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| What is taking sooooo looooooong! |
For all you parents out there trying to teach your young kids patience… you have an uphill battle. In this age of instant gratification, a few seconds is a lifetime to this generation and I think I finally found the icon that taps into their deepest fears. It is a powerful icon, harmless to us adults, but to this generation it spells utter doom, or a close approximation thereof, to them which is…
Waiting.
You laugh, but I have seen the effects of this pernicious activity on my kids and others, but fear not! We can learn to harness this power for our own amusement. If you want to know what icon will have your kids rolling on the floor in theatrics, read farther Dear Reader…
Picture a generic school night in the household. Mommy is away on business and it’s me and the little girls on our own. I was preparing dinner for them while they were “trying” to keep themselves occupied when the youngest asks if they can watch “Avatar” (“Avatar: The last Airbender” cartoon series, not the blue people movie). I said “yes”, they cheered and praised me as the best Father, I fired up Netflix on the TV and the show got started. Once they were firmly planted on the couch and digitally pacified, I went back to dinner prep thinking I had a good half hour to work. Nope. About 5 minutes later the program froze and there on the screen appeared the symbol of their doom.
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| The infamous Netflix “retrieving” bar. |
When it first appeared on the TV, I heard a few groans which quickly subsided when the show came back on 30 seconds later. The happiness was short-lived however when a few minutes later the show froze again, and this time the “retrieving bar” was up there to stay, mocking them. As they stood powerless before this icon, this symbol of doom, the real fun began.
“Come on you loadie! “
The youngest had nicknamed the bar and was cajoling it to move faster. Kinda cute and a more positive approach than the oldest , who on the other hand was typical kid and uttered these comments in her best valley girl whiny voice:
“Come onnnnnnn”
“What is taking so loooong.”
“I can’t take this.”
Finally they realized that maybe it wasn’t enough to just complain and their brains had an idea:
“Daddy, what can we do?
“Daddy! Fix this!”
“We need to call them right away!”
After I calmly told them that it was out of my hands and that it was Netflix’s problem, they lost all composure. They grovelled on the floor. They flopped their feet and fists on the couch in exasperation. They slouched as if to display their sheer and utter loss of interest in life due to their predicament. The back of their little hands went to their foreheads as their heads tipped back in sheer angst. I was trying so hard not to laugh at them and their theatrics but you’d think they were being tortured! I wanted to help, but what could I do? After a few minutes of this (or 5 years in kid’s time) I decided it was time to impart some fatherly wisdom.
I told them they were lucky they even had Netflix. I relayed to them that when I was a kid there weren’t even any remotes and that if you wanted to change the channel, (GASP) you actually had to get up and walk to the TV! Barbaric right? On top of that there were only 13 channels! Can you believe it?
I was met with the funniest stares you could ever imagine when they heard there weren't any remotes. Then finally the youngest said “oh daddy, you’re just joking.” They didn’t believe me. I tried to convince them but to no avail. They thought I was playing a cruel sick joke on them and were not buying it. At this point the bar was only half filled and had not moved at all when suddenly the screen went black with an error message about “connection to Netflix lost” etc. so I turned it off.
“What will we do now?” they cried in utter despair.
“It’s time to eat” I replied and all was forgotten. Phew!
This was an interesting lesson in some of the ways things have changed since we were kids. For them, there is no waiting… everything is instantaneous so their patience to wait is practically nonexistent. I think this is a problem because sometimes you have to wait for the really good things… and if they can’t do that… they will miss out. So the only solution is that it is our job to subject them to the misery of waiting… for their own good. Don’t you just love being a parent?
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