My mother has gotten to the point in her life that she repeats some of the same stories over and over. I do the same thing in the blog, but I call it practice as I hone and refine my message to bring greater clarity. If I get to where my stories ramble on and on without improvement, please let me know.

One of the stories my mother likes to tell is about sewing with my daughter Lucy. Mom was doing a repair on one of Lucy's stuffed animals, and Lucy, being 3 or 4 years old wanted to sew, too. Mom gave her a threaded needle and some fabric and Lucy began to make what she said was a purse. Mom sat on the couch, and Lucy on the floor, singing as she sewed. After a time Lucy started to cry. The purse wasn't turning out quite as she expected. Threads were tangled in knots. So Mom, took her scissors and cut away a few wayward threads and handed the "purse" back to Lucy. Lucy beamed, "perfect!" There was very little there that any normal person would identify as a purse, but in Lucy's mind and in the situation of sewing with Grandma, perfection was clearly there to be found.

Perhaps in another time, gaming with grandma will take the place of sewing and other forms of more traditional human activities in stories told over and over in fond remembrance. But there are unintended consequences to everything. When we introduce new technologies they displace other means and forms of relationship. We may want to be careful and know what we are giving up as we trade one for another.