrage, or even to the children festival at the SAM (which ended end august). Just to let them have a different experience and enjoy other activities. But we didn't make it in the end.

I've heard and seen (from Facebook) parents bringing their kids to all sorts of children's events the moment they are available. They go to every exhibition, every concert, every activity play attraction, etc. I know every family is different. But am I depriving the girls of a somewhat all rounded experience by not doing so? I always feel guilty thinking about this.