Longing for simpler times...

As I am beginning to pack up our house (in anticipation of moving sometime in the next month), I wonder what life was like without Cuisinarts, Kitchen Maid mixers (hand mixers for that matter), and ornate cups, glasses and dishes. I am sure that it was more time-consuming and a general pain-in-the-ass to bake cookies, pies, and cakes... but would it not have made it more special? You would not need a huge-ass kitchen just to hold all of your small appliances and modern day conveniences either! *sigh* And the amount of toys that our children accumulate? YIKES! Jacks, marbles, handmade dolls... what happened to those?

This gets me thinking... did the importance of education get kids out of the fields helping their parents with crops and into the classroom? What about learning life lessons? Life lessons: anything worth doing is worth doing well. I'm not saying that education isn't important, or that modern conveniences are a waste. Just wondering how it is that our kids got so sheltered and spoiled. Aren't "street smarts" just as important as "book smarts"? If Pa had to go out and kill a chicken for dinner, or one of the farm animals died, a life lesson presents itself and viola! your child learns the ways of the world. I'm sure that kids don't really understand where their chicken nuggets or cheeseburgers come from these days, until much later in life. I can only assume at that point it is met with disdain and horror, promising never to eat those food items again...

....ah, simpler times...