Life Was Safe, Simple and Secure

Life was safe, simple and secure...we were free to be children. During the long summer breaks from school we would leave home to play in the morning and not return until we got hungry, tired or it was bedtime. Our parents knew that we would return safe and sound - that was the norm - not the exception.

Our parents also knew that if they worked hard to provide for us then we, their children, would have a better life than was afforded to them. My Mother and Father chose to live this way, they both had recently returned from over seas defending our country in WWII and now were looking forward to realizing the "American Dream"...the simple life,a focused if not single minded view of raising a family the old school way.

Was there anything wrong with this simple and safe existence? Looking back on my childhood I can see that it was a great time to be alive. Naturally I didn't appreciate it at the time because I was the child and from my perspective this was the way things were supposed to be. I'm pretty sure my parents felt the same way...this basic simplicity was the expected norm.

What Is It That Has Changed?

What is it that has changed? Like my parents during their lives, my Wife and I believe in the "American Dream"...work hard to provide for our children and everything else would come together just like it had for our parents. I guess this simplistic pattern doesn't work like it used to - and why doesn't it? What was wrong with living that way? Why couldn't we bring up our children in this simple fashion and why can't they raise their children this way?