Technology helped us out several times today.
Take this incident from this morning, for example. I needed one thing from the grocery store. One thing only. Doesn't seem worth the trip. But I really wanted some Monterrey Jack cheese for the enchiladas and we only had cheddar. Was this worth the effort? Definitely not for me; however, to my 11 year old twins it'd be sudden freedom! They could take the back streets on their bikes and never even see a major road. What to me is a time consuming chore, they will think is a new adventure!
They were totally up for it.
Here's where technology comes into play. We "walked" the entire route on goggle maps (satellite image and street image), then I armed StarGirl with the cell phone, MoneyBags Luna with some cash and they were off! They even went through the automatic check outs since they were concerned an adult would menacingly ask them where their mother was.
It went exactly as planned. They used the phone to call me from the store when they had questions. I got my cheese and they got exercise, new experiences and some confidence from a successful "mission." Hoorah!
Then, later that night we decided to go to a park in Chandler (after dining there at Chino-Bandito, which you really should try). You know, that one park. We've been there once before and its not far from Chino so we should be able to find it, even though its dark & I can't even remember what its called. These details should not be a problem. . .
Right? Wrong.
I sensed we were lost and definitely not finding "that one cool park" so we pulled over. Mr. Handsome googled "best park in Chandler" on his blackberry and pulled up "Tumbleweed park". Yep, that's what it was called. It was about two miles away, we just had to turn the car east instead of south. Got there 5 minutes later. Love that GPS stuff.
Technology had helped me twice already that day. Helped my daughters get to the store. Helped us find the park. But once we found the park, we then lost The Baron (for only about 90 seconds. He was not scared & neither was I since it was such a short time). No technology to rescue us this time. I just had to hoof it around until I found him digging in the dinosaur pit, my happy little awol archeologist. But this got me to thinking. . .GPS monitors on my kid coupled with Dick Tracy style communication wrist band devises. This could be awesome for all sorts of applications!
I said to Handsome "I want a little computer chip in my kid." I am thinking: "cuz then when he wanders over to the bathrooms and I can't seem him, I can just look on my monitor and see his flashing little icon and know he's close by and safe. And then say into my wrist band, "Little child, you've gone too far away, come back now." (that was a sweet tone I used, by the way, in my imagination. . .I'm always a very sweet mom in my imagination!)
Mr. Handsome nods his head understandingly and says back to me, "Yha, cuz then when its time to round up all these kids to go home we could just press the remote control button and move their little bodies back to the car whether they want to or not!"
I burst into hysterical laughter. That's some forward thinking kind of technology! We need some mommies over at MIT to get right on that one.
8 comments:
I think your husband is on to something!
I'd buy that technology! That's a million dollar idea for sure.
I agree! I am impressed with your daughters and the self-checkout line. I get intimidated by it sometimes.
I have been watching for several Sunday evenings the series called Masterpiece Contemporary where the government injected a rice sized chip into people's arms to keep track of them and use as their permanent ID. I prefer the Masterpiece Theatre presentations of past authors, but I guess if you want to use the technology to keep track of your own kids, it would be OK. Now that you have taught your girls how to fly the nest, you'll never know where they will go next!
I love how your daughters did that grocery adventure on their own. I love the idea you have for rounding all the kiddos up. I recently read (in the SkyMall catalog of all places) about a device you could discretely hide in or under a car. Then, you could (through GPS technology) track where the vehicle is at all times, including the speed it traveled at each point of the journey. It sounded very tempting for when my oldest starts driving in 5 years.
You had chino!? Man, I'm in need of a trip to AZ. And way to go girls on the trip to the store!
If I am not mistaken, there is already a device of sorts that works with gps (I assume) technology. I've seen it on a commercial for batteries. Probably something the child wears around his wrist or ankle. Anyway it showed the mom realizing her son was suddently missing at the park. She empties her purse, searching for some sort of device. Once found, she quickly navigates her way to her son, who had wondered off.
love those girlies of yours! tell them thank you for the sweet get well cards they left for me in my mail box- I loved them!
Wendi
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