Generation so-not-you

“Christmas morning ...

Lorcan: let's read the instructions first ...

Children: gone ...” [Lorcan Dempsey’s Weblog]

We had a great holiday break, and we’ve named the new puppy Teddy Roosevelt so the contest is over. We have an annual tradition on New Year’s Eve called “kids game night” where we invite all of the neighborhood kids over to play games for a couple of hours. This year was no exception, and while they were demolishing the extra-large pizza into a few miniscule crumbs, we asked each of them to name the best present they received this year. To a one, they each said something electronic, the boys and the girls, all 12 of them.

We were floored when a brother (age 12) and sister (age 8) each said they got a TV in their rooms (this will never happen in our house), and there was another little girl (age 8) that got a telephone in her room (also won’t happen in our house, although eventually it will be a moot point because the kids will have cell phones). But the other answers were interesting. A Nintendo DS, a VideoNow player, Eye Toy, a Dance Dance Revolution wireless pad, a specific video game, a digital camera, a new TV for their basement.

Keep in mind that the oldest kid in the bunch was 12–years old. And have you seen the VideoNow line? I don’t like it, but they love it. These kids are getting used to carrying around video the way you’re used to carrying around music on a Walkman.