Nothing makes you feel old quite like starting a sentence with “Back in my day …”
But if you’re an adult observing what childhood looks like today, you can’t help but reflect on how different things were when you were growing up sans YouTube, iPhones and other pillars of modern technology.
The funny grown-ups of Twitter certainly agree. HuffPost rounded up 35 too-real tweets about the difference between being a kid now and back in the day.
When I was a kid I wanted to be a marine biologist. My kids want to be famous for opening Easter eggs on YouTube.
— MamaFizzles (@MamaFizzles) September 26, 2016
When I was a kid, your richest friends had cable TV, an air hockey machine and ice that came out of the refrigerator door.
— Abe Yospe (@Cheeseboy22) October 3, 2017
Primary school kids have iphones. Man when i was their age i used to spread PVA glue on my hands, wait for it to dry and peel it off.
— SKRILL£R (@SkrillerZiller) March 22, 2018
Kids these days with their YouTube and their Google.
When I was a kid, adults told us complete bullshit and we were just grateful that we didn’t have to go the library to use the encyclopedia.— Sara Says Stop (@PetrickSara) January 9, 2018
Just blew my preschooler’s mind by telling him we didn’t have Netflix when I was a kid.
— Unfiltered Mama (@UnfilteredMama) April 12, 2015
Son when I was a kid, we didn’t have iphones and video games, we had to use our imaginations. It really sucked.
— Brian Gaar (@briangaar) November 15, 2014
Son, when I was a kid, no one ever got in trouble for being on their phone. Instead we got in trouble for making balls out of rubber cement.
— Abe Yospe (@Cheeseboy22) March 14, 2016
When I was a kid, I had no idea what to do with my life
My 3-year-old already knows she’s going to sell tacos in a cave and marry a Pokemon
— James Breakwell (@XplodingUnicorn) May 22, 2015
14 y.o.said she needs T84 calculator for math.
T84? When I was a kid, we had the T-1000. It was liquid metal & stabbed eyes. WAY cooler.
— Stephanie Ortiz (@Six_Pack_Mom) September 8, 2016
When I was a kid, I solved a rubix cube by moving the stickers.
My kid uses an app.— Sara Says Stop (@PetrickSara) October 30, 2016
Son, when I was a kid, we didn’t have inflatable slides. Our slides were made of metal and they burned your butt on the way down.
— Abe Yospe (@Cheeseboy22) September 19, 2015
When I was a kid, I had a tennis racquet that I pretended was a guitar. I also had a ping pong paddle that I pretended was a ukulele
— Darin Loves Bacon (@darinlovesbacon) April 20, 2017
5-year-old: What’s that?
Me: An origami book. Let me show you how I had fun when I was a kid.
5: I don’t want to be sad right now.
— James Breakwell (@XplodingUnicorn) April 27, 2016
We didn’t have Web MD when I was a kid, but we did have crazy Aunt Sharon, who used to be a nurse and told you everything is cancer.
— Abe Yospe (@Cheeseboy22) October 27, 2016
Me: Let’s watch the old Mario Bros show on Netflix from when I was a kid!
Daughter: Why is it blurry?
Me: All of the shows used to be blurry.
Daughter: Why is it square?
Me: TV’s used to be square.
Daughter: Why isn’t it funny or good?
Me: YOU MADE ME WATCH CAILLOU!!
— John Kinnear (@askdadblog) March 23, 2018
PG rating today: A Pixar character stubs its toe
PG rating when I was a kid: frontal nudity, minors drink alcohol after Little League game— Brian Gaar (@briangaar) December 13, 2015
Son, when I was a kid, we didn’t have splash pads, we had a “hose.” We’d laugh and play and spray each other with lead filled death water.
— Abe Yospe (@Cheeseboy22) June 29, 2017
Explained to kids 10 & 8 that when I was their age we had three ways of communicating–face to face, by phone and by letter. They weren’t having it.
— Julia Fierro (@JuliaFierro) January 10, 2018
ugh why can’t my kids just chill out on the sofa with some ancient runes and summon the dread-winged goddess like I did when I was their age
— A Mancino-Williams (@Manda_like_wine) September 17, 2016
Son, when I was a kid, we had round headphones had soft sponges on them. And when those wore off, jagged shards of metal would poke into your ears.
— Abe Yospe (@Cheeseboy22) March 21, 2018
Son: Everyone else has cell phones, Mom.
Me: When I was a kid, you’d play with tigers, and there were no cell phones to call anyone if a tiger attacked you.
Son: Mom that makes no sense.
Me: You’re right, it doesn’t, but you can’t have a cell phone.
— Stabbatha Christy (@LoveNLunchmeat) February 1, 2018
My son keeps asking what it was like when I was a kid as though I were riding around in a horse drawn carriage or some shit
— Valerie (@ValeeGrrl) March 8, 2018
Kids, when I was a kid we didn’t have GPS. We had a device called, “Dad drives around lost until mom yells him to pull over & ask a guy.”
— Abe Yospe (@Cheeseboy22) May 27, 2016
When I was a kid you were expected to memorize & recite poems. Victor & H think that’s nuts. Is this just something ppl w/ limited tv did?
— TheBloggess (@TheBloggess) December 31, 2017
The music kids listen to these days is crap. When I was a kid, I listened to 2Pac scream murder threats at other rappers’ children.
— The Dad (@thedad) January 11, 2015
Not everything is getting worse. When I was a kid, the only flavor of chapstick was “medicine”
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) November 10, 2017
Son, when I was a kid we ate our applesauce in bowls instead of sucking it out of vacuum sealed tubes.
— Abe Yospe (@Cheeseboy22) March 16, 2016
When I was a kid I’d actually PLAY video games instead of watching strangers play them on YouTube…and I walked uphill both ways to school
— The Walking Dad (@RealDMK) January 19, 2017
I remember packing my bags & threatening to run away when I was a kid.
How come my kids don’t do that?
— Sarcastic Mommy (@sarcasticmommy4) July 12, 2015
Son, when I was a kid, we had songs with lyrics like: “Hip Hop hooray…Hey…Ho…Hey…Ho…Hey…Ho…Hey…Ho…” They just don’t write songs like that anymore.
— Abe Yospe (@Cheeseboy22) March 25, 2018
When I was a kid, we had Weebles. And they would wobble, but not fall down. And that was the limit of our technology.
— Mat Johnson (@mat_johnson) September 14, 2016
Me: When I was a kid they had other shows about the Ewoks.
G: What app did you find them on?
(I couldn’t answer with a straight face.)— Jess (@jessicaesquire) January 8, 2017
Son, when I was a kid we had to listen to an annoying sound for 4 minutes every time we got on the internet and we liked it.
— Abe Yospe (@Cheeseboy22) July 25, 2017
kids today have it so easy. when i was their age, people my age were self-righteous and had selective memories about childhood.
— John Ramsey (@jtramsey) November 27, 2012