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DEL.ICIO.USGoogle mapping the ones you love
Has technology changed the way your family communicates? Has it affected your children’s perspective of the world?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A few weeks ago the baby was playing in the basement with my husband and the kids. I came downstairs and took the baby away for her nap. My 4-year-old son came over to my husband and said, “Where’s the baby?” My husband declared, “She must be missing.” My son replied. “Well, then we’d better Google Map her.”
We, of course, cracked up at his comment, but on later reflection it crystallized for me how much my son and daughter are truly children of the 21st century. Their perceptions of the world, their understanding of life and often the way they learn are all influenced by the Internet and technology.
For many families there has been a fundamental shift in home life similar to what happened when electricity and telephones became commonplace in residences. Technology has transformed how modern families communicate, how children relate to the world and how families stay connected.
My son knows about Google Map because we use it to help the kids feel connected to their father when he travels for business. We usually Google Map his hotel in whatever city he’s visiting, often Manhattan. We look at what streets he might walk to get to work. We look at what monuments or tourist attractions he might see on his way.
Their favorite part is when we switch from the regular map to the satellite hybrid image. The hybrid is an aerial photo of the city with the streets and important buildings labeled. We can actually see the basketball courts on top of the Associated Press’s headquarters in New York City. They love thinking about their Daddy playing ball on a roof with his colleagues.
Our daily communication also has been affected by technology. Whether it’s cell phone, IM and email, we check in throughout the day. My husband knows how Rose did at school, whether Walsh got in trouble and if the baby ate her smashed up bananas long before he walks in the door.
My husband uses IMs all day long with his colleagues and has added me to his buddy list. I like the IM because he can respond immediately even if he’s on a conference call or on his cell phone. It seems a slightly odd way to communicate with your spouse, but I guess wives thought it was weird when husbands started calling them on the phone too.
He emails me, as do a lot of couples. But, lately he’s started CCing me on things — mainly his flight and hotel reservations. You would think we could just have a conversation to coordinate plans, but when we tried to review his schedule at night he would only roughly remember the dates of his trips and that just aggravated me. The CCing struck me as impersonal and business-like at first, but now I have dates, times, airlines and the locations for all his trips in an easy-to-search format.
My husband has been pushing me to share an online calendar with him as well, but I haven’t evolved that far yet. He could conveniently check it on his Treo. I could not so conveniently drag around a lap top. It’s not practical for our family - at least not yet.
Even when we’re doing something old-fashioned, the computer comes into play. A few weeks ago, my husband was reading one of his favorite childhood books to our son. He was finishing up “Scuffy the Tugboat” when our son asked, “What cartoon is this guy from?”
His understanding of the world is that there are crossovers - book characters appear on TV and on computer games.
My husband tried to explain it’s just a story. It’s not based on a cartoon. Our son thought about that answer and then said, “Well does it have a dot.com?”
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Comments
By Jesse's Girl
September 24, 2007 7:14 AM | Link to this
Mr Jesse travels weekly….it has never occured to me to use the Google maps to give the kids a better sense of where he is in the world. The girls have a huge map of the world on their playroom wall. We have always used that to pin-point his locations and also as a study tool. I’ll have to try the satellite thing!
But I totally relate to the your kids and cross-over characters. It seems movies and tv are on top of everything these days! I’m just waiting for a feature length “Where the Wild Things Are” or “Goodnight Moon”!
I take a kooky pride in keeping as technologically humble as I can. I have never had texting capability on my cell phone, I have no call waiting..though the caller id comes in handy! We don’t IM, but the kids know exactly what it is…so I’m sure when the time comes, their 21st century gene will activate in regards to all of that. In fact, blogging is something I only took up when Momania was created! I find so many of today’s conveniences to be impersonal. Even when people email me, I end up calling them back. Some of them are surprised to get the call. I would just rather speak to someone as personally as I can….so much is lost or misconstrued with email, texting, or IMing. In my humble opinion of course.
By Stacey
September 24, 2007 9:36 AM | Link to this
My son really loves the internet. From cartoons, to toy packages, to cereal boxes, everything seems to reference a website. He asks me to log on to www.ten word sentence.com and most of them will pull up the Cartoon Network sight. I saved all of the approved sights and passwords on his “favorites” list. A lot of the Cartoon Network shows are for adults and even the kids shows are not always on my “approved list” so those either my husband or I review them individually. My husband likes Google Earth so my son asks him to pull up any and everyone he can think of.
I use IM a lot at work but never at home. My brother sends me text messages on my cellphone all of the time but I rarely respond. They are usually just silly jokes that he uses to say “I’m thinking about you”. If it’s something that requires a response, I will call him unless it’s a yes or no answer. As far as the internet is concerned, my coworker and I compete for the “Google Queen” title. Several people in the office are just not comfortable with the computer still so they rely on us to research things for them.
