Things to remember
Posted on | April 27, 2008 | 2 Comments
Gloria Swanson is reputed to have said
My mother and I could always look out the same window without ever seeing the same thing
I think that’s a pretty realistic view of people and their relationships – not only mothers and daughters but friends, family, work colleagues and acquaintances. There may be some similarities of opinion but our views will always be different because our views are coloured by experience – and no 2 people the world over have exactly the same life experiences.
I need to remember this salient fact as I undertake the raising of the child currently kicking and squirming away in my belly. Look at technology, I recall having a personal cassette player as a kid and being chuffed to bits with it – my child will likely never hold a cassette tape or know what a walkman was originally without having to check on wikipedia. I had a black and white portable television when I was about 7 (one of those with the tuner knob) and I felt all grown up and spoiled because not many kids had a tv of their own on my estate – my child will have streaming tv on their phone (possibly even HD by the time I allow them that luxury) and will think I’m telling porkys – I didn’t get a mobile phone until I was about 23 years old! They were just too expensive.
I’ve already had the mickey taken out of me at uni for remembering the VHS/Betamax format ‘wars’ and for owning a Betamax video player..
Yup, just thinking about the differences between my childhood and theirs makes me feel old – and the poor wee bairn isn’t even born yet!
I need to remember that my children will be smartarses. Not through any fault of their own, it’s just information is so readily available now that they won’t be able to help themselves trying to prove me wrong on any point of contention (they’ll get that from their father) I’ll have to remember that anything I’ve published online over the last few years could be found by them and held against me. I’ll also need to remember that no matter what protections I put on my system my kids will likely find a way around it.
..Another very good reason for me to foster my growing interest in programming – home grown creations just may keep me one step ahead of the little horrors lol
The most important thing I need to remember though is that any child I have is not beholden to me for a damned thing, I can’t force them to make the choices I would make and I can’t expect them to understand why I think and feel the way I do – any more than I’ll be able to understand why they think and feel as they do. I just have to hope that we can one day look out of the same window and see a different view together.
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2 Responses to “Things to remember”
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April 29th, 2008 @ 2:37 pm
The only thing that stays the same if the fact that things change.
I’m sure you’ll be fine. I have a feeling that you’ll keep up, unlike other parents.
May 2nd, 2008 @ 8:00 pm
A very reflective post, I must say. Are you *gasp* growing into motherhood? You’ll both be wonderful parents and I’m sure you’ll do just fine.
BTW, can you imagine if I have kids – what kind of ink will they cover themselves with???