Raising kids in the 1980's

We were newly married.  Then we had kids two years into our marriage.

As with any parent, we were fearful of our own inadequacies.  Would we get this right?  How could we even think that we were capable of parenting these amazing beings?

At the same time, media reports were full of fear.  Fear of the unknown.  As parents, like so many others, we listened to some of that fear....mostly with good intentions.  We wanted to protect our kids from evil.  What parent doesn't?

It was interesting to come across this article.  I have not read ANY analysis of parenting in the 1980's...what it was like.

Many of the things we were fearful back then seem silly....but, as I said, we were all operating out of fear and that fear was fueled largely by the culture around us.

Fascinating that it was not just Church culture latching on to the fear....that was a small part of it...but major media as well....which we couldn't help but hear.

I tremble when I think of what is available today in the area of news and information.  We had no internet back then....just TV, radio and newspapers.

Fake News has always been a problem....for every generation I guess.

I take some small comfort in seeing that we were not the only ones....and that we were truly responding to what was being told to the culture at the time.

That's why, kids, we didn't like the SMURFS at the time...LOL.

See: "The Devil Made Them Do It: 8 Examples of Satanic Panic in the '80s"

Books from days gone by....

When I discovered Scholastic Books...I thought it was the most amazing thing in the world.  Imagine, inexpensive books delivered to me at school!

I loved it so much I took over the admin of it for the summer I was in Grade 7 and when I was in Grade 8...as none of the teachers were interested.

I got a lot of books over the years, but I did manage to save some of my favourites.  These books I read over and over again...I got these when I was in Grade 7....I was about 13.

89th Annual Turkey Dinner

Well, we did it.

It took 89 years...LOL, but we finally attended the "Turkey Dinner" at Corpus Christi Parish (formerly Saint Theresa's Parish).

The sign had met us every day.  So there was lost of time to process, plan...and go!

My grandparents used to participate in this dinner...hence the photograph here from about 1949....in which my grandmother, Elisabeth Gerk, is 5th from the right.

After all these years, it was kinda cool to attend this event...one which my grandparents were very involved in...eating in the same basement they worked in so many years ago!

 

Favourite Comic Books....

Growing up, one of my favourite comic books was Treasure Chest.

This Catholic oriented comic book was offered for sale in Catholic schools throughout North America.

One of my oldest brothers must have subscribed, because I remember it being brought home, at least for a year or two.

As the third youngest, I had to be content with waiting my turn to read it.

I remember my favourite being the Chuck White character.

The whole series dealing with buried treasure caught my attention as a nine-year old...and I remember it well.

All editions have been scanned, but I have a few original issues in my collection.

Rockets and more rockets....

When I was around 13 years of age, I discovered ROCKETS!  I built a number of models, usually semi-trucks....but then someone showed me a model rocket catalog...and I was hooked!

The actual purchase and building of a model rocket was not difficult in Canada.

Oh....but the flying of those same rockets....at the time they were strictly regulated...so in Canada...you had to get a special permit which included providing a map of the area where the rocket was going to be launched, etc.

Basically, it made it impossible.  But, thankfully, by the time I had kids, you were allowed to purchase the engines in Canada and, hopefully, use common sense and fly away!

One of the most enjoyable activities I did with my kids was building and flying a rocket in the field near our home!

Most model rockets were made by Estes...a company out of Colorado.  I would order their catalog...and dream......

Yes, I even became of member of the Estes Aerospace Club.

It's pretty cool that they have scanned  most of their catalogs going back decades.

The ones I remember start from about 1973 to 1977...when I had my strongest interest in building models.

I would literally pour over these catalogs for hours....

My Dad's radio

My Mom and Dad would often spend their summer evenings outside on the patio.  Dad had this Viking Multiband radio in which he would listen to the Police Band....listening for what was happening in our city....he even had a printout of police codes so he could figure out what was being referred to!

Wow, the things you can find for sale on the internet!

Singing Songs

When our kids were infants, we would often have to rock them to sleep at night.

By night, I'm talking about the middle of the night.

I think Marina and I often felt we would never sleep again!

But we did.  There is something special about rocking a infant to sleep, or to calm them down, when the house is quiet and everyone else is sleeping.

My kids don't have memories of those moments. I wouldn't imagine they would...they were all under 2 when such nights came...

Two songs come to mind that we sang.  Gospel singer Keith Green was big in our day....so we would sing a few of his songs....I remember singing and humming these two songs to our kids....