man...I think my kids think I'm very old or clueless...or both

[SparklyUnicorn]

My 10 year old is on a kick lately of testing my knowledge of certain things.  "Mom, what does the e stand for in e-mail."  So I told him and he said, "Wow! I am so surprised you know that."  Other times, "How did you know that?"

 

Thanks kids...thanks a lot...

 

 

[Tsuga]

"You know how you've been to four years of school? I've been to EIGHTEEN. And I continued learning even after that!"

 

Edit... including kindergarten, actually, nineteen.

 

This calls into question those nineteen years, however.

Edited April 22, 2016 by Tsuga

[SparklyUnicorn]

"You know how you've been to four years of school? I've been to EIGHTEEN. And I continued learning even after that!"

 

Yeah really.  And after doing all this school stuff with them for the past 10 years I think I could be one hell of a good Jeopardy contestant.  :laugh:

[SKL]

Well, my kids ask me stuff like "how much was a dime worth in 1850?"  Like, how would I know, you think I was around back then?

[Tsuga]

Well, my kids ask me stuff like "how much was a dime worth in 1850?"  Like, how would I know, you think I was around back then?

 

Oh yeah, and my kids asked my mom if she had dinosaurs for pets. And what happened when they went extinct. We are still laughing about that one.

[Liz CA]

I was once asked by an evidently history-knowledge deficient 17 year old if I was alive during WWII.  :glare:  This further confirmed me in my resolve to homeschool. :)

[Lady Florida.]

Ds used to ask me all of those kid questions that either have no good answer or have to be looked up. He knew I used be a teacher. One time he seemed to get so frustrated at my continued, "I'm not sure. We'll look it up" or "A lot of people wonder about that", and asked, "Just what kind of teacher were you?" 

 

Apparently the kind who didn't know anything. 

[IfIOnly]

My son 11 was talking today about how on his eighteenth birthday he wants to take our family out to eat and bowling ( so sweet, he doesn't know we'll be planning something special), but my son 9 was concerned that DH and I would be too old by then to be bowling. Hahaha. He thought we'd be 50 (so old!!), but we'll only be in our mid-forties.

Edited April 22, 2016 by ifIonlyhadabrain

[Butter]

My friend's 9 year old asked her if she watched the Civil War on TV.

[SparklyUnicorn]

My friend's 9 year old asked her if she watched the Civil War on TV.

 

LOL!

 

I read somewhere recently that people actually did go and watch battles of the Civil War.  Some made a day out of it by taking a picnic.  Can you imagine?! 

[Jaybee]

One of my sons asked if I lived back when everything was black and white...

Edited April 22, 2016 by Jaybee

[gardenmom5]

I'd start asking him things like

what does the cc mean in an e-mail?  what does the bcc mean?   then I'd ask him if he knows what carbon paper is, and has he held a piece in his hand let alone actually used it.

[Tsuga]

LOL!

 

I read somewhere recently that people actually did go and watch battles of the Civil War.  Some made a day out of it by taking a picnic.  Can you imagine?! 

 

I learned that fact in public school! :D The 12th year (11th grade) to be precise.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I learned that fact in public school! :D The 12th year (11th grade) to be precise.

 

I don't ever recall hearing that before.  Doesn't mean I didn't, but nope I did not know that.

[MrsWeasley]

Not my kid, but a twelve year old in our homeschool group made a netflix and chill joke in front of me, like I wouldn't know, until I gave him the hairy eyeball. 

[theelfqueen]

One day, shortly after we started homeschooling (earlier this year) my teenager was struggling with a math issue. I quickly did the problem, then walked him through it, then walked him through it a slightly different way. He stared at me in awe and said accusingly "Mom, are you good at math?"

Cause apparently history teachers can't do Algebra. LOL

 

I remember telling my oldest once when he asked me for "help" with something in school (when he really basically wanted me to do it for him) that 'I already did 10th grade, thanks. I don't intend to do it again.' and he was pretty annoyed at me.

 

[Suzanne in ABQ]

My ds was totally blown away that I knew how to ride a skateboard.  

 

[MEmama]

Yeah, I get tested all.the.time. Usually on random car related factoids, the kind that like maybe 4 people on the planet know or care about.

