Changing with the Times

A few phrases that don't quite make sense in this day and age:

• "Switch off the phone." (Phones don't actually have switches anymore, although we can still turn off the phone. Thankfully.)
• "Rewind it." (You cannot literally rewind a DVD or CD as it does not have a tape to wind or rewind.)
• And can we really use the word photograph anymore? Or photo, for short? Photography as defined by dictionary.com:

"the process or art of producing images of objects on sensitized surfaces by the chemical action of light or of other forms of radiant energy, as x-rays, gamma rays, or cosmic rays."

Most of our "photos" these days do not ever make it off our computer or other various digital devices. Should they still be considered a photograph then?

Here's a question for the parents out there: What do you do, or what do you plan to do about a phone for your child?

When kids are old enough to use the phone, they will want to talk with their friends after school or on the weekends. Who has a land line these days? I know we haven't for years. Will you give your cell phone to your kid to call their friends? If you do, then your kid's friends will now have your cell number and will be able to call you any time of the day or night. Do you want that? And what about the dreaded "I want a cell phone - all my friends have them!" demand?

I'm hoping I still have the stamina for it in seven years, but my personal plan is to get a land line (if they still exist) so that Aiden has a number to give to his friends and a way to call me after school if he needs. The idea of my young child having an expensive cellular device in his possession thoroughly freaks me out. I would like to avoid that if at all possible. I suppose the pay-ahead option is always there, to allow him to reach me no matter where he is at, without the fear of a $500 phone bill. But still, why is it really necessary? I grew up just fine without a cell phone.

I like to think that I will follow most of the same rules I had as a child. I agree with them and I like to think I turned out well because of them. The significant deviations arise when there are situations my parents never had to deal with. The prime example is cell phones. I am still not 100% sure what we will do. There is still plenty of time for this situation to evolve to an entirely new one.