Bloggin' mum

Just as I predicted, I survived the trip to Arizona and came back with a few stories that I might tell in another post. What I would like to share today is my little technological coup that began last summer.

I believe that everyone has a talent, and my mother-in-law Jan's is her unique, resourceful and schmaltzy approach to giving gifts. Jan has four children, four step-daughters, a passel of grandchildren, various children-in-law and grandchildren-in-law; so you can easily imagine that her ability to remember birthdays is no small feat. Her primary modus operandi is to bestow very odd gifts that leave the receiver wondering "What was she thinking?!" (For example, there was the time when she gave Scott an executive sandbox for Christmas. Not too bad, except when you consider the fact that Scott is an airline pilot without an office or desk! Some family members would not describe Jan's tendencies as a talent but as a symptom to her affinity for shopping at flea markets and dollar stores. But clearly I am digressing)

The other thing Jan does to show love and appreciation for someone is to write a personal story in rhyme for that individual. When each grandchild was but a toddler, Jan wrote and put together a clever book for each. I always imagine that she missed her true vocation while raising and worrying about all those kids and that if she had chosen to pursue a career in writing children's books or greeting cards, she would have retired well-off enough to spend all winter long on Waikiki Beach every year.

When I began blogging myself, I knew that this would be a pastime perfect for Jan. All I had to do was set it up for her and she would become a bloggin' fool like me. Piece o' cake!

Not so for a woman born in 1934 "Easy for you!" was her response after several attempts to blog on her own.

Navigating the dashboard confounded her. The vocabulary confused her. "What's a URL?" she asked more than once. Telling her what to do via long distance phone calls proved impossible, but she was still intrigued with the notion of writing a blog even if she really didn't understand what one was. The teacher in me mused. Educators often refer to the Vygotzskian zone of proximal development when discussing how to teach curriculum. Clearly the the paths of thinking about how to blog were not within her zpd. She would need me there so I could see what the heck she was trying to do so I could push her over the edge.

At last on Thanksgiving afternoon when everyone was fat with food and the menfolk were focused on football, Jan and I sat down at a computer to go over a enough basics of logging on and creating a post. Wouldn't you know it, that evening after she went home, she followed through on her lesson and published something. Now I can add at last my mother-in-law's blog to my blogroll and count her as one of the more technologically savvy individuals in my family. (Sad, but true!) If by chance you are wondering what we ate for Thanksgiving dinner, you'll have to go there yourself. If you do visit, do me a favor and give her some positive reinforcement with a comment. I know it will give her a thrill.

My fingers are crosses as to whether or not she'll attempt it again.