Hmm… let me explain. Do you have the iPhone (smart phone) with Siri? If you are not familiar with Siri, it is a feature on the iPhone that talks and listens to you. It is like your own personal assistant or butler. Siri’s function is to do what you tell it to do. For example you can ask Siri to call or e-mail someone, read you a text, or find you a local fishing store, etc.
My son once dared me to tell Siri that I wanted to be a race car driver. Siri did her job and found me a local race track. I love the idea of Siri. I wish when I talked to my kids they would also do just as I asked. However, the reality about Siri is that most of the time she doesn’t understand what I am trying to say. She often does not register my command, or she gives me information I do not want.
Actually, Siri is very similar to my kids! She ignores me, misunderstands me, and sometimes if I am lucky, she listens to me. Inspite of Siri’s deficiencies, I will not give up on her or my iPhone. I believe that, as advertised, she will “learn” my voice and my most common words. She has great potential. No matter how frustrated I get by Siri or my iPhone, I am still amazed by all it can do.
Now I know it is just plain silly to compare my kids to a smart phone. But here I am doing it anyway because it gives me the opportunity to draw a parallel to my kids’ potential; to affirm how I would never give up on them, and to remember how impressed I am with all they can do.
I spend a lot of time looking at my phone each day. But I equally think about and am amazed by who my kids are and who they are becoming, and I find that my analogy is not so silly afterall. What types of things make you pause and think about your kids?
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