Time-Warp Wednesday

There is no doubt in my mind that my kids will surpass me in technological savviness.

Probably tomorrow.

Even now, if I am having trouble with the Wii or one of the many shiny black boxes sitting below the TV, Aaron is able to get me out of trouble with the push of just a few buttons.  I try not to get too terribly miffed when he tells me, "You just need to synch it, Mom," ... and he's right.

I may still be able to navigate around Pages better than him and I definitely can type faster than his hunt and peck strategy, but even those days are numbered.  Before I know it, he'll be telling me about nifty shortcuts while I plod along formatting our MOPS newsletter.  I hope that I can accept his help with finesse and graciousness ... but it will still probably sting a bit.  "You just need to use command ⊄≈☃☺, Mom," ... sigh ....

Recently I came across a snapshot from several years ago that proved that he's always been on the cutting edge of technology.  And also willing to share his knowledge and expertise with others.

Basic Computer Programming

I love this!  Aaron and Norah perched on the same chair, working side by side on the computer.  What you can't see in this snapshot is that the computer was on a desk we assembled in a closet.  There was just enough room for one chair, hence the cheek-to-cheek technique!  (That's one way to make a 2.5 bedroom house seem just a little bigger.)

Not only does it touch my heart that they were happily clicking and coloring together, but I can vividly remember Aaron's words to Norah.

"You need to click on the bucket.  Then click on the color.  On the red one.  The red one.  No, that's blue.  Move the mouse a little bit.  I'll help you.  There.  You got the red one.  Good job, Nuna!"

Let me zoom in on his helper hand:

Press the green star, Sweetie.

I love listening to and seeing my kids being helpful and encouraging to one another.  A sweet blessing to this mommy's heart and ears!

May we all be generous in lending a hand ... and gracious in accepting the help!

Now ... what's the shortcut for publishing this post?  Aaron!.....

I Love My Digital Camera!

I know, I know ... I try really hard not to love things, but there are some things that make me so happy!  If absolutely necessary and with a little effort, I am quite certain that I could live a very simple and technologically-free life:  a life free from a computer, a cell phone, an iPad or even a TV.  Mainly because that was my life growing up - except for the TV part.

As a kid, we didn't have much in the way of gadgets and gizmos.  We had to rent the VCR along with the VHS movie if we wanted to watch something besides what we could get on one of our three channels. And those three channels were a bit "guess-and-by-gosh".  If there were leaves on the trees, one of us would have to go outside and tweak the antenna until it was just right.  In the leafless winter, we almost got a bonus fourth channel ... if you squinted your eyes!  One season, we subscribed to some sort of "cable" service.  We had access to a series of movies that would change once a month.  That was either awesome because you could watch your favorite show over and over and over again.  Or it was lame.

We did have a Commodore 64 growing up.  But I laugh now to think of the time we spent playing those cubic video games:  the summer Olympics with the diver that sometimes froze mid-air requiring us to reboot, the racing game with the little blocks that were supposed to be horses "running" past the furlongs to the finish and the Indiana Jones-type character who leapt over boulders, jumped over rolling logs and swung from digital vines ... and who we regularly fed to the crocodiles.  Pretty simple entertainment.

For music, we had quite a selection of ... records.  The challenge in our 100-year old house was avoiding any jumping, dancing or walking in the sensitive parts of the floor while listening to music.  Which pretty much meant we sat on the couch.  Unless were were listening to Dexy's Midnight Runners in which were were required to jog in place to, "Come on, Eileen".  We just had to do it carefully.

Yes ... it appear that realistically I could get along rather well without all the lovely, techy bits that we enjoy in our home.  It would certainly be weird, but I could do it.  There is one little gadget, however, that you would have to pry from my hands:  my digital camera!

I love the ease of clicking off snapshots of the kids, capturing their personalities and antics on video and chronicling their little lives on the computer.  I love how easy it is to upload birthday parties to SmileBox and keep family and friends "in the loop" with pictures.  But I love more than anything the fact that we can do all this and make sure that the final photo is a good one!

More often than not, the first (and second ... and third ...) snapshot is a bit sketchy when we get the four monkeys in one place.  For whatever reason, they can't all seem to look the same direction, smile and keep their hands off their faces.  At the same time.  At least not until we've "warmed up" and we've taken a half-dozen goofy shots.  What a relief that we can see right away that Lydia ducked or Ashley snuck her thumb in her mouth or Norah made googly-eyes or Aaron grimace-smiled.  And then we can try again.  And again.  And again.

