The classics never go out of style

Adam: “Mom, is a classic something that is very, very old?”
Me: “Yes”
Adam: “You had this toy when you were little, didn’t you.”
Me: “Yes.”
Adam: “You are very, very old, so this toy is a classic, right?”
Me: (trying not to laugh) “I guess you could say that.”

So there you have it, from the mouth of my seven year son, I am a classic.

Last night as I was cleaning out my crock pot (again) I was thinking about how cooking has changed since I was a child. Since I am a classic, we didn’t have crock pots, microwave ovens, or even a dish washer in our home when I was a child.
Mom cooked each and every meal, and we never ate at restaurants or fast food joints. First the restaurant choices were limited in our tiny town and there were no fast food chains to be seen. Second, my father was a rancher with five children. If we wanted a hamburger we had plenty of meat in the freezer, thank you. No point in spending money on it.
My mother studied art and home ec. in college, and after her children were in school she taught these subjects at our local high school. There was nothing of a domestic nature she couldn’t do. But she was not a spectacular cook. She was competent, her food was always nutritious and filling, you never left her table hungry. But it was simple, home cooking.
As a home ec. teacher, she was introduced to the microwave oven at a product demonstration. She was not impressed. The food cooked to fast, it was too hot, and it frightened her. She swore she would never have one of those “things” in her kitchen because she just knew they were dangerous. (Yes, she now has one, and uses it daily)
She wasn’t interested in a dish washer, either. She claimed she had five of them (her children). When we watched “Let’s Make a Deal” with the neighbors, we all cheered if someone won a dish washer, and dreamed about one day going on the show and getting one ourselves.
We didn’t have a television, either. Mind you, I’m not so much of a classic that television hadn’t been invented yet, we just didn’t have one because we couldn’t afford it.
I remember watching the moon landing at the neighbors’ house.
Shortly thereafter we did get a black and white set. We were thrilled, even though the reception in our town was bad and we could only get two channels. I remember being annoyed during the Nixon trials because the daily televised show pre-empted my programs.
I don’t think about it often, but when I do I am staggered by how much life has changed since I was a child. My children can’t imagine a world without VCR’s – which have now been replaced by the much more attractive DVD’s.
According to my offspring, we are backward because we only have one Play Station 2 and we don’t even have an X-Box. Further proof or our primitive living is the lack of Tvios, iPods and the like.
Apparently we live like savages.