Love your little Natives.

A while ago I read an article about the digital age we live in. We all live in it whether we like it or not. But, how did we get here was the idea. Are we Digital Immigrants, or Digital Natives. The basis of this is that people born before 1980 are all Digital Immigrants and people born 1980 and later are Digital Natives. People born after 1980 have never known an undigital world. There are some of us like my self, born in 1970, that even though I do not fall into the Native status I feel like a Native but I still know too much of the "old world" to truly be of the Native mind set. Even though the Natives have seen some of our primitive devices in a closet or out in the garage or in old pictures they have never experienced or used any of them. Here is an example, try to follow it may be confusing at first...

Tori: Hey mom we were at Sammy's grandma's house an we found this thing in the closet it was so cool.

Me: What was it?

Tori: It was like this box thingy, it had buttons, , but the box was like a key board, it plugged in but it did not have a screen so we could not see what it did.

Me: Tori did it have a black roller thing at the top, kinda in the box part?

Tori" Yea, how did you know?

Me: (now try to imagine the confusion and amazement all at the same time in my voice) Tori it was a typewriter.

Tori: What's that? (and she truly was not kidding)

So then I had to explain typewriters and answer all the questions that followed. "So you couldn't save anything? How do you back up and fix an error? how do you spell check? what if you need more than one copy? How did you add pictures?" I was not about to try to explain how we digital immigrants actually created the phrase "copy and paste" by actually copying and pasting.

Oh my gosh, this was such a wake up call for me. So, now when I see her texting away on the phone or Taylor typing 120 words a minute (he really does type that fast) all while listen to their ipods and answering 3 IM's and editing the digital movies they just made to up load to YouTube, I need to remind my self this is all normal in their world.

Just like my mom used holler across the room, "scoot back from the TV its bad for your eyes, or is that phone attached to your ear"? I find my self telling my kids they are going to have carpel tunnel from texting or rot their brains from to many video games.

It starts so young now. My 4 year old, Timmy, is definitely of the next, more advanced generation of digital natives. His generation will probably make fun of Taylor and Tori's devices just like we look back and laugh at how big cell phones used to be. He can almost out do Taylor(16) on most video games and can already get on and off the computer all by himself. He is smart in reference to what he thinks I want to hear too. The other day I walked in to the room and he must have sensed that I was going to tell him to turn off the games now. He quickly put up his hand and said "wait, wait, wait,... Mommy, this game is not bad for my brains". I gave him 10 more minutes and apparently his brains were tired. I came back and he was asleep mid game.




Well that's all for now. This may not be bad for my brains, but I only type about 20 words a minute so my fingers and brains are tired.

Best Buy 490

The Best Buy that Mitch works for did this and sent it out to all the other Best Buy Stores. This guy is really singing. All I could say was WOW!! Have a listen.

Merry Christmas!!

Gracefully...

Wow, it has been quite a while since my last post. All is well in the Page house at the current time. I will settle for that. With 7 family members you never know who will have the next crisis or illness so a good day is an accomplishment. We do have to go get Taylor's bracket reattached at 3:30, hmmm, wonder how that happened, Jolly Rancher anyone? If that is the worst thing today, we'll take it!



Well my new obsession is Myspace and Facebook. This is probably a predictor of the down fall or the process of becoming uncool for these web sites. When a 37 year old suburban house wife catches on to something, its probably on its way out or at least its shelf life with the younger crowd is diminishing. ( I can't believe I just typed "younger crowd", I am getting old) . Anyway, I love these outlets. I am reconnecting with old friends and can see what family members are up to. I browse alot, looking for more people to reconnected with. Its always fun to see a person's page show up that you never expected to have a page and its a really cool page at that!!



One thing my Myspace and Facebook pages have made me realize is that I am getting old. I understand 37 is not really old, but it sure as heck is not 17. Some of these people I have not seen since high school. I mean I still look like me right? So why don't they look like them? I got up in the attic the other day and brought down my yearbooks. Now when I get a message from a friend from high school I can figure out who they were if I don't remember the name.

Most people look really good, and once I match their high school face to their current face I can totally see it and I have the "Oh Yea, I remember you" moment. I wonder how long it takes them to figure out who I was/am.



Tori walked up to me while my year book was open. After starring at the page for a good while, she asked, "Which one are you?". She did not even recognize her own mother. I said "Oh Tori, I love you but go away", then Tori screeched with excitement, "There you are, no way, Oh my gosh, you had a mullet!" I corrected her "No I did not, boys had mullets, I, had a BI-LEVEL. It was VERY in at the time." I recently pulled out Mitch's picture where he had the Flock of Seagulls hair cut. I thought she was going to pee her pants laughing.

Oh well. I guess we all loose our high school face, and I can only do the best I can with my current face. At church the other day I said to my friend Brenda in the bathroom, "look, I have neck wrinkles". Then I proceeded to show her what I wished I could pull up, pull back, or reput here and there. She so wisely said, "No Kristy, we are just going to age gracefully." Fine, what ever.

Yes I guess I will try to just age gracefully. Actually, I ought to look that up in the dictionary first to see what that really would mean or if there are any variations of 'gracefully' that could work.

Pachelbel Bedtime

This is soooo true!!!

"Normal"

It has been a while since my last blog. All is well in the Page house. Even on days when it may not be "well" it is at least "normal" for the Page house. These are a few things that have happened in our lives.

