I grew up in a time where there was no DVR *gasp* and we only had 2 TVs in the whole house *gasp*. One TV in the family room, and one TV in my parent’s bedroom. We lived like that for 18 years until I bought my own TV. Tough times, I know.
Kids nowadays have at least 4 TVs in the house, at least one DVR, and several DVD players. (Where I say “kids nowadays” I mean my spoiled kids.) When my girls are home all day for a vacation or just me & Claire on a Friday, they aren’t stuck watching my shows.
They are lucky lucky bastards.
OK, so not really bastards cause they have a daddy.
But still, they’re friggin lucky.
They have DVRd Yo Gabba Gabbas, DVDs of Elmo, and a whole TV tuned into Nick Jr 24/7.
And? AND? I just took a break from writing this post (really, just now) to BUY a friggin “Martha Speaks” episode for MY iPhone for THEM to watch.
Spoiled.
Also, lame.
Which, brings me back to how lame it is that my kids don’t have to sit through the shows I had to sit through as a kid.
Quality shows like “All My Children” and “Guiding Light” (RIP).
My mother was addicted. In fact, until about 6 months ago, she would DVR every single episode of “One Life to Live” and “Guiding Light” and watch every single minute.
Which brings me to these days where I don’t watch soaps.
Also, I lied.
I watch one: “All My Children.”
I mean, it’s on. I don’t watch-watch it. I don’t DVR it. I don’t rewind unless it’s important.
But my kids will never have to suffer through know about Erica Kane and her 11 husbands, how Greenlee came back from the dead, how Tad Martin is everybody’s dad, what really happened to Dixie, how the TV world still mourns Stuart’s passing, and wonder just why Ryan had sex with Erica. I mean, ew. That’s just… ew.
Are my kids ever going to understand the complexities of Pine Valley and how people come back from the dead at least twice or how marriages never last or how DNA tests can be bought off?
I can only feel sorry for them and their lack of soap opera knowledge.
{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
…i think we may have grown up in the same house
child of the 80s
I can relate. My kids are just as spoiled. We have 5 tv’s in the house and one in the gym, a satellite box on EVERY tv, a DVR in 2 rooms and a dvd player on every tv. There is a PS2 game system, a PS3, a gamecube, a Nintendo DS & a PSP. They have a Wii at thier dad’s house. And I still hear “I’m bored” at least twice a day.
@PeggyBristerHS
I was so close to taking away everything today after i wrote then when my 5yo came home and cried b/c she didn’t know what to do.
In college I had dorm mates who would schedule classes around The Kids… not that I did or anything like that.
i think it’s a requirement to watch soaps in college.
At this point, we only have one TV in the house, but we do use the iMac as a backup movie machine when the grown-ups need…uh…want to watch something live (e.g., the Superbowl) and the little ones want to see something else.
All I have to say is thank God for DVRs. My kids have what they want completely on demand. It’s totally spoiled themm though. When we listen to the radio, they don’t understand that mommy can’t pause it so they can yell at each other. Furthermore hotel TVs don’t have their favorites preloaded and ready.
Ugh. The travesty of what they must endure!
my girls want to pause everything. my husband blames me, but really, can we just blame technology?
Why did Ryan sleep with Erica??? Ewwwww!!! And come on, Greenlee, just tell Ryan you love him and want to be with him. This plot is annoying me (but don’t they all?).
I also grew up with All My Children and Guiding Light (rip). I miss Alan and the whole Spaulding clan. And Reva…..can’t forgot dead, alive, cloned, normal, almost dead again Reva. That woman has nine lives.
sigh
All My Children is on at 1:00 and then again at 8:00pm here. Also, I can watch it at 7:00am the next day if I miss it. No need to dvr here! (or, I just call my mom).
yes, i did follow reva thru the whole cloning thing, but i left a few years ago after she got cancer and almost died, then didn’t die, then almost died, then they canceled the show.
least we forget Dixie….she’s back (with red hair).
I use to watch Days & General Hospital. No more of the Soaps for me though, I’ve since turned to night time tv, you know, Glee, Grey’s and Desperate Housewives.
i’m with you on glee and grey’s, but desperate housewives? sorry. can’t do it.
Only one t.v. here (I have issues, it’s ridiculous) But I can’t tell you how many times I had to sit through L.A. Law and Scarecrom and Mrs. King. Blech!
we had a dog named after Zoe on LA Law. my dad had a THING for her.
