growing up on a geek household

Last night, my Dad and sister came over for dinner and my
brother was hanging out with all of us earlier in the day.  The siblings ( + Fred ) went to my
brothers best friend (from the time he was 7) oldest daughters bat
mitzvah.  It was really nice
watching her knowing that I knew her father when he was shorter than me. 

The conversations up and back were hilarious.  Aches and pains, new music and of course
technology.  Truth is, I grew up
with a totally geek father ( although he left the nest in my earlier teens )
and a cutting edge mother.  The effects
still hold true today. 

My father, is a super nerd.  He actually relishes in that fact.  Today he still keeps up with all the tech stuff and uses it
all.  Fred and him were having the
best time playing with the new Google phone.  My sister loves this stuff too.  My brother is also totally into this stuff.  For me, I think because Fred is my
co-pilot, I sort of take a back seat to the whole thing because he leads us in
nerd-om.  I can live vicariously through him learning about the next killer app.

 There was an article in today NY Times about how the next
generation will be so technologically astute that the authors 2 year old kid
refers to his kindle as a book. 
His friends 4 year old uses her fathers IPhone so frequently to play
with she expects the computer screen to react when she slides her finger across
it.   These kids will continue to grow with the technology but unless it is something embraced in the household or even applauded by their homes that they use this stuff, they too will hit a wall at one point like many people of all ages today.  These kids just seems to "wow" because we didn't grow up with that sort of technology. 

Growing up, I worked for the Montgomery County Recreation Department.  I worked in the office making sure all the programs were filled, etc but I also coached something every season.  One time, after a game, there was a kid waiting to be picked up.  I asked him if he wanted to call his mom.  Of course, we had to go to the Principals office because nobody had cell phones like everyone has today.  All the activities took place on school grounds.  We go in to the office and the woman in the office asks the kid for the number so she can call for him.  I was a bit taken back and said, can't he do it himself.  She said, he could but the problem is that none of these kids have ever used dial phones.  Punch keys were just becoming the norm and in the school they had not made the change yet.  Funny story but relevant in many ways today.  Same stories, different times.  

Going back to family, my Grandmother was quite a hipster too.  The woman was wearing Anvers suits and
Hue opaque stockings at 83.  Anvers
was a very happening Antwerp brand at that point.  So, that fashion gene has continued down to other generations.  My mother is still on top of trends, on
top of technology, etc. 

I see our kids embrace every aspect of the latest and
greatest from music to fashion to technology to restaurants to art.  I used to be on the one providing information, now I really need to be
on top of my game to keep up. 

 At the end of the day, not only did I grow up in a nerd
household that embraced intellect and looking forward, my kids are growing up in a super nerd household. Personally, I
am loving it particularly this Sunday morning as I am attempting to find some
new emerging artists on We are Hunted. 
God forbid I am behind the times.

(if you notice the links…my brother, my sister and both our kids blog.  my father has a online publishing company that he got into recently after writing several books – so that sort of sums up geek-dom)