Blog Post #6

I learned a lot of things from the interview with my grandma. For example, I didn't know that farm kids were allowed to skip school during the harvest season to help collect crops. One thing my grandma told me that surprised me was that everyone's phone line was connected on the same circuit back then. This means that when one person tried to call someone, everyone's phone in the neighborhood would ring. They all had specific ring tones and if yours was the one coming from the phone, it meant the call was for you. If not, you weren't supposed to pick up the phone because you would end up eaves-dropping on one of your neighbors conversations.
My life is very different from my grandma's as a teenager. First of all, girls back in her time dressed differently. Jeans weren't acceptable for society and young girls were to wear skirts or dresses all the time. I wear jeans basically everywhere I go. Also, girls' necklines were pretty much non-existent. They wore high-collared shirts and barely ever exposed skin below their neck. Now days, girls get in trouble for showing off too much cleavage. There is also way more technology now than there was when my grandma was young. I don't know what I would do without the Internet, radio, and my cell phone. I think it would be a neat experience to live back in my grandma's time, but I don't think I would like it very much. I would probably get bored really quickly because there wasn't much to do for fun back then.

The "Parenting and Adolescents" video made me think about my life at home. I agree with the video when it said that kids and their parents often make a big argument over some small, insignificant matter. My parents and I fight about stupid things all the time and the argument is usually blown way out of proportion. My teenage years have been memorable, emotional, exciting, and so much fun. I think that these years will affect me as an adult because I have learned a lot throughout them. I believe that I will benefit from all of my experiences and have more knowledge in the adult world from them.

One thing I found interesting in chapter 4 was in the section about gender development. A boy in Canada was born and lost his male parts in a circumcision accident and his parents decided to raise him as a girl. As the child grew, 'she' didn't like any girl toys or girls clothing and played a lot rougher than other females of her age. She wasn't interested in boys at all as she grew up. Her parents decided to tell her about the accident. The child then decided to become the male they were born as and assumed a new name, David. He married a woman later on but committed suicide shortly after. I think it's interesting how biologically your body knows what sex you are even if people try to tell you differently from birth. I would be really mad if something like this happened to me and upset that my parents didn't tell me earlier.

I found childhood amnesia interesting in chapter 5. The book stated that most of us can't remember much of anything before age 3. I think that this is strange that our brains just simply forget everything once we pass through our third birthday. I also think this is a true statement because I can't remember a single thing from my early years.