Sweet Tooth Sweet Life

A Love of Food, Fitness, & Fashion

I Never Had That Growing Up

By 71 Comments

Well, my streak of beautiful mornings has ended…

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We’re back to some gloomy skies today, but hey, at least I got two days in a row, right?

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Breakfast today is almost an exact replica of yesterday, so let’s just cruise right through.

Iced coffee with skim milk and a splash of creamer…which I’ve been sipping on for a while, obviously. Winking smile

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And, since I’m all out of Chobani, I did a little spin off by incorporating my new favorite granola in a cereal combo bowl.

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Granola + Kashi Heart to Heart + banana slices + unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

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I actually never realized that there was both sweetened and unsweetened versions of almond milk out there. I had been buying the sweetened version the whole time, which trust me, is definitely delicious; but I figured I would give the unsweetened a try.

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Definitely not as sweet (duh), but still tasty and full of the creaminess that I love from almond milk.

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Man, I love this stuff!

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I Never Had That Growing Up

Over the weekend, while Jay and I were making our long trek back up to New York from OBX, we ended up making a pit stop at a rest area. At this particular rest area, the bathrooms were fully equipped with the automatic, sensor-flushing toilets, and those xlerator hand dryers that have enough powers to make all the layers of skin on your hands ripple backwards.

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By the way, have you ever seen what those dryers do if you put a face under there? If not, go try it…it’s a great laugh.

But anyways…for some reason, these “high-tech” bathroom items somehow led me to start thinking about all of the things that we’re so used to now that we never had growing up. So I started talking with Jay and my brother a little more about it last night, and here’s a list of some of the things we came up with…

  • Sensor-flushing toilets
  • Hand dryers that sound like an airplane is taking off
  • Cell Phones (I got my first one in 9th grade, but my dad’s first one was totally the Zach Morris phone)

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  • GPS systems (my dad had an ENORMOUS atlas in the back of his car that I used to love reading through)

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  • EZ-Pass (I can’t remember it at least?)
  • Computers (we got our first computer when I was in 8th grade…it was a BOAT)

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  • Thumb drives (Remember the old floppy disks? Oregon Trail anyone??)

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  • iPods (I used to rock out with my Walkman)
  • Extended breakfast menu’s from McDonalds (this is a direct quote from my brother and he was adamant that I include it…but it also led me to think about how ALL fast food menus have grown extensively, too)

This is only a very small list, but I’d love to hear what else we could add to it!

Question for the Morning:

What are some things you have now that weren’t available when you were growing up?

Or maybe, it’s the other way around? Things you had growing up that aren’t around now?

About Courtney

I'm a working mom of two beautiful little boys, Lucas and Alex, and I began writing Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life in April 2010. I enjoy chronicling my love of food (healthy and indulgent!), baking, motherhood, fitness, fashion, and everything in between!

Comments

  2. Claire says

    Oregon trail love!! Me and my neighbor used to play that for HOURS! One thing I never had growing up was a hair straightener...I got one in highschool...and it was magic! All those years dealing with "lion" curls in the front of my hair could have been solved BEFORE high school! Another thing I didn't have growing up was allergy medicine that WORKED! Allergy meds have evolved SO much in the past 5-8 years that I am SO glad I no longer have to suffer runny noses and put washcloths on my eyes like I did in 6th grade :-)
    Reply

  5. Sarah says

    Bahhhh the Oregon Trail!! Is it strange that I still find myself in a situation where I'm referencing this game at least once a month?
    Reply

  6. Liv @ The Salty n' Sweet says

    Oh man what a great topic!! When I was little I never used to have automatic cars. My mom's car can turn on with just a press of a button. No key necessary! We also didn't have 10000 channels on the TV, and still used an antennae, no automatic check-out machines at the grocery store, and no 3D movies! There are so many more, I'm sure we could go on forever!
    Reply

