Disturbing. Yet also grandparent-proudness producing.
That's how I felt after my daughter phoned a few days ago and told me how my five year old granddaughter is asking for Christmas presents.
"Evelyn has learned how to press pause on the remote control," my daughter said. "When she's watching a kid show on TV and sees an ad for something she wants, Evelyn pauses the program, then yells at me to get my iPhone and write down the name of the desired gift on her ever-expanding list."
Wow.
Whatever happened to children going to the mall, sitting on Santa's lap, and telling him what they want for Christmas? Commanding Mommy to add another entry to My Gift List on her iPhone seems disturbingly technological.
But since I'm an avid user of most things Apple'ish myself, and am doing all of my Christmas shopping from a pleasant seat in front of my new Retina 13 inch MacBook Pro laptop, it's tough for this grandfather to critique his granddaughter's approach to getting what she wants for Christmas.
"Santa" already has ordered Evelyn's #1 present, which he is unwilling to divulge openly in case five year olds are as good at reading blogs as they are at using iPads and iPhones. A subtle link, though, seems safe.
Whatever happened to simple $3 stuffed animals you could give to a five year old? This toy probably possesses more computing power than the Apollo moon capsule did. And costs almost as much.
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