Family Goes Retro, Lives Like it’s 1986

While many of us are gearing up for the beginning of the next generation of consoles, one family is going backwards. The McMillans from Canada are trading in all of their modern devices – from tablets to TVs – and instead are going back to something a little more retro. If it wasn’t around in 1986, they don’t use it. This means goodbye Candy Crush, hello NES.

“We’re parenting our kids the same way we were parented for a year just to see what it’s like,” Blair McMillan explained to the Toronto Sun. That’s probably not an hugely unusual goal, for parents to want to emulate and improve upon their own upbringing, but what makes this story so interesting is just how far he and his girlfriend, Morgan, are willing to go.

DVDs and disk-based games are banned, replaced by VHS cartridges and Super Mario. It also means no internet or mobile phones, which has caused Blair to lose business. 

“I can fax you, that’s the best I can do, but I want to meet you in person, I want to see you, I want to sit down and talk to you,” he said.

The family recently took a trip away, during which they relied on paper maps and colouring books for the children. 

Technology became to much for Blair when he asked his son to join him outside, only to recieve a semi-concious mutterance declining the invitation from behind a tablet. Since then, both adults and children have found themselves enjoying older pastimes more and more. The McMillans will be living this way until April 2014.

I bet they can’t wait to check Facebook.