Encyclopedias sucked. Or, Why I Wanna Be a Kid Today.

Earlier today I was borderline panicking because my blog-well was dry.
No ideas for posts.
No motivation to work on the 14 or so I have saved as drafts.
No clue how I'd keep you lovlies entertained for the rest of the week other than by posting adorable photos of my cat like this one.

Come ON. 

And then, as is so often the case, something happened that made the lightbulb appear over my head, and I couldn't get to my computer fast enough.

Thing 2 got her very own iPad.

Wait....What??

Oh, you heard me correctly, and yes, ma'am, you are remembering correctly that Thing 2 is but a mere 11 years old.

Are Husband and I out of our everlovin' minds, you ask? Do we shower our kids with expensive technology they are too young for?

Yes to the first (that happened many, many years ago)...a definite NO to the second.

She, along with around 1,000 other 6th graders in our district, got her very own school district issued iPad today that is hers to keep for the next 3 years.

And if you think that is absurd exciting, this is just the first phase. Over the course of the next year and a half every student in our entire school district will either have their own iPads (grades 6 and up) or share an iPad with another student (elementary school). What stinks for Thing 1 is that her grade is up for iPad distribution next January. 4 months before she graduates. Sometimes being the oldest isn't the best. Heh Heh.

So back to the lightbulb.

As I was sitting there with her in the media center (what ever happened to calling it the library??) going through the orientation and registering her school email into iTunes (seriously, she has her own school email) and paying for the 3 year insurance plan (you betcha) and downloading the educational apps she'll begin using tomorrow, it got me thinking (and not just about why the hell it's not called a library anymore).

I wanna be her.

No, I'm serious. I do. Because we can all shake our heads at the excesses our kids have in today's world, but if we're honest, it'd be pretty freakin' awesome to be a kid today.

So I've developed a little Then and Now list to help me illustrate my point.

Then (and by 'then' I mean 70's and early 80's. Shut up.) -

Now - 

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Then -

My first pair looked a lot like these.                                               In the 80's I had these beauts.
                                                                                                              And plenty of sprained ankles.

Now - 

Okay, I'll have to admit, the Then in this one is better. Roller skating in the streets was the bomb.

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Then - 

Now - 

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Then - 

Now - 

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Then - 

Now - 

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Then - 

Now - 

OR 

(even better)

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Then -

Now - 

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Then - 

Now - 

Come on. You know I couldn't resist that one.

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Then - 

Now -

Which leads me back to this one...

Then - 

Now -

Were our childhoods lacking? 

Hardly.

But there are certainly times, like today when my 11 year old got a magical notebook where she will be able to get instant feedback on her learning, be better prepared for her technological future and instantly have access to a wealth of information (not to mention play Subway Surfers in her free time) when I desperately wish I could be a kid in today's world.

And then I remember that not only do I get all that cool stuff now, I can stay up as late as I want and drink wine.

And I win.