Dec 10
12
Baby Boomers As Grandparents
The children of the so-called Baby Boomer generation, those born in the twelve years or so after the Second World War, are now grandparents and one of the jobs of being a grandparent is to dote on one’s grandchildren. Baby boomers belong to the wealthiest generation that the West has ever seen and that is a good job, because all this doting is quite expensive.
Baby boomers were fortunate because their parents survived the worst war the world has ever seen and their parents knew unparalleled wealth as the world rebuilt itself after the devastation of the war. Needless to say a great deal of the wealth that baby boomers’ parents were earning was spent on their children, giving them what they had never had themselves.
This meant that a great deal of baby boomers had way too much: rocking horses, dolls’ prams, toy forts, train sets, dolls’ houses, you name it. Nothing was too much for the generation of hope from the generation who had had nothing.
Now, fifty odd years later, those baby boomers are grandparents. But not just grandparents – the wealthiest generation of grandparents that the world has ever seen and the way things are going, the wealthiest generation of grandparents that the world will see for a generation or two to come as the Western world struggles to pay off the mountains of debt that the banking crisis cost us.
However, money has a way of burning holes in pockets and grandparents like to dote and spoil their grand kids, so grandchildren, especially young grandchildren are being given the type of gifts by their grandparents that the grandparents enjoyed themselves: rocking horses, dolls’ prams, toy forts et cetera are seeing a come-back big time.
The generation in between missed out, in general, on these old fashioned toys, but look on Amazon or eBay and see what is most in demand now – it is modern versions of the old stuff, traditional toys. One of the reasons why traditional toys are so good is because they are timeless.
Yes, a computer is a great present – it is both a games machine and it can be educational, but it will be too sluggish to run next year’s games, whereas children will play with a rocking horse for ten years and then it can be passed on.
However, boomer grandparents were not just brought up on traditional toys, the Fifties and Sixties also saw a huge boost in science – nuclear science and the journey into space fascinated most people. Yes, it was a time of uncertainty and distrust as well because or the Arms Race with the Soviet Bloc, but that was not what most individuals talked about.
Music and science were the issues of the day. Flower power, hippies and a modern, clean, bright way of life powered by new technology. Educational toys were well-liked gifts: Lego, Meccano and chemistry sets.
Toys of this type are becoming popular as baby boomer grandparent presents too. Lego sells one Lego set each and every seven seconds of each day of every year, day and night! This is a new trend, or at least, it is a revived trend and without doubt a step in the right direction. Baby boomers might not have been the best parents, but they are fairly good grandparents.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on several subjects, but is now involved with Silver Cross Rocking Horses. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Rocking Horses for sale.
