How Great to be a Kid Today

Lately, I've been thinking back to the things I got to do as a kid. You know the places, I got to see or simply the opportunities that came my way. Compared to what my children get to do . . . well, there is no comparison. The other day, we had an unbelievable time swimming with manatees in Homosassa Springs in Florida. My kids were out there in their scuba gear, floating around manatees that swam past as if were the most normal thing in the world. When I was a kid, I didn't even know what a manatee was. Seriously.

I think it was then, as I sat on the boat freezing under a towel that I thought about how lucky my kids are. But not only my kids -- most kids these days. I know quite a few kids that have things like yearly passes to Disneyland. Wow! When I was a kid, it was a special treat to go visit Micky (maybe) once a year if I was lucky, and I bounced around for weeks waiting for that special day. And the amout of toys they have! Plus the technology is out of this world. A Nintendo DSI can not only play games, but it has internet access, takes pictures, and makes moving cartoons. I used to ride my bike to an arcade to play pacman - LOL.

Sometimes I worry about spoiling my kids or wonder if they get to see too much too soon. What will excite them when they're twenty when they've already done it all and seen it all? But then I think that times are different. It's not a pacman world anymore. After all, they can learn Chinese on a Nintendo game these days - how awesome is that?

So I guess to prepare kids for the world to come, the more experiences they have the better. And if the experiences are more amazing and more intense than what I had, it's because life is more intense and calls for heightened encounters with the world. Hopefully, our kids will take these memories and experiences to continue to create and even more amazing world in the future.

What it means to me as a writer who still likes books rather than Kindles and Nooks, I don't know. I guess I'll just sit back and see what my kids, as well as those I teach or lead in scout activities do with the opportunities they're lucky enough to given.

Sea World Sleepover

Last Friday, I had a missing post, because my girl scout troop's long awaited trip to Sea World had finally arrived. The girls were excited not only for the chance to visit Sea World, but they were going to get the opportunity to sleep with the Manatees.

Not knowing how it was going to turn out, I didn't want to get my hopes up too high. I wanted it to be fun and educational, and an experience the girls and their moms would remember forever.

Sea World met and exceeded my expectations. It was an amazing night. The instructors kept the girls interested and kept them moving from one exhibit to the next. We were served dinner and breakfast, as well as snacks. And at the end of the night - close to midnight- they brought out our sleeping bags let us stretch out in the manatee exhibit.

The disappointing part of the whole experience came when everyone was free to choose where they wanted to sleep. The options were pretty much heads toward the manatee aquarium or heads toward the wall. I was completely surprised when a few minutes into set up, two troops (the moms) began to confront each other over where they were going to sleep, and actually argue about who chose the place on the ground first.

Now, as parents and girl scout leaders, aren't we supposed to set the example of how to behave? I don't get it. I'm forever surprised when adults act worse than children.

But if anyone out there has the opportunity to participate in one of Sea World's sleep over, I say go for it. It's absolutely worth it!