The Gift Of Technology

Gift giving is not my strong suit. I love to just stumble across something that I know someone will love and give it to them. But when I've not stumbled over something accidentally, and find myself right up against a gift-giving occasion and my closet contains no gift to give, I get a wee panicked. I hate being put on the spot, and I hate feeling like I have to buy a gift just because an occasion suggests is. I'm a spontaneous giver. It really doesn't help when the person you're buying for needs nothing.

So what does one get their mom for holidays?

My mom isn't into jewelry or makeup or shoes or purses. (It's all starting to click where I came from. Shut up. I know I'm slow.) She loves horses and country stuff, and dad loves mountains and hunting, so even if I get a picture with mountains it's a win. Except that every square inch of mom's home AND cabin are covered in pictures. And things. She needs no more thing. None. And yet, we have to get her things for holidays. I got my love of books from her,but we differ in what we love to read, so buying her something she'll love is a shot in the dark. And if I hit something, she'll most likely have already bought it. So last spring I had the grand idea to get her a Kindle. And it WAS grand, except the part where I wasn't sure she'd love it.

Mom is a bit old fashioned. She bought a computer once, and took a class on how to use it, but was so frustrated by the time suck of the thing that she returned it. She refuses to have a phone at her cabin because she wants to unplug when she's there. She just isn't that in touch with the world of technology, so I wasn't sure how a Kindle would go over. She'd either love it or never use it. I didn't really want to spend that kind of money on something that she'd never use. So I just asked her if she thought she'd like one.

She wasn't sure. It was a huge help.

So this past Christmas I just got her the Kindle, because I asked again and she decided that she would kind of like to have one. (See mom get techy!) I had it shipped to my house so that I could get some books for her via my Wi-Fi (which she obviously doesn't have) and had her over this weekend to look at books together. It was easier to look things up on my computer, so we did that. And she was totally amazed at what was there at the touch of a keystroke. And even more amazed that "instant download" meant just that. "You mean it's there already? Are you sure?" So we checked, and it was. And she was like a two year old discovering Christmas. And after buying 4 books for 99 cents each, she decided that she had enough for now. She really couldn't wait to get home and try that new fangled way to read.

I was skeptic, I'll admit. I'm pretty sure she'll end up deciding it's too complicated and it'll be a technological dust collector. So when I saw her in church today, she cornered me to say, "I was using that thing you got me last night and read several chapters of that one book. I think I really like it."

Color me surprised.

And also a little jealous. While working with her to set it up, I realized how easy her life was in comparison to mine. And how much more time she must have in her day, not to be tied to email and social media and online work. There really is something to be said for the quiet life.