By DB
September 24, 2007 10:59 AM | Link to this
I love technology — most of my friends consider me a geek, of sorts :-) My family all texts each other with abandon — the quick, don’t-want-to-interrupt-you-to-talk-to-you-but-please-pick-up-milk-on-your-way-home types of messages. My son is a freshman at college, and my husband is working out-of-state for a few months. We all have webcams and in addition to talking/IMing each other, we have the video conversations that leave me feeling vaguely Jetson-esque. I like the Google mapping, but lately, I’ve been having a LOT of fun with the MSN mapping, which allows you more horizontal viewing from north, south, east and west than the straight vertical satellite shots. It’s actually been helpful for showing my daughter, a new driver with a mediocre sense of directions, what landmarks may look like, etc. on her way to a new location, or close-up of a tricky intersection. My Treo has my schedule, my daughter’s schedule and my husband’s schedule, which is great when you’re standing at the dentist’s office and trying to figure out when your next appointment can be fitted in! And the cell phone cameras have been fun when you see a shirt at American Eagle and aren’t quite sure your son would like it — take a picture of it, send it to him and say, “Yes or no?” Now that he’s in college, I’ve become the 21st century version of my mother-in-law, the Newspaper Clipping Queen — except I email internet news items I run across.
I did draw the line last year, though, when my son texted me from his room to my office three floors down — “What’s for dinner?” No texting in the house!
By Theresa
September 24, 2007 11:10 AM | Link to this
db —i am so impressed —those are fantastic examples!! (i’m typing one-handed while holding the baby) i kept trying to ework in the jetsons to my story — other thing i kept thinking about is that carousel of progress at disney world — do you remember? how they showed family life changing because of technology — we’ll have to try out the msn mapping on his next trip
By DB
September 24, 2007 12:46 PM | Link to this
And, last but not least: Daughter calls from mall, has found “perfect” homecoming dress — “but do you think the back is too low?” Picture pops up on the cell phone. “Answer: YES. Too low!” One hour later: “How about this one?” “OK, much better.” “It’s $79, and my VISABuxx only has $25”. “OK, money on the way.” (type, type, type, add money to VisaBuxx card) Ten minutes later: “Thanks, Mom!”
Gotta love technology!
By JJ
September 24, 2007 1:36 PM | Link to this
DB Cute story. What is VisaBuxx? My daughter got a pre-paid visa, and she or I can add to it when necessary. Is that the same thing?
By Jesse's Girl
September 24, 2007 5:44 PM | Link to this
DB….you rock. I repent from my technologically ill ways and wish to sit at your feet to learn:)You’ve shamed me into inching my way into the 21st century!
By DB
September 24, 2007 6:56 PM | Link to this
JJ: VisaBuxx is almost same as a pre-paid VISA, but we got it directly from Wachovia, and it’s tied to a parent’s account — there’s about five or six national banks nationwide that do it. The parent can add to it on-line from a credit card or a checking account, either in spurts or on a regular basis (i.e., an allowance). It was great while she was in Europe this summer, because I could see what she bought (!) and when she found something extra-special for her brother that wasn’t in the budget, I was able to add to it instantly.
Jesse’s Girl, with all my techno-geekiness, my kids are still fuming that I never, ever allowed us to have a DVD in the family van, as I had the firm conviction that you could either a) sightsee, b) sleep, c) read (preferable) or d) talk to your family on a trip. The one thing you could NOT do is watch the darn TV! We might use old CPU units for doorstops around here, but I had to draw the line somewhere!
By Jesse's Girl
September 25, 2007 7:25 AM | Link to this
I hear ya on the tv in the car thing. Mr Jesse has hinted that it would be useful on our trips. I always remind him that by some miracle, we have made it driving across country without it thus far….why start now? I absolutely abhor those things. Our kids have also never had any gaming systems. We have allowed the MP3 players. For the last trip I downloaded all their fave tunes and about every 4th one was a classical piece….the yells were awesome!
By Atlanta Pearl Girl
September 25, 2007 8:22 AM | Link to this
The internet is like having the world at your finger tips 24/7. It’s WONDERFUL. My l5 year old daughter and my 11 year old son are both tops when it comes to online anything.
I really enjoy when I’m asked a question from one of the kiddo’s and we’ll search and seek on the internet to find the answer and google images or whatever!
It’s like being in Disney Land for me. Want to know about Tibet? Or the 7 Wonders of the World? Look it up and see….
It’s GREAT!!!!
:::turning flips::::::
Atlanta Pearl Girl
By DB
September 25, 2007 11:31 AM | Link to this
We didn’t have a gaming system in the house until the eldest was almost 16. At that point, he was making straight A’s, playing three varsity sports and had demonstrated an ability to be responsible in how he used his time, so we gave him a Playstation for Christmas. He seldom played it during the week, but weekends, it was a great stress-buster!