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Slow Down Time

      As bittersweet as it is to watch our kids grow older, I'm really enjoying the stage we are in from a literary standpoint.  The boys still want me to read to them every night, and we have graduated from the repetitive quick reads to actual chapter books.  It's the only time I get to read these days, and I'm enjoying revisiting some books I read as a kid and also several that are new to me.  

Sawyer was gifted some Hardy Boys books for his birthday this year.  I was excited to get those...I mean, I was excited he got those because I was an avid Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy fan in elementary school. Unfortunately, we have discovered that Sawyer doesn't quite have the stomach for the level of suspense in these novels, and we may have to set them aside for a couple of years.  I'll be sneaking them at night to read under my covers with  a flashlight.  Leave me alone.    

The books are surprisingly not as cheesy to my adult self as some of the other books we have reread.  I was, however, reminded of how much technology has changed since they were originally written.  TSA wasn't a thing at airports, phones weren't on private lines, telegrams were still being sent, and computers didn't exist.  

As tangents go, it got me thinking more about smart phones and how much I don't want our kids to be addicted to them.  At which point I decided (without consulting Ross' opinion whatsoever) that when the kids are old enough to have a reason to call people, we will get a landline.  Furthermore, we will get a landline with a cord.  A rotary phone preferably.  And when the kids complain about it, I'll tell them how cool they are.  They will have a skill set that 99% of kids their age won't have.  Kind of like driving a clutch.  

And then I will teach them how to drive a clutch.  Which will guarantee that nobody will steal their Kabota from the school parking lot.  Because I'm never actually going to teach them to drive a car.  And I'm never going to actually let them go to school.  Because I want them to live with me forever (again, sorry Ross for not consulting you).  And now I need a Kleenex because nobody told me they were going to grow up so fast.  

Actually, Every. Single. Person. told me that.  

I just tried not to listen.  

And now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find a way to slow down time.        

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