A self-imposed deadline is, I think, the worst sort. I set my phone to alert me once a week to blog something. And it just went off. I have no definite plan so this is going to be off the top of my head. Call it “philosophy” or call it “miscellaneous”. I don’t care!
Today my daughter texted me a picture of a smallish fungus. (Aside – the spell checker doesn’t recognise “texted”. The spell checker needs to be updated!) Apparently my grand-daughter, who knows of my interest in fungi, thought that Grandad might like this “interesting fungus”. Who knows, because of me she might grow up to be a famous mycologist, the one who saves the human race from the mutant spores. Hmm!
Which made me wonder about the effect we have on our descendants. Obviously there are two ways we can do that -the genetic and the environmental. Our genes may predispose our offspring to certain tendencies and our personal influences plus the environments (in the widest sense) in which we live effect the way that we and our children behave.
Of course I don’t know where Loulou will head in life, but I do recognise some traits in her which I see in myself, but I can’t tell whether or not these are inherited traits or learned ones. Computers are no mystery to her, and she knows that it is possible to take a photo (on a phone) and send it to Grandad. She knows how to unlock the iPad and has no fear of the Android tablet. She and I have a liking for a particular on-line game.
Loulou’s Dad works with computers. She has two older brothers who are computer literate. Her mother grew up with Commodore 64s and computer games loaded from tape. Loulou’s mother’s Dad (me!) worked in computers from before Loulou’s mum was born, but I don’t think I bought the job home, though we did get a Vic 20 and later a Commodore 64.
But Loulou is not a geek. When we went on a walk Loulou decided that tights, t-shirt, a tutu, and gumboots were the appropriate wear. (I think that, stylistically, it worked). She’s a fan of Dora the Explorer but is not a fanatic. Maybe she will grow into that. However, her Mum and Auntie weren’t particularly doll orientated.
Hmm, this article seems to be all about Loulou. It’s too early to tell, but I won’t be disappointed if she goes down the geeky route. I’d be interested in how she gets on in that world. I won’t be disappointed if she *doesn’t* either. Either way she’s the most wonderful granddaughter.
Me on the net 