Are You Smarter than a 6 year old?

Well, that depends.....6 year olds, evidently, have a unique way of looking at life that we someohow have managed to forget. And 6 year olds today seem a lot smarter than when I was 6. Although, when I was 6 I can remember first grade as if it were yesterday. I had to walk down the hall to the third grade for reading class, because I was already reading beyond what a second grader could read. And we sat at little desks that were arranged in rows. Kids cried alot, and I couldn't read the word "stomach."I could ride a two wheeler, and my favorite toy was my Easy Bake Oven. But the light bulb got really hot with all those little metal pans.

Today's 6 year old has the vocabulary of a 30 year old, and the wisdom of a 50 year old. Today's 6 year old has the appetite of a grown boy, and really, really likes nectarines. Today's 6 year old doesn't have to think too long and hard about how to solve problems....you lose something? "Retrace your steps!" Want to kow how a mouse trap works? Stick your foot in it! Want to become Manager of Olympia Sports? No problem! Want to use a laptop and multitask, sure!Do you need a mouse? "Nope!"

I now know about Webkins. Even though they've been around awhile, I thought it was something for maybe, 9 and 10 year olds. Nope. 6 year olds can now navigate websites, without a mouse, and play arcade games, earn points which translate into dollars, and buy things for their virtual pets. Second Life for 6 year olds. Since when do 6 year olds know how to use a touch pad?

Oh, and by the way, writing notes? Not done on pieces of paper you fold up into shapes anymore. Notes are written on the computer. Of course! And Paint can be picked up in say, 5 miniutes.

Good thing I have a 6 year old to remind me 6 year olds aren't what they used to be. Some things haven't changed, though. 6 year olds still like goofy bed time stories, dirty faces, and they still like to fall asleep with the light on.

I have questions.....

So things I've noticed...I am a whole lot more coordinated when I get to use the right side of my body..but forget the left side- it's like an alien. I am utterly and completely uncoordinated. Just goes to show how your brain really does get used to things and needs to keep learning!

So there really is such a phenomenon as ADT...because I must have it. It's why sometimes no work gets done. It's like there's so much to do you get going in so many directions you cannot focus and you cannot finish a thing. Email, web pages, student accounts, IM, printer jams, log in problems, email, web pages, oops, did I just say that?

So when was the last time you laughed? I was actually asked that in an interview once....thank goodness for crazy friends who send wicked funny emails...

What was the name of the last book you read, that you didn't have to read for some course? Sorry, I cannot finish a book...ADT.

And then there's movies that I've never seen...a ton, I'm sure....and when I get the chance to see a really good movie that has been out forever, it is like some miracle that at the exact moment I step on the elliptical at the gym and plug in my headphones and turn on the TV....there' s Tom Cruise. What is that movie? I don't recognize it...because I've never seen it. And I feel somehow that I am getting something for nothing because I never had to pay for the movie. I am not a Tom Cruise fan....but I will watch it until I know what it is....The Last Samurai...I believe a man does what he can until his destiny is revealed....I stay on the elliptical and can't believe what I am seeing....

Imagine a virtual world, a Second Life, where you can be whoever you want to be, go almost anywhere you want to go, and do things you have never done before, like take a ride inside a hurricane...meet people who are not who they appear to be, and perhaps never see them again...or meet up with them regularly on their island. Kinda like MySpace next generation. Why go out at night when you can be a couch potato in your jammies, while your SL avatar is rockin the night away with her girlfriends down at the club? You can enjoy a fantastic night on the town from the comfort of your own home where you are sitting all alone...