Parents, don't let this happen to your child!

[Todash]

This weekend, my 11-year-old niece Cayla stayed with me. We ate junk food and did crafting and girly things. A good time was had by all. BUT. In the midst of everything, we went through a drive-thru to pick up dinner, and she got a kid's meal with a cruddy toy. This led to the following conversation:

Cayla: I don't really want this toy.
Me: Yeah, it's not great. You know, when I was a kid, Cracker Jack came with great toys! Now the toys it comes with SUCK. (I know I shouldn't be using those kinds of words around little kids, but sometimes I forget.)
Cayla: What's Cracker Jack?
Me: ...

I mean ... really? Seriously? DON'T HER PARENTS EVEN CARE??? I feel like she's been robbed of her childhood. Parents, don't let this happen to your children. Please. PLEASE.

[Moderator]

[atomicinchworm]

Really the ONLY thing Cracker Jacks had going for them was the toy, which now is like a press on tattoo. Which is dumb. It's not like Cracker Jacks are tasty or anything. :P

[Lily Sawyer]

She'll also never know the joy of watching 90 minutes of Bugs Bunny and the gang on Saturday mornings on CBS.
I'd go on strike if I were nine and faced with the Saturday morning line-ups on network TV these days. They're awful.

Todash, see to it that she learns how to make rice the old-fashioned way, not in a microwave;
recognizes a landline phone when confronted with it;
has respect for hardcover books and actually reads one before reverting back to her Kindle;
knows how to play tag, Red Light/Green Light, and gin rummy before she's out of her tween years;
and can correctly identify the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Dire Straits by their song intros

You'll be the coolest aunt ever.

[Terry B]

This wasn't a young child I had a conversation with but early last year I got my hair cut by a cute little 24 year old gal who talked and talked about how her family was such great and wonderful fans of the Los Angeles Angels. She went on to talk about the games they go to, etc. I told her I hadn't been to a game in LA since I saw Nolan Ryan pitch. Wait for it. Wait for it. Sure enough the first question out of her mouth was "who's Nolan Ryan"? I guess there's something her Angel fan Dad forgot to tell her.

[kingricefan]

Maybe by the time she's in her teens Oprah will have realized that she (oprah) made a big mistake by leaving her show and will be back on the air with a new one and your niece will be able to be a guest on the show and talk about how rotten her childhood was because her evil parents never gave her any Cracker Jack to eat and that's why she did the horrible things that she did? Seriously, that's a shame that she doesn't know what a treat Cracker Jack's is. Did you rectify the situation and get her some?? Inquiring minds NEED to know........

[GNTLGNT]

...really, seriously?...yer apologizing for using the word "sucks" around an 11 year old?...let her "school" ya, then tell her about the greatest secret of childhood, that's being done away with...Bazooka Joe comics...

[Spideyman]

Sure does make one think- times they be a changin' for sure. So agree with Lily, and say true GNTLGNT. There is a lifetime of experiences today's children may never get to see.
Have a young couple down the street, cute little young tot. They bought him a hand made wooden train for Christmas. The words from the child-- "what does it do?" Imagination lost to a generation.

[fljoe0]

Do kids still get to experience the piece of rock hard gum in a pack of baseball cards? That stuff has probably been outlawed. I think that gum was as hard as granite.

[Todash]

Maybe by the time she's in her teens Oprah will have realized that she (oprah) made a big mistake by leaving her show and will be back on the air with a new one and your niece will be able to be a guest on the show and talk about how rotten her childhood was because her evil parents never gave her any Cracker Jack to eat and that's why she did the horrible things that she did? Seriously, that's a shame that she doesn't know what a treat Cracker Jack's is. Did you rectify the situation and get her some?? Inquiring minds NEED to know........

Not yet. I think I'm gonna plan a little "awesome things from my childhood that you are completely missing" party.