 

But yeah, it's funny when he thinks a question is super random and I know the answer anyway. I *always* claim those mama points. :)

[gardenmom5]

some people have had fun by giving kids an old tape recorder and they have no idea what to do with it.  or a rotary phone.

 

[Guest]

some people have had fun by giving kids an old tape recorder and they have no idea what to do with it. or a rotary phone.

Our kids can use a treadle sewing machine, abacus, slide rule, ditto machine, manual typewriter, rotary phone, record player, cassette player, a rotary/hand drill, VHS, push reel lawnmower, and probably a bunch of other older tech I'm forgetting. They have parents with weird and analog taste and really thrifty grandparents.

 

We are also mean and begin their computer education with wiring circuits, building computers from our scavaged component boxes, and compiling a kernel.

Edited April 22, 2016 by Arctic Mama

[heartlikealion]

My son asked me if the people in the history lesson were alive and I said, "no, it was a long, long time ago." Then he asked if it was in the 1980s. And he KNOWS dh and I were alive in the 80s and some of the shows we introduced him to recently are from the 80s. Psssh, what are you trying to say, kid? lol

[Lady Florida.]

I'd start asking him things like

what does the cc mean in an e-mail?  what does the bcc mean?   then I'd ask him if he knows what carbon paper is, and has he held a piece in his hand let alone actually used it.

 

Ds 18 recently found out about NCR paper when he had to sign some papers for dual enrollment. He thought it was the coolest thing. I don't think he's ever seen actual carbon paper.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Lady Florida.

[Spy Car]

Well, my kids ask me stuff like "how much was a dime worth in 1850?"  Like, how would I know, you think I was around back then?

 

It was worth 10 cents :D

 

Bill

[SKL]

Oh, but it's funny when they come home with a joke from 4th grade that is older than I am.

 

"Spell I-cup."  Har har har.  (There are others that don't come immediately to mind.)

 

In a juvenile moment, I told them to look down their shirt and spell "attic."  They didn't get it.  They don't use the word "t-t" any more I guess.  :P

[BooksandBoys]

It was worth 10 cents :D

 

Bill

You beat me to it, Bill. :-)

[Scarlett]

My 16 year old asks me all sorts of political questions. First I am polically neutral.....raising him to be so....but yeah I can still know facts...but he just bombards me. What does Hillary stand for? What are Bernies plans? How old is Bernie? What is Teds background.

 

he is exhausting.

[ElizabethB]

When the children were quite young they asked if paper was invented yet when I was a kid. They were amazed when I told them how long paper had been around.

[Terabith]

See, I wish my kids asked me trivia questions. Instead they ask me questions that demand an opinion. Who is your favorite Pokemon? Which My Little Pony character do you relate to most? Which Warrior cat would you want to be? And if I just throw out the only thing I can think of (Pikachu! Twilight Sparkle! Holly Leaf!), then they want to know why.

 

I DON'T CARE!

[Scarlett]

See, I wish my kids asked me trivia questions. Instead they ask me questions that demand an opinion. Who is your favorite Pokemon? Which My Little Pony character do you relate to most? Which Warrior cat would you want to be? And if I just throw out the only thing I can think of (Pikachu! Twilight Sparkle! Holly Leaf!), then they want to know why.

 

I DON'T CARE!

OH I remember those days. What superpower would you want? That was a big one.

 

Now he is mostly grown and wants to be in the know about everything. Maybe I should turn off CNN. :)

[Daria]

Well, my kids ask me stuff like "how much was a dime worth in 1850?" Like, how would I know, you think I was around back then?

I had a kindergarten student ask me once "Ms. Daria, when you were a kid, did they have fire. I mean not just have it. I don't think you older than lightning! But did people know how to use it for stuff?"

 

When I assured him that we did he replied "What about wheels . . " and moves on, in order through a list of ground breaking inventions he had clearly memorized. "Stirrups? . . . What about the cotton gin?"

 

We finally established, in case you are wondering, that I am young enough that I don't remember a time before color TV and cassette tapes were widespread, microwaves became popular during my childhood, and when I was a kid car phones and VCRs were a sign your family was very rich.

 

This is why teaching special ed is so much fun. Where else do you get to spend all day with people with the ability and interest to memorize a list that long, when they are too young to have a sense of time or manners?

Edited April 23, 2016 by Daria