Imitators!
Folks sometimes write and ask me where I get my ideas. Well, it ain’t that hard, really. I’ve always been a dedicated watcher. I enjoy watching people, animals, stuff in the heavens, and scenery here on earth. You’re undoubtedly an observer, too, but may not realize how much and what you observe.
This week’s piece started with an e-mail from a very dear friend, Vickie Paver, from The Paver’s Nest (http://www.paversnest.com/). We’ve been swapping e-mail for at least two years. In fact, when our grandson, Ben, and I went on our “most excellent adventure” last year, we had brunch with Vickie and her neat husband, Hal, in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania. Pat and I hope to repeat the encounter in just a couple of days.
Vickie sent me the following e-mail: “Tatelyn (our 15 month old granddaughter) got up in my chair at the computer and started typing on the keys and then reaching over to the mouse on the side and working it. She accidentally made a zip file…hahahaha! She also put her bottle up there where I usually have my coffee cup. I wish I had a video of it…she acted just like she knew what she was doing….typing and clicking the mouse. HAH!!! AND…she cried when we took her away….already addicted….=)”
Well, we have a 15 month old granddaughter, Milena (she’s the one born on my birthday last year!) Her URL, BTW, is http://www.milenameyer.com/. I immediately thought that I’d better check on Milena’s computer skills (both her parents are pretty much computer geniuses). I sent the following Instant Message to our son, Mark, Milena’s father: “A good friend sent this to me about her 15 month old granddaughter. Want to make sure Milena knows that she has ‘puter competition.” (g)
Mark immediately wrote back: “Hey, Dad. Oddly enough, Milena did her first re-boot today. She was crawling around the office, when she reached right over and hit the RESET button on my computer. Fortunately, I had saved my files, and the machine booted up just fine. It was a momentous occasion for me, though.”
I shot that message to Vickie so she’d know that she didn’t have the only bright, intelligent, junior computerator in the world! Something did puzzle me, however. Milena’s ‘puter venture could be seen as MAYBE accidental, while Tatelyn’s behavior seemed to be calculated. Well, we all think we’ve got the smartest children, grandchildren, and I have to say, “It bothered me a little that little Milena might be in SECOND place!”
The next e-mail from Vickie said, “You should know that I gave the wrong age for Tatelyn!! I have 11 grandchildren and it is hard keeping up. She will be 19 months the 10th of May…sorry. Hope it doesn’t put a damper on the story. I was thinking that Milena was born after Tatelyn. That is why it clicked that I gave Tatelyn’s wrong age.”
Actually, it didn’t hurt the story at all. In fact, I can now nourish hope that Milena, by the time she reaches her 19th month, will be typing in the Gettysburg Address – in Spanish, no less! (g)
At worship practice last Saturday, I shared some of this story with one of my better friends, Pastor Ted. He said, “Well, let me tell you an old joke. There were a couple of boys caught smoking behind their barn. When asked what was going on, one of the boys said, ‘We’re playing church.’ When quizzed further, they explained that every Sunday between Sunday School and the Worship service, some of the deacons always went behind the church building and lit up.”
BTW, perhaps I should allow Milena to have the final word. In a precious e-mail she wrote, “ruiowufdklsjkmzd fjoipwuroipuweiop ujkfjkjfkdxzvncmxzn mcxnsfiwopeurio709 8ijkjkljmmm.” Couldn’t have said it better myself, eh? (g)
Well, there you go. Children are great imitators. From trying to master the computer at an early age to picking up bad habits, they imitate you and me. How do you feel about that? Use the “Leave a Reply” box below! I’ll get back to you right away!
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