In a conversation with my dear friend, we realized how crazy different things are now than when we were in school. Her son started Kindergarten this year, while my son is a seasoned 4th grader. The conversation started when my husband came home, embarrassed that this intern that is following him around at work “basically” called him old. (Take note: my husband is 27.) He drove by someplace and pointed out that there was a game store in this plaza that doesn’t exist anymore and he reminisced about his game genie. While I smiled remembering the game genie, he pointed out that this intern didn’t know what it was and he had to explain it to him. Then, the intern made a look like my husband was old and my husband carried that embarrassment home with it.

After he left, we started talking about our kids at school. She mentioned this interactive white board that the schools have now. Last year they didn’t have them, but this year I remembered playing with the one in my son’s class during open house. Then I mentioned that my son’s school has an iPad for the kids, and she said “my son’s does too”. We sighed for a moment, how could we not? Admittedly, these schools have nice fancy things to teach our kids with now. Then we felt old.

When I was in grade school, we had one computer each classroom from 3rd grade and up. The computers were nothing, and we played Oregon Trail on it. In middle school, we had to take typing… on a typewriter with this jerk of a teacher. My friend, who went to middle school with me, laughed pointing out how we had to do “Space Space X Space” etc. to make pictures print out. Yes, we used typewriters to make boring designs on papers. Now, our kids have iPads.

Times have changed, and technology will always get better. Unfortunately, we’re at an age now where we can say “I remember when  _______” and we feel incredibly old doing so. I bet my husband’s intern doesn’t know that “Jan died of dysentery”. But we can sit there and laugh and remember repeating that for days after playing a level of Oregon Trail. Our kids wouldn’t know what to do with a typewriter if they saw one, and just look at it wondering why there was no monitor. It isn’t a bad thing, technology advancing gives us more tools to have successful and longer/healthier lives. I don’t care how old these changes make me feel, you can keep them coming. Except iPads, Apple fan boys really need to learn that there are better stuff out there. Every other technology can carry on though.