Coloring 2004
So I was with my aunt, uncle and their four kids a bit this weekend at the cottage. Annalise and Elizabeth are twins, aged three. I was reading in a chair this afternoon and Elizabeth came up to me...
E: "I want to color"
Me: "Ok, you can do that"
E: "I want to color on your lap"
Me: "Oooh! Ok, bring them over here and we can do that."
Ten seconds later I turn around to my mom yelling "no no no!" and running toward Elizabeth who has picked up my Dad's laptop of the table and is carrying it toward me with the cords still plugged into the wall. I relay to my mom what she was wanting to do, to which she replied, "This is 2004. Coloring is a little different now."
Turns out the night before Elizabeth and my Dad were "coloring" on Microsoft Paint. Whatever happened to crayons!!! Think of the creativity and simple (and very important) child development that comes out of a small child creating something with his or her own hands in something like coloring.
How sad a day it would be if Microsoft Paint really became a three year old's coloring book! ...What a nine year old's definition of "game time" was Spider Solitaire on the computer instead of playing house with her friends. ...What if 10 year old boys stopped playing Cowboys and Indians and a game of catch in the backyard and instead played Halo and Tony Hawk. ...what if 18 year olds voiced their opinions and debated on an online forum instead of being pro-active and talking to administrators about it. ...What if the 21 year old's personal contact with a friend was replaced by chatting on AIM...
E: "I want to color"
Me: "Ok, you can do that"
E: "I want to color on your lap"
Me: "Oooh! Ok, bring them over here and we can do that."
Ten seconds later I turn around to my mom yelling "no no no!" and running toward Elizabeth who has picked up my Dad's laptop of the table and is carrying it toward me with the cords still plugged into the wall. I relay to my mom what she was wanting to do, to which she replied, "This is 2004. Coloring is a little different now."
Turns out the night before Elizabeth and my Dad were "coloring" on Microsoft Paint. Whatever happened to crayons!!! Think of the creativity and simple (and very important) child development that comes out of a small child creating something with his or her own hands in something like coloring.
How sad a day it would be if Microsoft Paint really became a three year old's coloring book! ...What a nine year old's definition of "game time" was Spider Solitaire on the computer instead of playing house with her friends. ...What if 10 year old boys stopped playing Cowboys and Indians and a game of catch in the backyard and instead played Halo and Tony Hawk. ...what if 18 year olds voiced their opinions and debated on an online forum instead of being pro-active and talking to administrators about it. ...What if the 21 year old's personal contact with a friend was replaced by chatting on AIM...
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