Then and now

We were driving to Bahau in NS last week.To make the long drive a bit more interesting the topic turned to children today as compared with us and we came to realize that today's generation is spoilt, pampered by parents,grandparents and relatives and cannot help but reminisce on our early days.
Today's kids travel to school in air con cars,not even buses.We walked and cycled to school the moment we started school at the age of 7.Today the kids start school or nursery at the age of 3 or 4 and the kiasu parents would want to subject them to all kinds of exposure.We went to school period, came home and spent our time outdoors.We had no toys ,whatever we played with were hand made and out of whatever raw materials we could find,bamboo,stones,wood or whatever .
We never knew what was the TV , handphone,I phone ,I pad,DVD and computer games .We had to think and use our wits to come up with the means to keep us occupied.it was school and home.We never went out at night,as it was our house rule that everyone must be in the house by 6pm or you dont get dinner.We had just two meals a day,lunch and dinner and there was nothing in between.Rice was the food that we ate in large quantities,at least two plates and it always went with curry and sambal.Eating in restaurants was unheard off.But we enjoyed our home cooked meals together with the rest of the family members,parents, brothers and sisters.Families were made up of big numbers those days.There are six of us and definitely not a chance that anyone would be spoilt.Compare this with the one or two kids which couples have today!
When we cut ourselves or bruised ourselves we applied dettol or iodine ourselves and I cant remember when I ever visited a doctor.If you are sick you just cover yourself with a blanket,take a panadol and sleep.At best you get an apple or some porridge.
We played football ,rugby or just ran about in the rain and come home and have a cold shower.(Hot water showers were unheard of).
Yes we were tough,brought up in a no frills environment.We learnt to be independent,and street wise from an early age.We never expected anything other than the two meals and the clothes we had which were confined to school uniforms and a couple of casual wear.We travelled mainly on foot or by bicycle and depended on ourselves.When we had problems we solved it ourselves.Life was simple but we grew up to be creative, innovative and independent and on our own all the time.
We just wonder if today's generation of children will be as tough as us and if they can cope with the demands of life today.They have not gone through any hardships being given almost everything they ask for.Can they make it on their own? Are we bringing them up the right way?
The one or two child syndrome seems to be a disadvantage as compared with the big families of yesterday.This is the price of progress as parents today face so much stress in their daily lives and the high cost of living makes it impractical to have too many children.Nevertheless we have to take a step back and see if we are today bringing up our children up the right way.Are we giving them the foundation to be independent,strong willed ,principled and above all caring individuals who can survive in this competitive world?