Purple Kool-Aid

As I was making my daughter some kool-aid this morning, to go with her breakfast, because she is 15 and has no idea how to make food, I was suddenly reminded of my childhood. When I smell grape kool-aid it triggers something in my brain. Something that takes me far from here and to a better place and time. The 80's! I lived off of kool-aid and mac-n-cheese. But we rarely had milk so our mac-n-cheese was a little dry. I remember waking up and playing outside ALL day long. Come home at lunch, eat some dry mac-n-cheese and then wash it down with some purple kool-aid. Then I was off again to play for hours. I didn't have to check my facebook, text my friends, take a selfie, I just left the house. My daughters don't understand this concept and we "struggle" to see eye to eye on the issue of entertaining yourself. God forbid you get creative and think of something to do.

I remember my dad brought home our first VCR when I was 12 and he had paid over $500 for it. It had a remote control that was actually attached to a 20 foot wire. So you could control it from the sofa. We were amazed! We would rent movies like "ET" and "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" from Good Guys Video down the street. It was only $5 per movie, per night. The same time he purchased the VCR he also bought a microwave for around $500 and it weighed approx. 600 pounds. It blew our mind that we could cook a tv dinner in 60 seconds. I put everything in that microwave for the next 6 months. 




I had a boom box that played cassette tapes and you couldn't really choose the songs, you had to listen to the entire tape. It took 12 D batteries. Now days kids are upset if their ipod only has enough memory to hold 1,000 songs. If they can't watch a blu-ray HD movie in the back seat while driving thru McDonald's drive-thru they get McPissed. Netflix has thousands of movies for $8 a month and you don't have to leave your house to watch them. Just grunt and point the remote, that's it. We need everything now, not later. Now! They have breath strips that you simply lay on your tongue. YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO SUCK ANYMORE!!!! At the rate we our going, my grandchildren should be 600 lbs. each and terrified of trees.