Child of the Digital Age

It dawned on us yesterday that Sydney is the epitome of a child of the digital age. Not only will she never know life without the Internet, but she will also never know what it is like to have to wait to see a photo developed.

We took several pictures of her in front of our Christmas tree in hopes of capturing one good enough for our Christmas card. Several of the pictures were blurry because after saying "cheese" for two seconds, she ran toward us to see the result while the shutter was still in play. "See picture," she demanded after each shot was taken.

I remember the days when my parents would take one or two shots with the traditional camera having no idea how beautiful or horrific they would turn out. And then we would have to wait until the roll of film was full in order to find out; that could take up to three months. By then, we'd forgotten all about the pictures at the beginning of the roll. You know the kind I'm talking about: the pictures from that summer's vacation or the standard Easter picture with eyes that were red or half closed. When I look back at them now, they're not the prettiest pictures, but they're usually my favorites anyway.

Maybe when Sydney gets older, I'll pull out my old 35mm camera and let her take a few pictures that can't automatically be airbrushed or touched up. Of course, I'd have to be able to find that ancient thing called "film" first.