  7. Samantha says

    I so remember all of that stuff! I didn't even get my first iPod until 2006! I had a pager when I turned 16 until I got my first cell phone at 19. You pretty much only see doctor's with pagers now! Smart phones - this is huge, if you compare them to your "boat" computer! Now you can travel with your computer/GPS/phone/music player all in your pocket - in one device! I don't know what I ever did before I got my smart phone. E-readers like Kindle is another big one - although, I personally wouldn't trade a "real" book for an e-book. I love the feeling of holding a good book and flipping through the pages one at a time while you get immersed in a story.
    Reply

  8. Molly Carter says

    Now that I'm pregnant, I realize there are so many products and gadgets that you *must* have nowadays that our parents simply did without when we were born. My mom and granny joke that it's a wonder we survived as babies without all these high-priced and fancy gadgets. ;)
    Reply

  9. Brittany says

    I always get weirded out when younger generations (clearly the incorrect term to be used here... I'm only 21, there aren't so many "younger generations") do things that I do... like when my 11 year old cousin got a cell phone and when my neighbors started to drive.... I do feel like we're really getting to enjoy everything now though, and even though I'm only 5 years younger than you I feel like it makes a difference... all the cool things today are growing with us. A really appropriate growth into adulthood as technology and the like advances. I can't imagine having an ipod or a cellphone before I had them... my childhood wouldn't have been nearly as enriching.
    Reply

  11. Faith @ lovelyascharged says

    Oh my gosh I used to love Oregon Trail!!! And Sim City...hilariousness! My coworkers and I were just reminiscing about that game and joking that we should all call in sick with a different disease from oregon trail...one of us was going to have dysentery, another got a rattlesnake bite, etc...how funny would that have been!
    Reply

  12. Dawn @ Blonde on a Mission says

    I used to rollerblade while carrying a huge Sony Discman around! Now I have my iPhone conveniently hooked on my arm. And isn't it weird how ADD our generation has become? You used to have to wait FOREVER for dial-up internet and everything took longer to load, and yet now everything is 100x faster and I still find myself saying C'MON when it takes more than 5 seconds. Yikes. My parents used to read maps on road trips. They still do :) but they have a Garmin as well haha. This is a fun topic! I also never had all the organic, gluten free products available when I was growing up. Whole Foods and TJ's meant nothing to me & now they have everything I need.
    Reply

  14. Sylvia @ Frolic Through Life says

    I bought the Kashi Heart to Heart cereal and it is amazing! Thanks for the recommendation. I remember rocking out to my walkman and getting a discman for Christmas. I thought I was soo cool. I also remember the first computers we had in school when I was really young were just a black screen that you could type on. By like third grade they ungraded and we got to play actual computer games. My favorite was Gizmos and Gadgets.
    Reply

  15. colleen says

    flat screen tvs! Remember how heavy TVs used to be??? We never rearranged our furniture in our family room because the TV was too heavy!
    Reply

  16. Joanna says

    Oh I loved Oregon Trail! I'm not sure why it was so addicting though, but I do remember when all of those things first came out! That's why it makes me crazy when people panic if their cell phone is not attached to them at all times .. I try to remind them that there was a time when they did not exist & life still went on. It's definitely entertaining to see how dependent people are on things that were once nonexistent. Although, I completely admit that I'd be lost without my iPod or Internet .. after all, how would I read my favorite blogs like yours!!
    Reply

  17. Jordan P @ food, sweat, and beers says

    On the Oregon Trail note, how about how many expansion packs there are for the Sims now... the Sims pets, in love, livin large, joining the circus, no idea where it will end. Things that I have now: Apps for everything from shopping to shooting furious birds at things, picture messaging, Lady Gaga, and envelope-free check deposits! Things that I definitely miss: Saturday Morning Cartoons (not anime, but One Saturday Morning with Recess), clip on earrings (when I didn't have my ears pierced), and 3 months off for summer!
    Reply

