My, How Things Change

In 1971, when I was 3 years old, technology was defined as Texas Instruments releasing the first pocket calculator. There were no cellphones, satellite TV companies or social media networking sites. There was an "Internet," but it was only two years old and nothing like it is today. I played with Malibu Barbie (which cost $1.94), The Game of Operation (which made me giggle and jump every time it buzzed), and a little girls rocking horse on springs (my favorite). 

When my first son was 3 years old (now almost 15), he enjoyed the Teletubbies (Poe I think was his favorite), Hot Wheels, and of course, Woody and Buzz from Toy Story. 

When my second son was 3 years old (now almost 12), he played with stuffed animals, army men plastic figures, Batman action figures and of course, Woody and Buzz from Toy Story.

My current 3-year-old is, I believe, a genius. Which brings me to the reason for this blog. I now have a little girl who's turning 3 in three weeks. Do you know what she plays with? Not the brand new plastic kitchen set she got from Santa Claus ... Not the rocking horse that Grandma bought her that sounds like a real horse ... and I don't think she has touched the blond Barbie with the pink convertible that mommy bought her ... Nope, none of the above. She plays with my son's old iPod, My iPhone (which I swore I would never let her do) and my new iPad! I know, it sounds crazy and I promise you, I never thought I would let her touch my phone or my computer equipment. But, let me tell you a couple of quick stories that amaze me.

As a busy mom working 40-50 hours a week, raising two boys and a 2-year-old girl, 2011 was always busy and there was always something going on. So, I will admit, I am guilty of letting my 2-year-old daughter be entertained a few times throughout the year by my iPhone pictures. Now ... I do believe my soon-to-be 3-year-old is addicted to today's technology.

Until recently, all she looked at were the photos on my phone (I think I have 456 of them) and a Big Time Rush YouTube video here and there. Most recently, she has figured out (No, I did not teach her) how to go into our family Netflix account and watch movies like Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2. Her biggest concern some days is that "final jam" (on Camp Rock) is over!

A couple weeks ago, I decided to play a little trick on her and move my photo icon on my phone to a different page. So, I hand her the phone (locked, of course) and she swipes the arrow to unlock it and proceeds to look at the page where the photos icon is. You can see her perplexed face when the icon isn't there. So, she calmly swipes through the other pages until she gets to the end, realizes she hasn't found the icon, swipes her way back a couple of pages, spots the icon and taps on it ... and up come all of my pictures. All of the concern of the last 30 seconds leaves her face and she is happy again. 

My 14-year-old son is a fan of Green Day. He frequently tries to teach her that Green Day and the lead singer "Billy Joe" are the best thing since sliced bread. Somehow, this weekend, my daughter hands me my iPhone with a YouTube video of Green Day playing on it and proudly says, "Look, Mommy, it's Billy Joe." Folks, I really have no idea how she did this. My son wasn't home so I can't blame it on him. Really?? Could she be this smart that she can find these videos? 

I recently downloaded a Carpenters Gold "album" off of iTunes. I told her one time, "Mommy used to love Karen Carpenter." The next thing I know, she is going to the iPod icon on my phone and going to the Carpenters "album" and telling me, "Listen, Mommy, it's Karen Carpenter." 

Do I have a genius on my hands? Or is this the new generation and really what we should expect? I don't know which, but I am constantly amazed because, again, when I was 3 ... my brain was trying to figure out which outfit I liked the most on Barbie!