Project 52 | Lesson 7
You know, I really love this picture and I don’t really want to talk about it at the moment. So I’m just going to say we had a fabulous time at Disney World last weekend and discuss something different yet vaguely related because hey, it’s my webspace right?
When we bought our new minivan before Molly arrived I was in complete denial over the fact that we did really need a minivan. I didn’t want one though, I didn’t want to be a minivan mom. I didn’t want to be the stereotype. I fought against it. And yet the days ticked closer towards my due date and the inevitable happened and we got the new car and I couldn’t possibly be happier. At the time of purchase there was also one other point of contention and that was whether or not to get the rear entertainment system. Oooooooh am I glad I did.
First off I have to say we have a very strict rule in place with watching movies: no DVD watching unless we are leaving the county (it’s a big county). Trips to the store, ride home from school, basic running around town– you get to talk to Mommy and Daddy or each other but if we go on a longer trip you can watch a movie. Our trip to Disney was only the third time the kids have gotten to watch a movie in the car we have now owned for 6 months.
Now all this made me think of how when I was little we used to drive to New Orleans each summer and how it was really extra cool when we got to listen to a cassette tape on the way there and how my mom used to get use those little travel games that somehow lost their entertainment value about 10 minutes into the 11 hour trip.
A few weeks ago the following conversation took place:
Andrew “Mommy, what was your favorite game when you were little?”
Me: “Um, I’m not sure, maybe Hide and Seek?”
Andrew: “No your favorite game to play on your phone.”
Me: “Andrew I didn’t have a cell phone until college.”
Andrew: “Oh. What games did it have?”
Me: “Well, it didn’t have games.”
Andrew: “Then what did it do?”
Me: “It made phone calls.”
Andrew: “That’s IT???!?!”
Me: “Yup!”
<Shocked Silence>
I went on to explain how back in the day my cell phone was basically used for emergencies, to call home, or to call the important guy who would one day become his father. I explained how my phone made only phone calls and even then it only made them in a small geographical area before it started charging me a whole bunch of money. Oh how times have changed.
And while people lament the changes technology brought to the 21st century, my lesson to you kiddos today is this: EMBRACE THE CHANGE.
That’s right, life around you will always be moving forward (at least we hope) and you can look at this in a positive way or a negative one but I suggest you choose the positive because of its inevitability and also the fact that really great things often come out of growth.
I also have to say I can’t fathom what you will be shocking your kids with a few decades from now when you tell them about the giant brick type devices your parents carried around with them that played antique games like Candy Crush and Angry Birds Star Wars and didn’t do amazing things like drive you places or diagnose illness or whatever the heck phone type devices will do in the future. And I hope some day when you are teleporting to your family’s vacation destination you will make sure to share with your own kids the ridiculous and unthinkable experience your own parents once had when it took hours and hours to go places and they were forced to be entertained by nothing but a cassette tape and games made entirely out of plastic. You will undoubtedly enjoy the moment where you blow their minds and make them say as you did yourselves “I’m sure glad I didn’t grow up when you were little, it must have been so boring!”
Until next time,
Mommy <3