Papa November

I didn’t really learn how to use a computer until my sophomore year in college (Josh would say, and does, that I still don’t know how to use one). The internet was so uncommon my freshman year (‘93) that only one person in my dorms had it and as far as I could tell all it allowed you to do was talk to lonely computer programmers about Star Wars, so I forgot about it. I was a missionary in Houston after my freshman year of college and with all of my possessions fitting in a suitcase and a milk crate and living in a very poor part of the city, I didn’t see the internet again, let alone a computer for a good year or so. When I did, I remember being blown away by the little rotating AOL icon. It was spinning! On the computer! Like it was TV or something.

My three year old son on the other hand, already can navigate a web site. He will happily click away exploring sites looking for pictures to print or Magic School Bus videos to watch. He actually just asked if I was checking my email right now. That makes me worry that maybe he already has his own email account and visits chat rooms to talk about Star Wars with computer programmers.

The other night I told Grant it was his bed time. He ignored me and kept playing. I told him again it was time to head up the stairs and go to bed. No response. The third time I told him he better get to bed he looked up at me calmly and said “it’s loading”. I was confused. “it’s loading” he said, “sometimes it takes a minute. You have to be patient.” I am installing a new password on the computer tonight.