People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn’t Understand Them

Every new generation of people experiences life differently. That depends on what economical, political and cultural environment they grew up surrounded by. They are also heavily impacted by the technology that is available and how it makes their lives easier and less complicated as time goes by.

Those who were born earlier witness the change in the generations, in the global trends and technology development and observe how younger people than them don’t experience the world in the same way they did.

This does not necessarily mean that the way today’s kids are growing up is wrong, but it’s still interesting to explore what things lose their relevance over time and how they immediately expose your age. Redditors went down memory lane when LastPoopOnTheLeft asked them “Without revealing your age, What is something from your childhood that ‘Kids These Days’ wouldn't understand?”

Let us know if anything in this list was part of your childhood and if you ever had to explain it to a younger person who had no idea what it was!

More info: Reddit

This post may include affiliate links.

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them How much time we spent playing outside, but not in organized sports. Pickup kickball in the street where you yell “CAR!” to break up the game briefly for a car driving through. Coming home covered in dirt after disappearing for five hours. We all made fun of how we were called by our parents. We would explore and poke around. Dig up worms, chase butterflies, freak out over finding a dead baby bird, skin our knees at least twice a summer and entertain ourselves for hours.

GoddessOfOddness , Yi Chen Report

Final score:

292points

POST

Show comments

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Getting to be goofy and awkward and not have to worry about it ending up online for everyone to see.

anon , Osvaldo Gago Report

Final score:

255points

POST

Show comments

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Recording music from the radio

AndNoc , schnaars Report

Final score:

248points

POST

Show comments

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them TV going off-the-air at night.

J_David_Settle_1973 , Shal Farley Report

Final score:

238points

POST

Show comments

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them How we had to plan our TV watching around a printed schedule. No VHS, no dvr.

thorndike , pizhonas Report

Final score:

236points

POST

Show comments

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Running to go to the bathroom during a commercial break

OptimistPrime527 , Marnie Morris Report

Final score:

223points

POST

Show comments

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Using a road atlas to get somewhere on vacation

siriusonbroadripple , Rob Russell Report

Final score:

212points

POST

Show comments

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Memorizing peoples phone numbers

OptimistPrime527 , Alan Levine Report

Final score:

209points

POST

Show comments

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them It’s not working, cuz it’s not on Ch3

moridin82 , cucuzza Report

Final score:

203points

POST

Show comments

#10

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Knocking on your friends door to see if they could come out and play.

whit3lightning , Henry Burrows Report

Final score:

200points

POST

Show comments

#11

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Hitting that red strip of paper for your toy gun with a rock.

songinheart17 , Harry20 Report

Final score:

197points

POST

Show comments

#12

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Organising to meet someone on a landline and actually having to turn up on time or they wouldn’t know where you are because you have no way of contacting them.

withereddesign , Alan Kotok Report

Final score:

195points

POST

Show comments

#13

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Rewinding vhs or a cassette before returning.

est1979 , Allan Hazle Report

Final score:

192points

POST

Show comments

#14

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Calling the theater to listen to the prerecorded list of what movies were playing and at what time.

SteamboatMcGee , stu_spivack Report

Final score:

183points

POST

Show comments

#15

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Calling a girl and her dad answers the phone. That s**t was rough, kids.

clydem , Anselm Hook Report

Final score:

180points

POST

Show comments

#16

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Phone corded to the wall.

Dendad6972 , Joybot Report

Final score:

177points

POST

Show comments

#17

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them The joys of Saturday morning cartoons

GallicPontiff , xmoltarx Report

Final score:

176points

POST

Show comments

#18

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them We had to walk up to the t.v. to turn it on or off, change the channel, or adjust the antenna when the picture became unclear.

BingeRedditor , noricum Report

Final score:

172points

POST

Show comments

#19

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them "Please get off the computer (internet) so that I can make a phone call."

