There is no turning back: a TECHNOID CREATED remains a TECHNOID.
When did my little boys make the transition from cowboy hats and bandanas to world-wide-Halo-game-playing-gadget-attached-at-the-palm-stand-in-line-from-4PM-THANKSGIVING DAY-all the-way-to-6:30AM-BLACK-FRIDAY-to-spend-a-puny-50.00-TECHNOIDS????
Did I do this?
Am I responsible for submitting to every whim and fantasy of two once-young boys, now young man and man???? hmmmm????
Did I DO THIS???
I take no responsibility.
I did purchase a game console this.
and that.
and that.
and that.
And version 1 of this.
and version 2 of that.
and, and, and...
(no links people - you know what they were/ are!!! you name it!)
But I held back. OH I FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT. I said "no" so many times I forgot how to formulate the word "yes" off rusty "yes lips"...
And I think there comes a time in every parent's parenting-life, when the phrase "but everybody's got one" - really, really means "everybody's got one".
Cell phone.
I resisted. Oh, I resisted.
Oh, wow, did I ever, ever resist...
... then there came a day when I could not find, reach, talk with my young teenage son, and boy did I need to find, reach, talk with my young teenage son... and said son ordered his first track (non contract) phone THAT EVENING.
The fact that (most) EVERYBODY did have one - really didn't come into play then, what came into play was that it became important to ME for him to have one.
But I don't think HE GOT THE MEMO that it was important to ME. I'm almost certain, that someplace in his boy/man mind he thinks he WON, for men, boy/men often battle, do they not? fight! challenge! conflict! stuff that video games are made of!
So if "he" thinks he "won" - so be it, deep down I KNOW I WON...
...but then the NEXT phone is bigger...
..."mom, I really want a 'contract phone' - cheaper minutes, better yada, yada, yada..."
...for the record - I DID NOT 'win'...
Looking back 29 Christmases for one son, and 16 Christmases for the other... there are so-many-LIGHT-BULB-defining-moments-in-time that are forever etched in "me old" memory banks. Ah-HA! discovery moments (usually reserved for students) that taught me oh-so-many-valuable lessons about the giving of gifts and the receiving of gifts...
1) Regardless what the list says,from TODDLER to YOUNG CHILD: there are never enough presents/boxes/THINGS to open!
It's really about the OPENING. Therefore I learned from my OLDEST SON, that if I wrapped BOXES of all shapes and sizes - whether with something in them or not (often w/ existing books/toys) - that said baby bro would be THRILLED. Both boys loved, loved, loved reading books... both boys had their favorites, though, and would wear them out... one Christmas I wrapped the youngest one's personalized story book (gift from friend with his own name printed in various storylines - way cool) in bright Santa paper, and Rudolph paper the next. Following year it was toys, then snowflakes! Always the SAME book, just wrapped differently. One year it was in a box that was in a box that was in a box...sad to say, it was a short-lived tradition, "whiskers" and " baby books" - hmm, something ain't right about that.
2) Once you go gadget, ain't no going back. Seriously. It is forbidden. Cannot go "electronic Battleship" one year, and generic move em w/ no sound Battleship the next. Just can't be.
3) Children learn that the term "Family Present" - means "most expensive thing that we wouldn't normally get unless the parents think it will result in some quality FAMILY TOGETHER TIME" then kiddies will risk all kinds of personal space and time to get said EXPENSIVE item...and parents try, try, try to understand said expensive "family present" but there's dinner to cook, and roofs to shingle and kiddies end up with the expensive Family present...
4)All this said, ONE OF THE greatest, greatest, greatest "presents" of all (no vote needed, you'll know it's right when you read it! Ha!) ... one of the GREATEST PRESENTS of ALL is.....
... BEING PRESENT...
Breathing in the very conversations of those whom I love most - honoring them by LISTENING to them - and in doing so, enriching my life - indeed GIFTING MY LIFE by them AND gifting THEIR lives by showing them how important they are to me and to the planet. My paying attention - being PRESENT - is a far greater gift than any technical gadget, or up-to-date-phone-ery could ever be...
Breathing in deeply aware that each breath is a gift and thanking the One, who by example, has paved the way for me to BE PRESENT - as HE is PRESENT.
Emmanuel : GOD WITH US.
God with us.
(Present!)
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