1)We went camping for Labor day and came home proud owners of a new puppy. We named her Cara. I thought if I can take care of 5 kids I can do a puppy. Potty training a puppy is so much different than a child. When one of my kids was not doing well at potty training, I would just put the diaper back on and give myself a break. Well if you ever come over and Cara is sporting a diaper, don't be shocked because I am just about at that point.

2)I took Taylor in for what we thought was just a filling at the Dentist and it turned into an emergency root canal the next day. That was not fun for Taylor or my bank account. That was a horrible Mom moment. When we first arrived at the Dentist, I asked the receptionist if I needed to stay or could run an errand. She said "oh, he's almost 16, its no problem we will take good care of him, don't worry". So I did my errand and returned. When I returned and walked in, it was like the twilight zone. The Dentist was waiting in the waiting room for me. I'm sure my face said "oh crap" and then he said "come with me Mrs. Page". I walked in to the actual procedure area and there was Taylor, looking like a deer in the headlights. His face was saying "what the heck just happened to me and where were you?" Plus, he was drooling, he was so numb and could hardly talk, and had blood, BLOOD I say, all over his pants. People are not supposed to get bloody at the Dentist. Oh, felt like the worst mother EVER!!! Well the bottom line is his cavity was bigger than they thought. The Dentist had to drill so much of the tooth away that the tooth broke and the root was exposed and a few other things that I can't remember, because at that point everything the Dentist was saying was just spinning in my head. All I could think was I was not there for Taylor while all this happened. We went to the specialist the next day for the root canal (which went fine, the doctor even called Taylor personally that night to make sure he was doing alright) and now he is getting a crown next week. Worst Mother Ever!!!

3)My sister in law, Libbi, had her baby. Her name is Hazel Addison Ritz. She is beautiful. Dorey loves her little sister. They are all doing well for being sleep deprived. Hazel is in the up all night, sleep all day phase. I remember those no sleep days. Oh, how I love the smell of a baby' neck sound asleep on your shoulder. I am so glad Mitch and I took care of that possibility, because after holding Hazel I was ready for another one. Then I went home and tried to love on my baby Timmy, but he smelled like Doritos and he told me I was blocking the his game, "Move before my guy gets killed". I will love on him later, and on the bright side, I will sleep tonight.


That's all for now. I will write again soon. Maybe tonight.

Nap Time

I was just talking to my Dad while running a few errands. He asked me how I was and what I was up to, that sort of thing. I call my parents alot while driving and also at night about 10pm. My mom said every time the phone rings about 10pm my Dad says "Krissy's up". Obviously I have been up all day, but about 10pm is when the kids are all in bed, the house is quiet and i can actually get things done. Phone calls ( I have a few friends that know it is safe to call each other this late), laundry folded, floors mopped. I can get more done in that 2 hours than if I tried to do it through the day. However then I usuallly spend about 2 hours after that with Mitch watching tv or movies. So I am tired in the morning. Over the summer if I wanted a nap I could easily fit one in. But not anymore. We are in busy mode. When the alarm went off this morning I laid there for a while plotting, figuring, thinking of how I could fit a nap in today because the promise of a nap was all that was going to get me out of bed. I allowed myself to be fooled by the illusuion of it fitting it somwhere and up I went. It is now 3:34pm. Reality has set in. No nap today. I am brewing a new pot of coffee and then I should be good again. At least for a few hours.

Mandatory Baths

Its been a while since my last blog. Some of you may have viewed one blog that no longer exists (I deleted it) . I vented and then decided I did not like it anymore so it's gone.

It has been crazy around here trying to get used to every one in school. Homework, taking and picking people up from activities, mandatory baths, all the things that the school year requires. I mean just baths alone add alot to my day. Obviously Taylor and Tori are on their own now. Tommy, Trinity, and Timmy are a different story. In the summer if we were at the pool that could count as a bath. In my opinion, if there are enough chemicals in that pool to keep the water sanitary after 100 people are in it each day my kids have to be clean. At least sanitized. Plus I actually kinda like that chlorine smell. If it was a "strong chemical day" at the pool then we would just rinse off in the showers at the pool. Running in the sprinkler for an hour or two also counts in the summer. The wet grass falls off as they dry. The slip-n- slide definitely counts cause they always put shampoo on it to make it more slippery. If you try this at home make sure it is the tear free kind.

But now, baths are back to having to be real baths and on a regular basis. With Timmy and Tommy, first we go through the 10 minutes of which toys that are not technically bath tub toys that they can each take in. No, you can't take in the walkie talkies. No, you can't take in the remote control robot. No, not the raft from the garage. No, not your new book. No, I mean yes, yes, you can take in the lego's, but just a few. Then the mandatory 5 towels are put down to catch the water and I change my clothes and we start. First we play a bit then we argue over who gets washed first or who went first last time. Finally it is all said and done and I have a mound of wet towels and two clean boys. I do have to say though that one of the best smells in the world is a clean little boy in jammies right after his bath.

Trinity is easy with the bath part. She just quietly soaks. Playing with her Barbies in the tub or empty shampoo bottles playing Store or pretending to cook. When she is ready she yells "Kristy I'm Ready" She washes her herself but I do her hair. Her hair, long beautiful curly blond hair. She dries and dresses her self in jammies then we start the 15 minute process of brushing out that beautiful blond curly hair. I try to be gentle but with every snap of her head I am saying "ooohh sorry, oops so sorry, oh! did that hurt? We have tried every detangler we can find. It doesn't help. We just get through it slowly.

I know it is one of my jobs as a parent to keep my children clean and tidy. And I do, but, there are so many more options in the summer. At least I think of them as options.