Generation A

It’s Sunday night and I’m at home watching the tube with my youngest ages 7 and 4.  My eldest is 34, He’s been on his own for a while, so although we spend time together and he’s a great big brother he’s not around much.  I know, I know. Why would someone do that? So many years in between? Trust me, it’s a long story – possibly for another time.

We popped some corn, or I suppose I should say I popped some corn, we grab the blankets, favorite couch pillows and settle in. I love times like these.  Although my children watch TV, they haven’t seen very many old re-runs and that’s pretty much what will entertain us until the big movie which is our intent in the first place.

Flip on the TV, look at the guide and see two child appropriate shows that will fill in the time. We make it through Suite life on deck and then move on to Wizards of Waverly Place. Suite life takes place on a cruise ship and Wizards is about a group of teenagers some of which are wizards. Basically light hearted funny shows.

Afterwards I ask them what they thought of the shows. My eldest (of my youngest) pipes in with a question. He’s the type of kid who thinks and ponders everything, sometimes ad nauseam which can be exhausting. But, they are always thought provoking and keep me on my toes.

My son was born 2017 and my daughter 2020. They are generation A’ers.

My son says “mommy? How come in those shows no one is wearing a mask?’ My daughter then pipes in with “yeah.”

O.K. time to put on my wise mother pants and impart an answer full of understanding to these little ones. Ugh! Great time for my spouse to be out of town!

Then my son says “and they never wash their hands and they stand right next to each another.” My daughter pipes in with “yeah” although I’m pretty sure she’s not quite sure what she’s agreeing to.

Then it hits me. My children have never really seen “the past.” They’ve heard stories, but they’ve never really witnessed it.

Wow. Inhale. Exhale.

Their life experience is different. There is a caution, carefulness and an awareness that my eldest son never had to grow up with.

My younger children have known nothing different. What they do know are parents with their children at playgrounds who wipe down surfaces with Lysol wipes in between children using them. Wearing masks in public and sometimes even at home. They know of school classes where class sizes are below 20 and stringent hand washing is in place. Where a nurse all decked out in full PPE takes each child’s temperature before they are able to enter school. Where going to grocery store requires bringing your own cleaning supplies to wipe down your cart. Etc…..

I realize that the freedom that they saw on those shows was foreign to them. Kind of like me watching a show based on the great depression, I kind of understood, but not really.

Anyway, we paused the T.V. and I tried to explain to them that there was a time when things were very different and maybe we could one day get back to a more open and free place. They had more questions which I tried to answer in the most mindful way possible. These children never knew the “before” and even my 7 year old was to young to remember.

I felt a heaviness in my heart. I took a long deep breath. Sometimes less is more with little ones. I Refilled our popcorn and settled back down and started our movie.