Fatherhood

As a parent ... raised in the days of voice contact, seeing children converse in the same room via cell phones and fingers ... I feel like a throw-back, a relic of some lost age. Even today, I find myself cringing when I call and get an automated system. What happened to our conversational skills. The question today is, who needs a voice when our children can tap on a touch screen faster and more efficiently than any of us ever though possible. Hung up on inflection and tone, can't we just hop on Skype for those important conversations (yes, you can connect Skype directly to the television). Parents are important in this new age of technology ... someone has to buy the phone, maintain the plan, and replace damaged devices. We even have to tell our children to stop texting at the dinner table, as well as to turn the phone off before going to bed. Being a parent and watching my child's fascination ... and, eventually becoming an extension of the phone, I sometimes wonde...

His visit with Grandma and Papap was cool. We played with everyone ... kind of bouncing in between. We ate dinner. This went well until I gave him Grandma's old cell phone (deactivated, should only be able to dial 911 ... waiting for that one). Once he got the phone, there was no interest in food. You have to remember that he has always been fascinated with cell phones, but is usually monitored very closely and rarely gets to hold it for long ... and, he can tell the difference between the real one and the fake one ... this one was real! Eventually, we got the phone away from him and he did eat ... Later, after more playing, he turned to his Grandma and waved goodbye. He then proceeded to give out hugs and kisses. When asked, he indicated that he was ready to go home ... rapid head nod (Yes). He indicated the same when asked if he wanted to come back tomorrow. I guess he was ready to go ...