  18. Cait @ UrbanFencepost says

    It is seriously amazing how quickly technology gets outdated. In grade school it was the 5 1/4 inch floppy disks (Oregon trail, yeah!) then the 3 1/2 inch floppy disks in high school, zip drives in college, and then flash drives... I just thought of this because I just used some - hand sanitizer. It's everywhere. How did we ever survive all the germs growing up, haha.
    Reply

  19. Samantha says

    Lol what a fun post! My fiance and I talk about this a lot too. One new thing I love is the 1 cup coffee maker - Keurig or Tassimo brands. It was funny, one day his parents' Keurig stopped working and we were talking about how 'devestating" it would be without our "gourmet coffee maker"! Oh no...whatever will we do! LOL. We fixed it by running white vinegar through it..thank goodness. ;-) I think we have become a little dependent on technology...but don't we love it!!!
    Reply

  20. Erin @ Naturally Addicted says

    I know what you mean it's crazy the things kids had now! I mean I remember getting my first cellphone in high school, but kids have them in elementary school now. The other thing I do miss... Dunkaroos!! God I loved those things as a kid, but now you can't find them anywhere!!
    Reply

    • Courtney says

      We still have them around here! I used to love 'em too...especially the ones with the funfetti frosting :)
      Reply

  21. Colleen @ The Lunchbox Diaries says

    Oh my God - Oregon Trail! I always died from phenomena or something like that haha. I never had ginormous Polly Pockets. Did you ever play with Polly Pocket?! Well Polly, like the extensive McDonalds breakfast menu, is HUGE now! Like, the size of a Barbie. WTF?
    Reply

  22. Julie H. of Spinach and Sprinkles says

    Blast from the past! AWSOME! Our first computer was a boat as well, now mine is smaller than a notebook I would take to class. The tape players that you could make mix-tapes from the radio from. I miss getting super pumped when my favorite song would come on the radio JUST so I could put it on my mix-tape!
    Reply

  23. Gina @ Running to the Kitchen says

    Great list, brings back memories :) My parents totally had the Zach Morris cell phone too. I got my little Nokia in 11th grade but had to "share" with my brother. My solution was putting a pink cover on it so he wouldn't want to use it ;)
    Reply

  25. Jamie aka "Sometimes Healthy" Girl says

    Ohhhh this is a fun post! The possibilities are endless. Let's see: I never had - Facebook or Twitter growing up (or until my junior year of college for that matter) I never had - hi tech vending machines: I went to a vending machine at my friend's graduation in May and it was so hi tech. I was shocked. I never had - Nintendo Wii growing up. Remember the old days of the original nintendo and mario brothers? I never had - A MICROWAVE!! (not because they weren't available, because my mother hated them ;-))
    Reply

  26. Lindsey says

    I love unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze milk, my favorite of all the brands/kinds for sure! Cell phones for sure! I had my first cell when I was 17! And now you see 10 year olds with them! Also, remember when you had to use the paper TV guide to see when your shows were on versus the TV listing channel or guide that we have on the TV now?! Something (really odd) that I miss from my childhood was my metal lunch box with the matching thermos inside. I am sure it was My Little Pony themed or Care Bears and I loved it so much! My plain green one I have now is nothing compared to it! haha
    Reply

  27. Steph @321delish says

    Hahha! Love the blast from the past! I used to LOVE Saved by the Bell! I actually think they play reruns on TBS in the early mornings! And, I definitely had Oregon Trail! I also really liked a few other computer games I remember a King Kong one and Double Dare! That's something we don't have anymore! All those fun shows on Nickelodian!!
    Reply

  29. Ruthie Hart says

    OMG Oregon Trail was the bomb! I loved how you had to boot up the CD rom to play it. Did you ever play Sims? I was also obsessed with that and would get codes online to get more money!
    Reply

  30. Jodi @ Southern Flavored Life says

    I will have to give almond milk a try; I've been really cautious about trying things like that since soy milk (not for me..eww). When I was growing up, we never had a gazillion TV channels; I think the most was 50.Online job applications were unheard of. I'm also pretty sure there were no 'debit cards', just check and cash. I had a computer that looked just like that; so funny!
    Reply

