It goes without saying that kids these days are way ahead when it comes to using technology. With all the toys and devices they see a a very early age, it isn’t a matter of learning to use them, it just comes natural to them.
At two years old, Thing 3 was using the computer himself, finding and opening the programs he liked using the mouse after watching me do it a few times. Now he breaks through the child protection lock on the office door, climbs up to the desk, and opens the MS Paint program and makes a drawing.
Thing 1 and 2 have been playing games and checking sports scores on my iPhone for years. They know how to take pictures and scroll through the albums.? I have found a picture of Thing 2’s butt on more than one occasion.
It took a month of serious practicing for me to finally beat Thing 1’s high score on Fall Down. They both routinely beat me at most Wii games and at 5 and 6 years old have figured out how to do things on the Wii I can’t follow. The ease with which they surpassed me was unnerving, considering I pride myself on being a bit of an expert having spent much of my youth playing Atari. Not to mention I happen to program computer software for a living.
This morning we were unsure if we needed to pack lunch for Thing 1’s field trip. While I debated making lunch just in case, he said: “Why don’t you just email the teachers and find out?”
And when he asks me a question I can’t answer, which is often, he says: “We can Google it.”
I suppose it’s the same as when I was a kid and my parents needed me to program the VCR.? So now I am the modern day equivalent of a VCR blinking 12:00.