My grandpa walked to school in his bare feet in the snow, my dad did the same thing except he had shoes, I rode the bus, and my kids will probably take the hoverboard….things change and the next always has it easier. But….television in the bedrooms ain’t happenin’. lol
oh HAIL no. my girls will not have a TV or a computer in their bedrooms until they’re 18.
and i hope i can stick to my own rule.
I used to walk home from elementary school every day to find my mother at home watching Days of Our Lives and ironing my father’s handkerchiefs. Scared me off of soap operas for the rest of my life (I thought you had to do housework to watch them)!
yeah, my mom could never sit still to watch her soaps until we left home, then she’d fall asleep watching.
Ah those were the days… Mine were Guiding Light , All My Children and Days of our Lives… thanks to my older sisters I was introduced to Soap Operas… My children to are spoiled 4 and 2 they each can watch what they want first thing in the mornings. My two year old prefers Elmo first thing and the 4 year old not so much. Wonder what it will be like for our grandchildren? Can’t help but think our kids are missing out..=-)
our poor poor children will be watching the Gosselin kids in their own reality shows.
I am the mean mom. No tv in the play room or the girls bedroom. We also do not have DVR. But they have 1 millon DVDs and I let them watch the tv even if it means I watch the Disney Channel all day everyday.My mom watched Days of our Life.I did too till I had Amelia. But I am sure it would only take a day to catch back up.
no TVs in the girls’ rooms, just a dvd player in their playroom.
you and everyone else with no DVR make me sad.
Dude. I don’t even have a DVR. My life is very, very sad.
Me either Becky, me either…
you people make me weep for you.
I’m actually I little horrified that I understand everything you just talked about. Like you, I was raised on it, and General Hospital. I never watch them now but I catch up really quick when it’s on at my mom’s and I’m usually dutifully horrified by whats going on. I will never forgive them for killing Stuart – Never!
apparently, david canary is leaving the show. we’ll see how adam is killed off.
Same story with the TVs growing up in my house. But I spent all non-school days and summers at my grandparents who watched 1. Regis and Kathy Lee, 2. The price is Right, and 3. Young and the Restless in that order every single day. My Mom watched AMC, so I picked that up as well. There was a time not too long ago where I taped AMC, Y&R, Days and GH. That was hard to admit. But now, if I am home from work, like today, I try to catch up on Y&R and AMC.
Why IS Ryan sleeping with Erica? Ewww gross. And then today, Greenlee with David… typically when I pick up a soap episode after 3 months I can catch up, but WTH have I missed?
I don’t consider kids spoiled anymore unless they are given iphones before middle school. I feel like talking of the times when tv’s were a treat is like my parent’s telling me they walked uphill 3 miles to AND from school in the snow. We live in Texas, you know that didnt happen.
greenlee and david is just WRONG but at least they haven’t done the nasty yet like erica and ryan. that? still skeeves me out.
Ryan Lavery had sex with Erica Kane? Ewww…then again, who hasn’t?
yeah. totally ew.
My mother was addicted to All My Children. I was a General Hospital fan.
My mom was really not a very nice person, but I will always feel that we bonded over soaps. During the summer and school breaks, I would watch Erica get married at least twice a year and she let me skip school to see the Luke and Laura wedding.
Because that was back in the day before DVRs, and sadly, before *gasp* VCRs.
i know SO many people who skipped school for the luke and laura wedding, but we never watched GH.
I totally make Zoe and Ana watch General Hospital. It’s a requirement in my family.
I remember those days. I remember when we only had TWO channels and rabbit ears. The big soaps of my youth were Another World and Days of Our Lives… oh the drama. Jake and Vicky, Bo and Hope… I couldn’t sit through them for a minute now but boy did I love them back in the day!
I’ve watched Y&R since I was eight years old.
I DVR it EVERY. DAY. and watch it right after the kids are put to bed. EVERY. NIGHT. (Except when the Olympics were on. Now I have 14 days to catch up on and you can bet I will watch every episode.)
I DVR Days of Our Lives every single day. I watch while my toddler is in the bathtub (the bathroom is in our room and I can see him from my bed – don’t judge). I have the CLEANEST child around because he spends exactly 41 minutes in the tub each night (that’s the show after you fast forward through commercials). Yes, it’s cold when I go get him. Yes, he is shriveled up. No, I don’t care.
I think I need to write about great parenting tips sometime.