Monday, November 17, 2008

cassettes and bar soap

this won't be as funny to you as to me.

today I had two ortho appointments, I point out TWO because that means I have two kids in braces, oh please help.

at the office I am reading a news article about layaway, with the increase in economic troubles people are going back to layaways for christmas, birthdays, etc. (for us it may have to be groceries soon enough, which could be troubling since i couldn't plan for next months dinners any better than i plan tonights.

reminder to self: i am the mother, i have to feed and water the kids.)

my daughter leans over and says, "what's layaway." funny she should ask, the article just pointed out that kids today think that layaway is old folks way of talking about dating.

so i am thinking that this goes along with my picking my jaw up off the floor last night with my 9 year old son comes to me with a cassette tape and asks what it is. I tell him, "its a cassette tape."

puzzeled, he asks, "yeah, okay, so what is a cassette tape? it's not sticky" (i.e. the tape, which he is now pulling out of the cassette. - are kids born with that temptation, i had forgotten how many of those my oldest ruined because he was being two, hence me putting them far far away.)

i take him into the front room where we have our record player, yes a real record player, which we play our RECORDS on. The kids understand records, they are just really big cd's.

i show him that music comes off of tapes, "you know, like with video tapes."

"whats a video tape?" he asks.

Here we go again! "never mind." i say. "they are from the olden days."

"oh, you mean when you and dad were born. okay."

Yes son, before dirt was invented.

shortly there after i am in the bathroom with my 7 year old. we are out of hand soap, (the pump kind), so i hand him MY bar soap from the shower (which by the way, i keep in the shower on one of those sticky up things WAY UP HIGH, because kids think a bar of soap is for melting in the tub these days.)

he looks confused.

"how do i use it?"

seriously. I have to explain, you get it a little wet, rub it on your hand, you have soap.

"it smells yummy."

"NO YOU DONT EAT IT. it smells like mommy, it's my soap."

"oh, when did they start making soap like this."

yes, i am beginning to feel like i am from the dark ages, living in the twilight zone.

"It just came out, buddy, it's the newest thing."

"oh, can Santa bring me some."

Of course.

So I guess I wont need layaway for this child, just a few bars of soap in his stocking. And a walkman for my 9 year old. We are set!

Now about the two in braces.... never mind.

PS (just added this thought): I couldn't think of a better title, any suggestions!

7 comments:

InkMom said...

How about typewriters? And car windows you actually have to wind down? So many things have changed in the past 15 years. Our children will think we lived in the dark ages. Considering all that has become possible because of the internet, they may actually be right!

Christine said...

LOL. I never thought I'd reach the age when someone thought I was from the dark ages. But it has arrived. My kids don't understand bar soap, cassettes OR the concept of tv you can't rewind and fast forward. Too funny.

Andrea said...

That's so funny! My son's too little to ask about that kind of stuff yet, but I'm sure my day is coming.

Liz said...

So I just found this and I knew it was YOU! Thanks for the loving words to my sweet little "Cheese Head"

Wendyburd1 said...

"Ummm Mommy you're old" ? You're not it just sounds like what your kids are thinking!LOL! Man I have so MANY video tapes, and I either buy the movies on dvd and put the tapes in our tag sale box, or wait and hope I figure out how to transfer a tape to a blank dvd...You can't even BUY tape players that RECORD on tape, I had to buy a dvd/vhs combo, it PLAYS tapes but can't record (me who has like 50 tapes to get all my shows!!Aah) so I have to tape on erasable dvd's...MAN!

Wendyburd1 said...

Tag YOU ARE IT!!

LeShel said...

I remember the day my boys friends hopped in the car and wanted to unroll the windows. I showed them the knob on the side of the door and told them to go for it. Such confusion arouse. The best part was when I dropped them off and they couldn't wait until they had a car with a window that came down like that. Makes you wonder why we keep making all these changes when everyone around seems happy with the olden days

on marriage

'Will you, um, marry me?' I haven't seen you in weeks! You don't look happy or excited about the prospect of our marriage! You're asking me to give up my - my freedom, my joie de vivre for an institution that fails as often as it succeeds? And why should I marry you anyway? I mean, why do you wanna marry me? Besides some bourgeois desire to fulfill an ideal that society embeds in us from an early age to promote a consumer capitalist agenda?
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