Slop.

For children it was perhaps the last time where at least a bit of your innocence could last beyond age 12 or 13. Less control, more "well, the sun is shining, let's hope they will be back by dinner". I've probably never have known a neighborhood in more detail than when i was 8. You could do something stupid and it wouldn't be filmed or photographed, with date and location tag, immediately uploaded into the cloud and available at a buttons press. You could get BORED, and then you'd do something that you hadn't tried before, because you couldn't just grab your phone and bombard yourself with tiny dopamine hits.

My nieces/nephews are struggling with this so hard. They are good kids and their parents are doing a commendable job, but they are lucky to have enough time and enough awareness to strictly limit their kids access to media.

Being a child was nice. Always knew I'd hate being a grown up.

i was a child too and it was mostly great, except for the massive inflation and my dad's job suddenly paying absolute dogshit and the family becoming poor. anxiety about money never really ended, even when our situation improved.

but there was that brief moment of incredible optimism that with the soviet union fallen, everything would finally be great. how'd that turn out, btw? :D