Here's Mother's Day proof that we photogenically challenged at times:

Brett said, "Lydia" ... and I guess they thought he meant,
"LOOK at Lydia".  He didn't.

Now Lydia's peeking.  And Aaron's in agony.

Norah's trying a little too hard and
Lydia popped food in her mouth.

Almost.  Rather than worrying about her own painful
smile, Norah's trying to "help" Aaron.  He doesn't need it.

Ashley wins!

Now I know what you're thinking ... "Those were all a bit screwy.  Didn't they get a good one?"

Nope.

But, at least we know that!  And we aren't going to wait 3 weeks to finish the roll of film and spend good money to get it developed only to discover we were were 100% unsuccessful!

No disappointment here ... just the reality that our children are goofballs.  And we can capture their goofballery to store on the computer.  For all time.

Along with the good snapshots we manage to snag, of course.

These are actually all from the same picture ... success!

Do You Really Want to See This?

I have a few family members who are definitely technologically savvy.  While I can do this (blogging), make fun slideshows of my kids (Smilebox), burn DVD's of the kids' digital scrapbooks (iMovie) and check my email ...  I am definitely challenged when it comes to texting (no clue!), flashcards (and not the 2+2=4 type), software updates (I won't reprogram the entire computer will I?) and anything having to do with "something new"!

So imagine my chagrin when my cousin sent me a Facebook message about setting up a time to Skype.  My immediate response to this invitation was to, uhmmm ... ignore it.  Chicken!  But wonderful Matthew, being Matthew, wasn't going to let that go.  He sent me another message. To which I said, "Yeah ... uhmmm ... let's do that. :)  Errr ... first I need to figure out what that means!"  After I sent this non-commital response, the phone rang.  It was Matthew.  He's terrifically persistent!  Due to my confession of not having a clue and my vague response about "figuring it out", he decided I needed some tech-support.  He talked me through a new program called FaceTime that is standard on iMac.  Unfortunately, my brain was only partly engaged as all the kids were home and they were all hanging on my lap, arms and right knee.  Due to this Cirque du Soleil-silliness, I was unable to bring to mind our password to finalize the program.  After a promise from me to get the password from Brett, we said goodbye ... with the hope that we would "see" each other soon.  I joked, "Don't hold your breath," ... but part of me was serious!

As much as I was interested in being able to talk "face-to-face" ... I wasn't entirely sure that anyone wanted to see what was happening here ... on the other side of that phone line.  I know that my kids are goofballs, but does anyone else really need to see that?!?

That evening, my brain cleared (as well as my lap, arms and right knee ... Daddy was home, boo-yeah!) and I was able to access FaceTime.  To make sure that I had it right, I typed in Matthew's email.  Then I realized at that moment that it was probably not the best time:  the kids were still up and pretty bouncy in the kitchen.  I disconnected and made a mental note to try again after bed-time.  Then the phone rang.  It was Matthew! :)  He had been on line and something flashed on his monitor that I had "buzzed" him.  Such crazy technology!  I got back on the computer, logged-in to the program ... and this is what ensued:



See ... I wasn't that far off in my guesstimation of my kid's unruly nuttiness in the face of ... well ... their own faces!  If you are like me and this program is a mystery, this is how it works.  Our monitor has a camera that videos what we are doing (obviously not just chatting) and sends it to my family.  You can see what they are doing by watching the little box in the left hand corner ... apparently they just sit and talk.  Novel idea!  On their end, they see their faces ... and our insanity!  (I would encourage you to go back and watch the video again ... but this time, watch my cousin and aunt's reactions to the kids ... that's almost as much fun!)  They (YOU) are such good sports!  Obviously the kids were so taken with their own looks, giggles and lips that they forgot about actually talking.  In spite of their silliness, I managed to have a little chat time with my cousin and auntie ... and they were patient enough to listen to me and watch the kids.  I have noticed, however, that they haven't tried to "buzz" us again.  Ha! :)

I know that this new fandangled contraption :) has the potential to be a great way to stay in touch with family across the country ... and oceans.  I just hope some of the novelty wears off so that we can have an actual conversation!

I encourage you to check it out ... but just know that if you try to FaceTime with me ... you might get more than you bargained for!

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Thank you, Matthew, for being patient and persistent.  And not telling me you took all these nutty pictures until after we finished chatting.  :)  So much more like life-unscripted that way!