Technology

Abby asked me the other day, "Did you tell Grandma that I lost my second tooth?  If not, we better text her and let her know."

Text her?  Really?  What happened to calling?

Okay, so maybe she thought about how her grandma was at work and texting would be easier, but something tells me that her thought process did not go that far.

Her understanding of technology got me to thinking of what a different life my kids will grow up having compared to me. 

-They use my camera and take pictures, then immediately look to see how their shots turned out. 
-I remember taking pictures and being so excited to develop the film and see the results.  Yes, many shots were fuzzy or not centered, but they did the job and represented whatever activity I was trying to capture.

-If they need to walk away from the television for a moment, they press the pause button. 
-Um, hello tv that had a dial on the actual set with three, maybe four channels, depending on where the bunny ears were positioned.

-When they watch movies, they place the DVD in the player and select what they want to do.
-We had these things called VCRs and we actually had to wait (gasp) while we fast-forwarded to what we wanted to see.  Then we had to be kind and rewind.

-Our kids get to watch movies on road trips with the built-in DVD system in the van. 
-Long car trips meant playing the license plate game and picking on each other while we listened to the boring radio stations of our parents.

-We have the air-conditioner running all summer, set at the lovely temperature of 71 degrees.
-I grew up in a farmhouse where the only way to cool down was to blow the window fan directly on our faces while we attempted to fall asleep.

-When waiting for a doctor's appointment or on car trips, they have handheld video games.
-The only video game system I had was an Atari that stayed in one place-the living room.  I think if I mentioned Space Invaders or Pac-Man to my children, they would think I was speaking another language.

-When wanting to hear a certain song, my children simply find it on the ipod and press the play button.
-Oh, the joy of cassette tapes.  I am so thankful that our stereo (yes, we still have one of those) still has a cassette player because I just cannot part with a few tapes from my youth.  Especially the homemade mixed tapes, each one representing the trials of that season of my life. 

So, my kids will continue to pause the tv (except for when I am around and tell them, "Too bad, just miss a minute of your show") and text the family of their news.  And I will continue to make sure they are playing outside and using their imaginations. 

While I sit on my laptop typing this under the air-conditioning vent.