Generational Differences

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I never realized the generational differences between my family until we all started living together under one roof. Living with four generations has been a blessing for the most part and an education as well. From growing up during the depression as my grandparents did to the age of computers, electronics and social media which is  my son’s generation, there is a huge gap! My grandparents are fascinated with my son’s toys, electronics and his ability to work them all. Watching my son show them how to facetime my niece is amazing and my grandparents cannot even begin to wrap their head around technology these days. My mom finally just got an iphone at age 64 and my 7 year old is constantly showing her how to use it. 😉

I decided a few weeks ago that sharing our generational differences from time to time here on the blog, would be a fantastic way for me to not only share our family with all of you but to keep it journalized for my family in the future.  There are so many differences between our generations but there are also some similarities. When it comes to stuff, my dad and I are of the mind to dispose of everything and keep “no clutter” or unused items. He is nothing like his parents (my grandparents), he throws everything away! My grandparents keep everything plus some.

I swear my grandmother has the same picture frames and a million little nick nacks from when I was a little girl. My grandfather is even worse, he keeps everything down to a screw that he might find on the floor of a store. My grandparents grew up very poor and when they got married, the had $5 between the two of them. My grandfather worked three jobs, along with maintaining his dairy farm, to keep food on the table and literally only slept for 5 hours a night, then was back to his morning job picking up trash.

Did you know I never knew half of these things until we all lived together? I cannot believe all the things I have learned. Most of stuff about my grandparents I learn in the car, on the way to doctor appointments with my grandfather. He often tells me the same things because he doesn’t remember telling me two weeks prior.  He shares his entire life story during the ride, some of which I think I would be better off not knowing :).

This is a couple days worth of groceries I bought. My grandfather said to me one day as he helped me lug in groceries, “kid, do you know when I was growing up as a kid, this amount of food would have lasted my family months?” My grandparents live on a very tight budget, although I think they could loosen it up a bit, but I suppose there is something to be said for a tight budget. He thinks we are very wasteful!

Although, I guess I cannot blame them, they survived the depression living on a tight budget as did many from their generation.  My grandfather has his first dollar he ever earned. Like, literally. There is something to be said for that though. They are a great reminder to save some money. There are so many generational differences in our house it is crazy sometimes! More on that soon! If you are looking for more family stories, be sure to check out my “how do you live with your parents series.”