Grand Avenue by Mike Thompson for March 03, 2020

That was before fun was invented, of course.

320 channels, not counting Netflix, Hulu, Disney +, etc. and there’s still nothing to watch! (-:

If you can’t find something to watch, then you shouldn’t be watching what passes for TV these days. You obviously need to be doing something else.

I dunno. I grew up in a NYC Housing Authority project. There were (differently equipped) playgrounds for every three buildings, a field for various ball games and track-and-field behind the complex, a community center, playgrounds at both local schools, and the ocean and boardwalk at the end of every street. And in NY we had seven TV channels in the 1960s.

Twerps!

Perfect view of a lot of kids today. Most of what is on TV literally sucks your brain out as you watch. Hollywood is bent on brainwashing you, IMO.

Excellent! And…sad… (Great selling point in the 2nd panel!)

Lucky for her to grow up in an affluent family, swings slides, balls.. some found fun with just a stick.

Left off the best one of all… the BICYCLE!

Because we lived in the country we had all kinds of entertainment: home made bike ramps, minibikes, bikes, basketball hoop nailed to backyard tree, fishing, swimming/ice skating at the river or the pond, leftover airplane wings and air force junk from the local national air guard, abandoned pickup truck made into a fort, shall I go on? Lots of fun! Oh, and no overly ridiculous regulations/safety stuff or helicopter parenting and we lived to tell the tale!

My five year old daughter. Oof. I love her to bits, but this past weekend she was… well, lets just say her behaviour was out of line, and she needed to be punished. Her punishment was to be sent to her room for 30 minutes, and no screen for the rest of the day.

After she came down, she stomped around in a mood, then sheepishly asked to watch TV. I reminded her that because of what she’d done, she wasn’t allowed any screen time that day. She stood there – amidst a sea of toys, colouring books, a backyard with the sun shining outside – looked at me, scrunched her face up, and announced “WELL THEN WHAT CAN I DO???”

I have done a very poor job as a parent.

And only a wall phone we shared with another family. They called it a party line.

We could watch the Watergate hearings from slightly different angles.