5 Things You Did That Today's Kids Won't Understand

(This article appeared previously on Huff/Post 50.)

Though we love the Internet, our smartphones and all the technology the 21st century has to offer, it's hard not to smile when  thinking about how we dealt with things back in the good old days.

Back before everyone had cell phones, the thrill of covertly delivering a note to your BFF during class, without the teacher seeing was just as exciting as reading the message inside.

Before Wikipedia and whatnot, a research paper assignment meant being sentenced to the library for hours at a time. Using a card catalog, lugging around volumes of encyclopedias and getting paper cuts really makes you appreciate the wonder of the Internet.

Common Core standards no longer require cursive writing to be taught, meaning most students today are not required to undergo the rigors of forming perfectly curved letters on that special paper with the dotted lines.

There was no such thing as “sit back, relax and enjoy the show.” Especially if you were the youngest sibling, you got stuck with channel-changing duty on the giant analog TV, which meant lots of getting up off the couch and turning the dial on the TV itself.

Screening calls was not an option long before caller ID became commonplace. Annoying salesman? Your talkative aunt? Your crush? You’d just have to take a chance and pick up the phone.