  33. Stephanie Bragg says

    I love the flashback list! My dad used to have a top-of-the-line car phone...like one that was installed into his car. Pretty sweet deal ;) Single serve coffee makers and a froyo place on every corner--I don't know how we lived without those...
    Reply

    • Courtney says

      Mine too! It was in his company station wagon...one of the ones that had the fold-down seat in the back that faced backwards. I LOVED that thing!
      Reply

  34. Sabine says

    First of all, I love, love, LOVE your blog, Courtney!! You are just so nice and beautiful. Keep up the good work! I am reading your blog for a few weeks now and normally do not leave comments, but I could not resist today's question :). Actually, I do not own a lot of things that are available now, because I don't think you have to have something just because it is there. I do not own a cell phone (though I feel sometimes as if I am the only german person without one), an iPod, GPS, an automatic car or a flatscreen tv. And I don't miss anything :). Here in Germany, we did not have a lot of tv channels when I was growing up in the 70's and 80's. Just a handful. Three, four, five? I don't remember. You did not have many choices when watching tv ... and you know what? It didn't matter :)! There are a lot of flavors today regarding sweets and chips and ice cream and things like that. When I was growing up, you could only buy chips with "Paprika" flavor. For germans my generation, this is still the "original flavor". Ice cream was typically vanilla or strawberry or chocolate. But more choice often means that you eat more of this stuff :). Since we did not have computers in our homes, there was no Internet and no E-Mail. (How did I survive THAT?) :) And the next two things are kind of crazy! They are "the new normal" nowadways, but when I am thinking about it right now, A LOT has changed since my childhood. First, my country was much smaller (and it is still a very small country compared to the US). It was divided into the BRD, where I grew up, and the DDR. Nowadays, it is a united country since the "Berliner Mauer" fell in 1989 - and that is GOOD STUFF. Second, we had different money back then. Literally. Oh, how I miss our "D-Mark"!! Children today only know about the "Euro" (we use it since 2002). That is soooo strange! Well *sigh*, I guess, everything is changing, all the time. Some things for the better, some ... not so much. That's life, isn't it? It never gets boring :).
    Reply

  36. Chantal says

    Hahaha, I get so grossed out by the hand skin ripples when I use those dryers... I think I'm kind of an old man at heart. When I was little I always totally refused new technologies because I liked the ones we had. DVDs? I thought they were stupid, because I liked growing up watching my Disney princess movies on tape. I thought they would just be a fad. CDs? Whatever, casette tapes were so cool. I kind of still do the same thing today... but try not to let my inner old person be quite so public.
    Reply

  37. Jen M. says

    HAHA, I loved this post! I love thinking back about the things that were different when I was little, and remembering how excited I was to get my first walkman and cassette tape at a birthday party at Skate World, and yes, sitting by the radio for songs to come on so I could record them (uh, pretty sure I was still doing that in junior high and the days of "Monica" and "Notorious B.I.G"), and Super Nintendo (which my sisters and I still bust out at my parents' house sometimes, SO FUN!), and movies on VHS - I still have one of those DVD/VHS combo players, and I recently borrowed all our old Disney VHS movies from my parents house and watched them. I remember only getting a cellphone when I was in highschool when I started driving, because my parents wanted me to be able to call them if something happened and I needed help, but I wasn't really allowed to use it for anything besides talking to them. And texting?!? Not until I bought my own phone and got on my own plan (I WAS IN COLLEGE!!). I remember going to Manhattan with my best friend (her mom took us as a high school graduation gift), but we didn't have cellphones with nationwide plans, so when her mom let us do some exploring on our own and we were to just meet up at a certain time and place later, it totally sucked when we were in Rockefeller Center and were asked if we wanted to be in the audience for a taping of the Conan O'Brien show, and we couldn't because we had no way to get in touch with her mom and would have missed the meet-up time! ahhhh, but we lived. :) It also blows my mind that when I was born, my mom didn't know a head of time that I'd be a girl -- they didn't do that yet, and all my baby stuff was gender-neutral yellow as a result!
    Reply

