January 20, 2010
I must be approaching middle age. It now is a daily occurrence where I think to myself, “he can’t be old enough for that, can he?” The latest installment of “Dad is getting old” came during the morning scramble to get ready for school and out the door.
The Little Man stopped cold as if a thought had switched some hidden button I still haven’t found and announced that his best friend had received a computer for Christmas and was getting “computer lessons” after school. Further digging revealed that the child’s parents (not Bill Gates) were teaching him how to use his new computer, but still. The Little Man was clearly angling for something along the same lines. Can they be old enough for that?
As countless parents have thought to themselves in one version or another, “I remember when I was just reading him stories about lions and tiger and bears and now he wants me to teach him about web, internet and email!” While I can’t be sure if he’s ready for the digital world, I am quite sure that I’m not ready for him to be in the digital world. That same day, I just happened to run across a Dad-o-matic blog written by Jeff Sass on “Having ‘That’ Conversation With Your Kids…” so it must be destiny. Just like everything else, I guess it’s never too early.
Our iPhones have apps for toddlers, so why wouldn’t a seven year old want to jump into the digital sea and take a swim? So I guess I better figure out how to work those parental control setting on the computer and think about my approach for “that” conversation and how to tell a story of YouTube and Facebook and Twitter, oh my!
Tags: computer, dad, internet, kids, Safety, web
