I’ve joked before that Eli is a child of technology. For instance, he doesn’t understand why only some TVs can serve up hot and cold running Imagination Movers. He does read books, but he views even that activity in a computerized light. He was engrossed in a book one morning, and I had to tell him, “Eli, it’s time to go to school. Put up your book.”
“Okay,” he said, putting it down while open, creasing the spine and making certain breeds of book-collectors wince. “I’ve paused my book.”
On Monday Geof visited and brought his new iPad. He was brave enough to let Eli play with it, and in minutes he was selecting pictures, zooming in on them and panning like a high-speed Ken Burns, before he discovered he could play Bejeweled on the iPad. I’d heard people joke that the iPad interface was simple enough for a child to use; now I’ve seen that that’s true. I guess that’s why Geof bought on. Ha, zing! Take that, Mac-lover!
Liza is doing well, though she’s going through a spell of night terrors. We’ll hear her knock on the wall, and when we go in she’s crying and whimpering. Thankfully she settles down quickly.
She’s reached the first age of defiance, which I understand should last until she’s 90 or so. She’ll ask Misty a question, like “Where are we going?” If I say, “We’re going to Ari’s house,” she’ll say, “Nooooo, dad, I’m asking mom. Mom, where are we going?”
That bothered me for a while until Misty told me what Liza said while I was at work. “I miss dad,” she said. “When I’m scared he makes me feel better.” So I can’t provide information, but I can make people feel better.
:melt: Oh, yeah. That more than compensates for being the non-preferred source of information.
Now be nice to Geof, Stephen! After all he shared his prize toy with your son while it is still brand spankin’ new. That’s love!
Your daughter loves me enough to ask me to put her to bed when I come and visit. HARRUMPH!
Our kids are definitely growing up in a “pause” culture. Everything is pause-able these days, from TV, to music, to video games. Even DVD players now have a feature that will let you resume where you left off if you power it down. Our kids expect to be able to pause everything, and that has spilled over into their lives. Your story about Eli using “pause” to refer to physical books struck a chord. Samantha has asked us to pause supper while she she needs to use the bathroom. Alec has asked his sisters to pause the game of tag he’s playing when we call him over to talk to him. Zoë has even gotten into it with her toys – in the morning before we go to school she’ll tell me she paused her stuffed animals so she can come back to play with them afterwards.
On occasion we’ll let them watch a little TV before bedtime. If bedtime comes before the show is over, and I turn off the TV, they’ll anxiously ask me “did you pause it?”
Maybe the 2010’s culture will be known as the pause generation.
Mark: good points. I expect Liza to be even more of that mindset.
I don’t know. I have started talking about pausing books as well. A bookmark is the ultimate pause button!