I resisted Skype for a long time. My dad has been on it for years chatting with friends across the country and encouraging me to join the party. He lives around the corner from me so I figured if I wanted to talk and see him, I could walk half a block.
But in May, the Little Guy was born. My sister’s first child lives 200 miles away and is preparing to move this fall with his momma and daddy to an Air Force base even farther away.
Now Skype makes all kinds of sense. It’s great to see him growing and changing in between visits. And it’s great to see my sister doing the things moms do.
At the same time my 3-year-old nephew has discovered Skype. He lives about a mile away, but loves to Skype with me and my kids. He’s even been known to Skype his dad from the bedroom to the kitchen.
The opposite of sending a text, which for me takes out almost every personal aspect of communication, using Skype is completely intimate because it is as close to face-to-face as you can get miles away. Amazingly, these little ones will grow up with this Star Trek technology as the norm.
If you’ve resisted like me, get with the program. Every laptop you buy today has a webcam. Just download the free program and get to Skyping — I guess that’s a word now.
Photo credit: jayneandd (flickr.com)
Digital Suburbia | Raising Kids in the Digital Age 