Big-Professional723 , Blake Patterson Report

Final score:

170points

POST

Show comments

#20

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them The Wizard of Oz was on once a year, and if we missed it we had to wait another year to see it

Fearless_Associate_5 , Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Report

Final score:

163points

POST

Show comments

#21

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Walkman

Shuoinked , Chris Waits Report

Final score:

162points

POST

Show comments

#22

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them those sort of binoculars with cardboard discs with pictures. I used to have Dora the Explorer ones.

guitarhansolo , Jack Pearce Report

Final score:

155points

POST

Show comments

#23

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Playing the same level on a game over and over because there’s no Saves

drevilishrjf , blahter09 Report

Final score:

147points

POST

Show comments

#24

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Video rental stores with adult sections

est1979 , Elliott Brown Report

Final score:

146points

POST

Show comments

#25

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them That Lite Brite was peak technology

shanecdotes , fo.ol Report

Final score:

145points

POST

Show comments

#26

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them NOT DA MAMA!

BeEccentric , Disney Report

Final score:

142points

POST

Show comments

#27

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Walking to blockbuster and spending an hour trying to pick a movie everyone agrees on

sugarfairymagic , Ben Schumin Report

Final score:

140points

POST

Show comments

See Also on Bored Panda

Dutch Swimmer Goes Viral For Super Revealing Trunks During 2024 Olympics: “Is This Legal?”

Thrill-Seeking Diver Jumps Down Extreme Waterslide, Ignoring The Strict Ban For Women

#28

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Kids these days wouldn't understand why people who grew up with beanie babies won't buy NFTs

Lovebot_AI , Michael Lehet Report

Final score:

129points

POST

Show comments

#29

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them The sound on the phone when somebody was using the internet.

Poops_McClanahan , Ajit Beborta Report

Final score:

125points

POST

Show comments

#30

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Waiting til nights and weekends to make FREE phone calls on your mom’s Nokia.

SameAsk6997 , Paul Swansen Report

Final score:

120points

POST

Show comments

#31

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them I've noticed a lot of younger people who have grown up with social media don't have a strong sense of privacy. Everything is filmed and turned into a tiktok or an insta story without asking if you consent to having your life shared like this.

Houndie , Marco Verch Report

Final score:

119points

POST

Show comments

#32

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Waiting for your friend to get home to call them. (Not having constant access)

est1979 , David Wilson Report

Final score:

107points

POST

Show comments

See Also on Bored Panda

Woman Put A Water Fountain With A Camera In Her Yard, Here Are 24 Photos Of Regular Visitors (New Pics)

“Ma’am I Live Here”: Woman Refuses To Back Out Of Driveway, Learns A Lesson The Hard Way

#33

A computer with a black screen with orange or green font.

Just_Series_3125 Report

Final score:

107points

POST

Show comments

#34

Blowing on Game cartridges to make them work.

PrudentBuffalo4535 Report

Final score:

106points

POST

Show comments

#35

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Going on road trips as a kid where the only form of entertainment was some sort of game played amongst your siblings in the back seat involving the license plates of other passing cars. On our car trip to Disney/FL from central PA me and my brother had a competition on who could write down the most license plate numbers… we ended in the thousands but for the life of me I can’t remember who “won” 😂

Ambrosia0201 , Rod Waddington Report

Final score:

105points

POST

Show comments

#36

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them Where in the world is Carmen San Diego?

cfishlips , The Learning Company Report

Final score:

98points

POST

Show comments

See Also on Bored Panda

50 Of The Most Incredible Shots That Were Submitted To The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

French Diver’s “Jewels” In Tight Swimming Trunks Become Talk Of The Town At Olympics

#37

Hunting for dimes in pay phones

stupidlyugly Report

Final score:

93points

POST

Show comments

#38

Picking up the telephone to call your friend and hearing people talking because it was a party line, meaning multiple households all had to share the same line and so you had to wait until it was available.

doinmybest4now Report

Final score:

87points

POST

Show comments

#39

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them I recently had to explain what “changing the channel” meant to my small kid because he only knows streaming. We’ve already covered CDs, VCRs, and what it means to roll down a car window. It was a little rough (for me, not him). Edit: oh and we watched “Turning Red” and I got to explain what a flip phone is.

Proper-Emu1558 , Forsaken Fotos Report

Final score:

84points

POST

Show comments

#40

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn't Understand Them You needed a light accessory for your Gameboy because those suckers didn't have back lighting. And to trade Pokemon, you needed to use cables. CABLES.

gracefultime , Phil Nelson Report

Final score:

80points

POST

Show comments

Note: this post originally had 45 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.

