As the years roll on, there are moments when the generational gap becomes a chasm that seems impossible to cross. And nothing makes you feel quite as ancient as trying to explain what life was like before the internet—and especially before Google. My kids stare at me in disbelief when I tell them how things used to be, and it only reinforces just how much time has passed since my own childhood. Here are the things that make me feel like a relic from a long-forgotten era.
1. We Used the Library to Look Stuff Up
When I tell my kids I spent hours in the library searching for answers in books, they look at me like I’m describing life on Mars. They can’t fathom a world without instant answers at their fingertips. Back then, finding the right information meant browsing through dusty card catalogs and flipping through endless pages.
2. Phones Had Cords—And We Shared One Line
Explaining that we had one phone for the entire family, and that it was tethered to the wall, is met with disbelief. If someone was already on the phone, you had to wait your turn. And don’t even get me started on party lines—try explaining that to a kid today!
3. We Memorized Phone Numbers
The concept of not knowing any phone numbers by heart is foreign to younger generations. Back in the day, we had to memorize all of our important contacts. Now, they just tap a name on their smartphone and it magically dials. What a time to be alive.
4. Saturday Morning Cartoons Were Sacred
I try to tell my kids that if you missed your favorite cartoon on Saturday morning, that was it. There were no DVRs, no streaming services, and definitely no YouTube. If you slept in, you just had to wait an entire week for the next episode. They can’t believe I survived such deprivation.
5. We Developed Film to See Our Photos
My kids don’t believe that it took days to see the photos we took. There was no instant feedback from a screen—just a roll of film you hoped turned out alright. And if you didn’t wind the film properly, you could ruin the whole thing. Talk about living on the edge!
6. Maps Were Paper, and We Actually Used Them
“Wait, you didn’t have GPS?”—the question I get every time I explain how we had to unfold a giant paper map to figure out where we were going. You had to plan ahead, or risk being hopelessly lost. And there were no turn-by-turn instructions, just pure guesswork and maybe a little help from a gas station attendant.
7. TV Shows Had Commercial Breaks You Couldn’t Skip
In the pre-streaming era, you watched TV live, and when a commercial came on, you had no choice but to sit through it. No fast-forwarding, no skipping—it was a forced break, perfect for grabbing a snack, but sometimes it felt like an eternity.
8. Music Was on Vinyl, 8-Track, and Cassette Tapes
It blows their minds that we listened to music on clunky formats like vinyl records or cassette tapes. Rewinding a tape with a pencil to save the batteries in your Walkman? They think I’m making that up. The idea of not having every song available in a split second is just… beyond them.
9. You Had to Wait Days for a Letter in the Mail
I try to explain that there was a time when we didn’t communicate through instant messages or texts. We actually wrote letters—by hand!—and waited days for them to be delivered by the postal service. The anticipation was part of the magic, but kids today just think it sounds impossibly slow.
10. We Played Outside Until Dark—And Nobody Worried
Back then, kids ran free. I tell my kids that I’d leave the house in the morning, hop on my bike, and my parents didn’t expect to see me until dinner time. No cell phones, no tracking apps—just pure freedom. Today, the thought of letting kids roam without constant contact feels unheard of.
11. We Had to Rewind Movies
Before Netflix, we had VHS tapes, and after watching a movie, you had to physically rewind it before you could return it to the video store. If you forgot, you’d hear about it—there was even a “Be Kind, Rewind” slogan plastered everywhere. My kids laugh at the idea of waiting minutes just to get back to the start of a movie.
12. Researching for a Term Paper Took Hours (and Zero Internet)
This one really gets them. I explain how writing a term paper required hours of manual research, sorting through encyclopedias, academic journals, and library books. Today, they can Google anything in seconds and have a hundred sources at their fingertips. They think my school experience sounds like it came from the Stone Age.
13. We Waited for Songs to Come on the Radio—With a Tape Recorder Ready
We didn’t have on-demand streaming services like Spotify. If we wanted to record a favorite song, we’d sit by the radio with our finger hovering over the record button on our cassette player, hoping we’d catch it in time. Missing the start of a song was a huge letdown.
14. A Portable TV Weighed as Much as a Small Child
The idea of watching TV anywhere on a sleek, handheld device wasn’t even in our wildest dreams. Back then, the closest thing to “portable” was lugging around a small, boxy set that weighed a ton. My kids can’t believe we didn’t have screens in our pockets at all times.
15. We Used the Dewey Decimal System
The Dewey Decimal System was our Google. If you wanted to find a book, you had to navigate a mysterious numerical system. The smell of library books and the sound of turning index cards still bring back memories, but explaining this process to my kids? It’s like speaking another language.
Each of these moments makes me feel like I’ve lived through a completely different world—and in some ways, I have. My kids are growing up with all the conveniences I could have never imagined, but there’s something sweet about the way things used to be. Sure, life is easier now, but looking back, we had it pretty good, too.