  38. Laura @ LauraLikesDesign says

    Oh, Oregon Trail...how I miss that game! The little stick people and the hunting experience! I remember I was so excited when I received Oregon Trail II as a birthday gift one year...it came on a CD rather than a floppy and it had realistic effects--so awesome! If my computer could still load it, I would definitely play it still!
    Reply

  39. McKenzie says

    There are 2 year olds who can work cell phones better than I can! and I always laugh when kids are walking around with Nintendo DS and all those other handheld games, even when they are outside. I didn't get a Gameboy until I was like 10 and even then it was more for car trips and rainy days. I also cannot believe my children will never know what a cassette tape or Discman is.
    Reply

  40. Shayla says

    Ahhh Oregon Trail!! Played that all.the.time!! I can't believe video/tape cassettes are pretty much non existent, car phones (which were the size of my forearm!), cd's, Tower Records store, Blockbuster (around here at least), Longs drugstore (which is now CVS), and my all time fav old school Nintendo Duck Hunt game!!
    Reply

    • Mac says

      I never had Nintendo growing up, but my grandma did for when the grandkids came over and Duck Hunt was one of the few games we got to play! Love that and the old school Mario Brothers game!
      Reply

  41. Megan says

    I'd have to go with DVR/TiVo and Internet Tv! It's crazy to think you will never really miss a show. All I had to worry about was if I'd make it home or to my friends house in time for TGIF on Fridays (Boy Meets World duh)...and now you're only worry is if you pushed record in time! Crazy
    Reply

  42. Amber @ Stop and Smell the Wildflowers says

    Our first computer totally looked like that, too. And I loved Oregon Trail! So much so that I recently considered buying it again for my little cousin- though it would probably make him mad when I stole it back from him. :) This post is making me want to go watch old Saved by the Bell and Boy Meets World reruns. :)
    Reply

  43. Casey says

    We didn't have cable!!! About the only kid in town who had to watch spongebob in spanish. I blame him for my love of salsa. Do you remember the Backyard computer games? I used to love playing those, backyard baseball backyard soccer. Those were awesome, why go outside in the beautiful weather when you can stay inside? ;) technology..
    Reply

  44. Mac says

    I love the xcelerator dryers, hate the automatic toilet flushers and totally remember Oregon Trail :) Other blasts from the past are great tv shows (Saved by the Bell, Power Rangers, TMNT, etc), skip its, Zebra gum tattoos, Big League Chew, the list could go on forever!
    Reply

  46. Cynthia (It All Changes) says

    Oh Oregon Trail. We didn't have a video game system until I was 10 years old. We didn't get a cordless home phone until I was 13. I didn't have a cell phone until I was 20. I didn't buy a DVD player until after I graduated college. And GPS was a fantastic thing after all the bad mapquest directions and atlas mess ups.
    Reply

  47. Hannah says

    I love the unsweetened almond milk.. - i never had cable.. -most of movies were on VHS -Wii -Kindles -I dont remember hair straighteners -i was only allowed a cell phone when I was in high school- pretty much when I started driving and it was one of those prepaid phone!
    Reply

  48. Katy @ fitinheels says

    Okay... am I the only one who doesn't know what Oregon Trail is??? I am thinking of my Atari instead of our current Wii... and the Zach Morris phone is RI-DIC... hahahahahah!!! I also remember in high school, telling my friends to "page" me to get a hold of me. And no, I wasn't a drug dealer. I also remember how easy it was to tape your favourite program/show with a VCR... I couldn't live without my PVR/DVR now :)
    Reply

    • Courtney says

      YES! The pagers! I always used to page Jay with the *143 which was supposed to somehow stand for "I Love You" :)
      Reply

  50. McKenzie says

    I thought of a random thing today that was never around when I was a kid....bottled water. I have so many parents at my job saying they will never give their kids "gross" tap water, but 20 years ago, that was all there was.
    Reply

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