See Also on Bored Panda

Woman Moves Out Of Parents' Home After They Asked Her To Give Her Space To Brother, They Freak Out

Mom Leaves $250k Inheritance To Son, Throws A Fit When Daughter Stops Looking After Her

Having started as a content creator that made articles for Bored Panda from scratch I climbed my way up to being and editor and then had team lead responsibilities added as well. So it was a pretty natural transition from writing articles and titles as well as preparing the visual part for the articles to making sure others are doing those same tasks as I did before well, answering their questions and guiding them when needed. Eventually I realized editing gives me the most enjoyment and I'm focusing only on that right now.

Read less »

What do you think ?

POST

Pogi Gwapo 2 years ago

Getting your photos developed (and you could only take 24, not thousands)

26points

M Rob 2 years ago

And each picture costs money, including blurry and too dark to see.

14points

Load More Replies...

AK to LV 2 years ago

Not knowing immediately how the photo turned out. You just crossed your fingers that it was in focus and the lighting was okay.

1point

Lauren Caswell 2 years ago

we always had photos of dads feet and thumbs on the camera rolls, poor dad wasn't the best with it 😅

0points

Jode Mode 2 years ago

THIS!!!!

0points

Disgruntled Panda 2 years ago

And you used to be so careful with what to use them on! And then hope and pray that they turned out not blurry or poorly lit while waiting days for them to be developed

0points

Seabeast 2 years ago

Some rolls would hold up to 48 exposures. Then you'd take about 10 pictures of your pet at the end just to use the roll up, because you were impatient to see your vacation snaps.

0points

Mike Cassino 2 years ago

Kids are the original remotes!

18points

AK to LV 2 years ago

Adjusting the rabbit ears too. The youngest had to stand and hold a certain position so the tv would stay clear!😂

5points

Load More Replies...

Marisol L. Banks 2 years ago

Cars had only AM radio and no air conditioning.

11points

Benita Valdez 2 years ago

Oh lord don't remind me. Cramming 5 people in a dodge colt hatchback with no ac to drive 12 hours to see relatives in another state. I hated summer break from school sometimes knowing that trip was coming

9points

Load More Replies...

Nikki Sevven 2 years ago

Cranking the windows open.

2points

Miss Frankfurter 2 years ago (edited)

We had 2 AM stations. One with young people's music ( The Beatles) and one for adults where they talked A LOT. We "rolled" down the windows if it was hot.

2points

Chucky Cheezburger 2 years ago

I remember when getting a cassette player in a car was a BFD...My first car had the original AM/FM radio with an 8 track player.Look that one up for a blast from the past.

2points

Shelli Aderman 2 years ago

ROLLING down the window…

9points

rehanne garvey 2 years ago

I still have to roll mine down 🤣

0points

Load More Replies...

Miss Frankfurter 2 years ago

As you can tell by my many down memory lane posts, apparently I am ancient. Just bury me in a pyramid.

7points

Seabeast 2 years ago

Same. 🗿🗿🗿 (Where is the pyramid emoji?)

0points

Load More Replies...

Rose the Cook 2 years ago

While reading to an 8 year old recently I had to explain what a handkerchief was.

5points

dorkus 2 years ago

Getting a busy signal. Or letting the phone ring a thousand times—no answering machines.

4points

Sapna Sarfare 2 years ago (edited)

India till the 90s was a closed market and so we did not have most brands from abroad in India. We have a few which had the monopoly. Chocolate was mostly Cadbury... If we got some fancy food item, it was either from some expensive duty free shop or if someone came from abroad

4points

Lainie 2 years ago

Awe, you're in India... I have very close, intimate even, relationship with some parts of India. Please, kiss the sky and touch any tree for me. Pretty please, it was my birthday yesterday (June 2nd). And thank you. ♥️

1point

Load More Replies...

censor 2 years ago

ok I can out-retro all this ... using a compass and mapbook to navigate instead of a gps. Coding in assembly code. Saving apps onto audio cassettes. ABBA was on the radio. Yes I am fing old.

3points

M Rob 2 years ago (edited)

The year was 1976 - my school had a computer room ( large room FULL of tape processor to run ONE monitor) I was drawn to it like a moth to flame. I was told " Women will never be able to work computers, they are way to complicated". Not the first nor the last time I was underestimated.

