Unafraid of technology

I'm continually amazed at how a modern 5-year-old takes technology in stride.

Driving Jacob home from preschool recently, I turned on the Pandora music streaming app on my iPhone and piped the music through my car radio, as I do routinely. Jacob heard a few bars of the rap song that was playing and said, in a panic, "Push the thumb-up button! Push the thumb-up button! I like this one!"

Nostalgia engine

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="374" caption="(Thanks to iNintendo.net for the screen shot)"][/caption]

Back in 2004 (I think), I bought a Nintendo 64 game system for $20 at GameStop so I could play it with Charlie and Thomas during their visits. It was the same kind of system they had played on when they were young kids,  so we all experienced some nostalgia as we played again -- some of us more than others, I'm sure.

A few months ago, I introduced Jacob (5) to the N64. He is now capable of beating me, and his mom, and his grandparents, and all the computer players, in MarioKart, not always but more often than we would like. Angela saw how much he enjoyed MarioKart, so she ordered two more games, one of which is the classic Super Mario 64. The learning curve of that game is a little steep, but Jacob is picking it up quickly, thanks in part to the vast supply of YouTube videos of people playing the game extremely well.

Jacob shows the same talent and patience for learning these N64 games that Thomas had when he was little -- which is saying a lot -- and he shows the same kind of excitement in learning the 'maps' and how things behave in these alternate universes.

Playing the games with any of my kids brings back memories, but seeing glimpses of the older sons in the youngest one is what really takes me back.

Nothing is what happened

As promised, the results of the Craigslist experiment:

Nothing.

Life goes on, happily!

Looking for locals

A year and a half ago, I started reaching out online to all recycled dads around the world via this blog. But that was a pretty illogical way to start, considering that almost no one knows what a recycled dad is, or even that the term exists. (I literally cannot think of any search string other than "recycled dad" or my name that would reliably bring this blog up on page 1 of a search result.)

So I'm trying what I should have tried in the first place: I'm putting an ad on Bay Area craigslist to see if any other recycled dads in in the area want to hang out. Yes, in person.

I'll post about what happens, even if it's nothing.

Who will learn more - you or Cameron?

It's been a long time since I posted. But I've come out of hibernation for a good reason: to publicize this opportunity for other "old new dads" to help a marketing student in the U.K. with his research by sharing their insights.

If you are a recycled dad, please download this questionnaire, complete it, and e-mail it to cameronblack19@googlemail.com . I found the questions very thought-provoking; you probably will, too.

Here is the message the researcher sent me via my blog:

My name is Cameron Black. I am a  first year student at Bournemouth University, England and am currently studying Advertising. As part of a consumer psychology unit, we are doing a project on a new market segment that is yet to be explored by a high street retailer i.e old new dads. The main aim of our project is to discover what new products might appeal to men who have become Dads later on in life and what would help them to bond better with their children.

If you have any suggestions or any information regarding a product that you think might be successful it would be much appreciated. I would also be interested to hear about your experience of becoming a older or recycled father and what the positives from that experience.

"..."

I'm a lot less uptight about the words I use around Jacob than I was 'a generation ago' with Charlie and Thomas.

Today, as I was putting Jacob in his car seat:

Jacob: "Ow!"

Me: "I'm sorry. Did I crush your nuts?"

Jacob (laughing): "No, you didn't crush my nuts! How did you know I had nuts?"

Angela and me (laughing): "..."

Jacob: "How did you know I had nuts in my belly?"

Angela and me (laughing uncontrollably): "..."

Good guess!

Background item 1: Ever since Charlie and Thomas were in elementary school, I've referred to the indirect (often scenic) driving route as "the fun way." I've continued this habit with Jacob.

Background item 2: Jacob recognizes many words on sight, including the names of familiar streets on signs. As we drive around, he will call them out ("Hey, that says 'Dublin Boulevard!'").

Two nights ago, on the way home from preschool, Jacob requested "the fun way," referring to a specific route that we often take. I said it was too late -- we were already in the turn lane to go the normal way, but we could go a *different* fun way by going straight at the next intersection. As we approached that intersection, he spotted a small green sign in the median that read "Finnian Wy." He said, "Hey, that says "fun way!!"