Banana Phone and the Generation Gap

Have any of you had an experience that really made you feel the generation gap between your kids and yourself?

I had that experience through, of all things, a game of Banana Phone with Big Bro.

1. As I handed him the banana and pretended to talk to him with mine, I realized that a banana looks nothing like the phones he's seen. He might've felt more at home using, I don't know, a slice of bread.

Luckily, I have a stone-age (read: 6-year-old) flip phone that kind of looks like a banana, so I guess he could see what I was getting at.


2. To start the conversation, I asked him who he was gonna call on his banana phone. Quick! Fellow kids of the 80s! We all know there's only one way to answer that:



I then realized that his generation will not automatically go to 'Ghostbusters' in response to that question. How am I going to relate to this kid??

So we enjoyed a good chat, mostly about what he had for breakfast. But then when we wrapped up the call, I notice how we each hung up our Banana Phones.


I'm just used to always theatrically placing my banana down to hang it up. Big Bro's banana has an End Call button. Of course it does.

I have to catch up here! I'm not even old, either!

(Speaking of 'catching up', I also have to really start saying 'recording' instead of 'taping' when talking about TV shows before I'm dismissed entirely as a big lame-o).

What have been your experiences that make you feel the generation gap?

Things That Go Bump (and Beep, and Roar... ) in the Night

It's always unnerving to hear those mystery 'bump in the night' noises. They make you wonder if it's just the dryer running, or if you forgot to close the garage door and your house is being ransacked.

When you have small kids, however, and have any of those motion-activated toys that make sounds, the noises that wake you up are a whole new experience.

For example, we have an interactive toy house facade that is always at the ready for fun and singing and learning at any time of day. It's about two feet high, and it's not easy to see when you go downstairs in the dark for a drink of water, as we found on more than one occasion.

We also have kicking around a few musical trucks, Play 'n Learn singing puppy and a sassy wise-cracking ankylosaurus. Add those to our myriad "How-the-heck-do-I-open-this-thing" baby gates, and an intruder wouldn't stand a chance.

Who needs a security system?

Everything is a Vehicle

When I was three years old, I would set myself up in a laundry basket with every stuffed toy I owned and badger my dad to fly me around the house in it.

We called it "Pigs in Space" --you know, like the Muppets. Don't know about Dad, but I sure never tired of it.

Like mother, like son; Big Bro sees a potential vehicle for rides around the house (flying or dragged along the floor) in pretty much anything he can fit on or into-- boxes, bumbo chairs, blankets, buckets, serving trays, and so on. My poor back. That boy loves to be given rides.

I should clarify: he loves to be given rides, except for in his stroller and other things he's actually supposed to ride in.

Click to Enlarge

(P.S.: I've tried to word it as 'going for a ride' in the shopping cart or stroller to make it sound more appealing, but he's not buying it.)