5points

Load More Replies...

WildHoneyPie 2 years ago

My husband just brought up ditto machines. I can remember how the purple ink smelled when fresh out of the machine. Also, I'll add overhead projectors.

2points

Joles 2 years ago

during the State of the Union address, hearing kids cries of 'The President's on EVERY CHANNEL!'

2points

Faramir10 2 years ago

When the tv screen started vertical rolling.

2points

Sue Lynn Chan 2 years ago

sshot-2011...0c-png.jpg

2points

Sapna Sarfare 2 years ago

It is interesting to see that a lot of this stuff matches with the kids who grew up in India too at the same time. In India, till the 90s, TVs came in late. So not everyone had TV or good quality ones. Black and whites ones at most. My house was one of the first in my society to get colour TV. Plus television channels were govt controlled... so just one or two channels which had shows okayed by govt. But they were good programmes. Plus we had some shows from abroad including cartoons. Sundays had kids from our society in my house to see them. We were roaming all over town like goons and our parents were relaxed.. i am sure parents these days are petrified if their kids even steps outside their homes. Going to theatres to watch movies was a big deal. We wore good clothes. Food meant a popcorn pack, samosas or potato wadas, ice cream (chocobar) and cold drinks. Cold drinks was just one or two brands. We did not have international brands in India till 90s.

2points

Mintberry 2 years ago

I miss games on CDs (or DVDs?) added to yoghurt or juice multipacs. They were simple but soo lovely

2points

Mary Peace 2 years ago

I've never heard of that in the UK.

0points

Load More Replies...

AK to LV 2 years ago

Prank phone calls. On sleepovers, dialing random numbers and no one knew who was calling because of caller ID😂 Is your refrigerator running? Well, you better go catch it!!😂

1point

Jackie Lulu 2 years ago

Lol how most of these were new technology for me at some point in my life.

1point

Matt MacFarlane 2 years ago

I'm old enough to remember getting up real early on Saturday morning, turning on the TV to warm up, then waiting for the Test Pattern to turn off, the station sign on, then all cartoons all Saturday morning till 1:00 in the afternoon. Then spending the rest of the day running around outside.

1point

Enlee Jones 2 years ago

If you missed an episode of your favorite show you had to wait for the rerun.

1point

Benjamin Brogan 2 years ago

OMG...my kids didn't know how to make a "Collect Call"! We (adults) had to explain that to them. They asked ALL of our friends about calling "collect" just to hear how we each would make the call..."You have a Collect Call from, 'TheMovieIsOverCanYouComePickUsUpWeWillBeWaitingOutFront' Do you accept?" 😆😂🤣 Great Times!

0points

marianne eliza 2 years ago

Those annoying track changes in mid-song while using 8 tracks.

0points

Toxxa 2 years ago

i recently got an old ds off ebay and im loving it haha. ive got nintendogs on it. :)

0points

Agent 8433599 2 years ago

I wish I could grow up in the '80s and '90s.

0points

Glasia van Duivels 2 years ago

Dragon Ball Z on live TV

0points

Faramir10 2 years ago

A Panasonic radio.

0points

George Phucas 2 years ago

To be honest I think a lot of "childhood things kids don't understand" and "gen z" is because most of the time, kids don't post on tiktok. Mostly weird kids do. But because other people don't actually go outside or meet kids, all they see is tiktok. Most of gen z does a lot of these things.

0points

POST

Pogi Gwapo 2 years ago

Getting your photos developed (and you could only take 24, not thousands)

26points

M Rob 2 years ago

And each picture costs money, including blurry and too dark to see.

14points

Load More Replies...

AK to LV 2 years ago

Not knowing immediately how the photo turned out. You just crossed your fingers that it was in focus and the lighting was okay.

1point

Lauren Caswell 2 years ago

we always had photos of dads feet and thumbs on the camera rolls, poor dad wasn't the best with it 😅

0points

Jode Mode 2 years ago

THIS!!!!

