What are things you can do today because of technology that you couldn't do five years ago?
Presented by Intel, Sponsors of Tomorrow.
This is an ok question, I guess. But I'm going to modify it and tweek it so that it fits a conversation I had yesterday.
"How big of a douchebag does your under 10 year old make you feel while playing on their latest gee-whiz-bang-gee- whiz-gizmo?"
I like to think I'm pretty experienced in computers. I've been around computers since back when the screen was black and only had green letters(typing class..circa 6th grade) I've been around computers when you had to start up in the DOS screen and type in WIN just to start the windows program. I've been around computers when Netscape was the popular browser for the web.
And Gaming? Hell, my generation STARTED gaming. I have saved the princess countless times playing Super Mario brothers..I jumped hundreds of hurdles and won many races on the Track game. I've delivered millions of newspapers while dodging dogs. And it started with PONG on Atari.
I used cell phones back when they came in a BAG! Back when they were called car phones. Back when the smallest cell phone you could get was the one that Zach Morris had on Saved By The Bell.
So when I see my FOUR YEAR OLD..on the computer, clicking away at the mouse..knowing where to go on the internet for his games, and I see my SEVEN YEAR OLD, kicking my ass on some Xbox or Playstation game because my hand-eye coordination is simply not as fast as his...I feel like I douchebag. When I pull out the old school Nintendo to play Super Mario Brothers...(you never forget the hidden stars/mushrooms, and you never forget the rythm) and my son says the graphics suck...I get a little defensive.
When I tell him about Game Boys when they first game out...he looks at me as if I were from Mars. You know, the ones that were big and heavy and if you dropped one it was sure to break your toe.
And when I hear my oldest son talking to his friend Skylar about "gaming"...its like he's Bill Freaking Gates. "yeah..if your guy isn't moving fast enough..you should try recalibrating him by going into the modify screen and amping up his levels." WTF? HE"S ONLY 7!!!
I don't even know what that means.
I feel like I'm the parent who says, "You know, when I was your age, I had to walk uphill both ways to school..because THEY DIDN"T HAVE CARS BACK THEN"
Now, my boys have Game BoysAdvance, NintendoDS's, and my 7 year old even has his own digital camera and MP3 player.
How many times a day do I feel like a douchebag? At least 3. But if I don't talk about the technology I had growing up..and nod and smile when my son talks to me about his "gaming"...it's usually only once a day. (it helps if I use big words too - hell he doesn't even know what they mean....Or does he?)
Chase: Mom, you can just hit ALT - TAB to get to the other screen.
Me: What?!
About 1 1/2 years ago, I wrote a post about my brother schizophrenia. And I included all the statistics of how greater my chance was of developing it, what my boys' chances were of getting it...thinking that it's just a number. Maybe I should have worried about it more.
3%.
3
Three.
My children have a 3% greater chance of developing it because their maternal uncle has it. But that also means they have a 97% chance on NOT having it. Maybe that's the number I should have blogged about.
My 7 year old son. Is. Hearing. Voices. Is. Seeing. Things. That. Aren't. There. The. Life. That. Stopped. Me. From. Taking. My. Own. Wants. To. Kill. Himself. Because. He Doesn't. Understand. Where. These. Feelings. Are. Coming. From. And. It. Scares. Him.
My SEVEN year old BABY. The first person that made me truely understand what it means to love someone so much it makes your chest hurt. The first person that I would have laid down my life for.
Where did I fail him? Why didn't I see this coming? Have there been signs that I've missed, overlooked or simply ignored because the reality was too tough to swallow? No doubt there will be people saying it's not my fault..that these things happen, and that it's out of my control...out of my hands.
BUT THIS IS MY CHILD. This is my job. This is my responsibility. This is my fault...if for no other reason than bringing him into the world with this taint in his blood.
When your child is playing at the playground, falls and scrapes their knee...you always think it's your fault because you should have been there to catch them.
I've done research on schizophrenia at his age...and although it is rare..it can happen.
I've done research on suicide at his age...and again, it's rare, but it does happen.
I've seen firsthand what is done to a family that this phantom haunts. I've seen what this monster does to the person it torments. There isn't a "body" that I can fight...this isn't something I can verbally rip to shreds, this isn't something I can shield him from.
There are things I can do...things I am doing. Doctor's, therapists, medication. Loving him with all I have..on good days and bad.
But that's about it. My hands are tied.And before, I used to think, Please not them. Please not them. Now, all I can think is that I should have been there to catch him.
I should have been there to catch him.