0points

Disgruntled Panda 2 years ago

And you used to be so careful with what to use them on! And then hope and pray that they turned out not blurry or poorly lit while waiting days for them to be developed

0points

Seabeast 2 years ago

Some rolls would hold up to 48 exposures. Then you'd take about 10 pictures of your pet at the end just to use the roll up, because you were impatient to see your vacation snaps.

0points

Mike Cassino 2 years ago

Kids are the original remotes!

18points

AK to LV 2 years ago

Adjusting the rabbit ears too. The youngest had to stand and hold a certain position so the tv would stay clear!😂

5points

Load More Replies...

Marisol L. Banks 2 years ago

Cars had only AM radio and no air conditioning.

11points

Benita Valdez 2 years ago

9points

Load More Replies...

Nikki Sevven 2 years ago

Cranking the windows open.

2points

Miss Frankfurter 2 years ago (edited)

We had 2 AM stations. One with young people's music ( The Beatles) and one for adults where they talked A LOT. We "rolled" down the windows if it was hot.

2points

Chucky Cheezburger 2 years ago

I remember when getting a cassette player in a car was a BFD...My first car had the original AM/FM radio with an 8 track player.Look that one up for a blast from the past.

2points

Shelli Aderman 2 years ago

ROLLING down the window…

9points

rehanne garvey 2 years ago

I still have to roll mine down 🤣

0points

Load More Replies...

Miss Frankfurter 2 years ago

As you can tell by my many down memory lane posts, apparently I am ancient. Just bury me in a pyramid.

7points

Seabeast 2 years ago

Same. 🗿🗿🗿 (Where is the pyramid emoji?)

0points

Load More Replies...

Rose the Cook 2 years ago

While reading to an 8 year old recently I had to explain what a handkerchief was.

5points

dorkus 2 years ago

Getting a busy signal. Or letting the phone ring a thousand times—no answering machines.

4points

Sapna Sarfare 2 years ago (edited)

4points

Lainie 2 years ago

1point

Load More Replies...

censor 2 years ago

ok I can out-retro all this ... using a compass and mapbook to navigate instead of a gps. Coding in assembly code. Saving apps onto audio cassettes. ABBA was on the radio. Yes I am fing old.

3points

M Rob 2 years ago (edited)

5points

Load More Replies...

WildHoneyPie 2 years ago

My husband just brought up ditto machines. I can remember how the purple ink smelled when fresh out of the machine. Also, I'll add overhead projectors.

2points

Joles 2 years ago

during the State of the Union address, hearing kids cries of 'The President's on EVERY CHANNEL!'

2points

Faramir10 2 years ago

When the tv screen started vertical rolling.

2points

Sue Lynn Chan 2 years ago

sshot-2011...0c-png.jpg

2points

Sapna Sarfare 2 years ago

2points

Mintberry 2 years ago

I miss games on CDs (or DVDs?) added to yoghurt or juice multipacs. They were simple but soo lovely

2points

Mary Peace 2 years ago

I've never heard of that in the UK.

0points

Load More Replies...

AK to LV 2 years ago

Prank phone calls. On sleepovers, dialing random numbers and no one knew who was calling because of caller ID😂 Is your refrigerator running? Well, you better go catch it!!😂

1point

Jackie Lulu 2 years ago

Lol how most of these were new technology for me at some point in my life.

1point

Matt MacFarlane 2 years ago

1point

Enlee Jones 2 years ago

If you missed an episode of your favorite show you had to wait for the rerun.

1point

Benjamin Brogan 2 years ago

0points

marianne eliza 2 years ago

Those annoying track changes in mid-song while using 8 tracks.

0points

Toxxa 2 years ago

i recently got an old ds off ebay and im loving it haha. ive got nintendogs on it. :)

0points

Agent 8433599 2 years ago

I wish I could grow up in the '80s and '90s.

0points

Glasia van Duivels 2 years ago

Dragon Ball Z on live TV

0points

Faramir10 2 years ago

A Panasonic radio.

0points

George Phucas 2 years ago

0points

People Remember These 40 Things Being Their Reality When They Were Kids But Children These Days Wouldn’t Understand Them

Games

Jurgita Dominauskaitė

Jurgita Dominauskaitė

Word Search

WordroW

Jigsaw

Crossword

Sudoku

Picdoku

Killer Sudoku

Kriss Kross

Word Flower