An Evening with Mom

Last time I posted, I mentioned that my mom can be funny sometimes. This evening she was my student. I gave her a mini crash course in email.

She came over this evening so I could help her pay some bills online and after we were done, she asked a few questions about email. Since she's been whining for years that she has a daughter that knows how to use a computer and hasn't taught her anything, I decided I'd help her create her own email account.

My mom does not know a lot about how to use a computer. One time she called me at work and told me she was typing something. She called to ask how to add a capital letter. I laughed... a lot, but I understood that this whole thing was very new to her. I tried to tell her to hold down shift and hit the letter she needed to capitalize but that was way too much. She got frustrated and quit. I've had to type every letter and help her everytime she wants to do something with a computer so I was envisioning being free of this responsibility. Nope, not quite.

Apparently, my mom has learned a little bit since then. I started out with the basics; I showed her how to open a browser window and explained what everything in the browser was. When I came to the address bar, she snapped at me. "I'm not stupid, I know what that is!" Just then I thought maybe she really could start paying her own bills soon.

After I set up her email account, she was anxious to send an email. I went over everything in detail and set up contacts for her to make it easier. When she was composing an email to my aunt in Portugal, it was kind of funny to watch her type. She was hunting and pecking every key on the keyboard but for some reason, she hated using the space key. After she typed her first word, she kept typing the second one without adding a space. I had to keep nagging to get her to use the space key. "Which one is the space key?" After I told her it was the biggest key on the keyboard, she hit Backspace.

Actually, it was fun teaching her how to use this. I doubt she will ever put the internet to good use but for now, she's content that she's learned how to send an email... she was thrilled about using the @ symbol. Who knows, maybe after a few more crash courses, she'll set up a blog.

Comments

[Anne]

Aw, your mom sounds so cute! It was baffling to me for a moment, reading that your mom doesn't type...my grandmother was a secretary her whole life, and as a kid, I was fascinated just watching either her or my mother type...they were so FAST! I thought I'd never be able to do it.

And still, both my grandmother and mother call me when they can't figure something simple out...so it's beyond amazing that your mom's making the effort!

[nicole]

Awww ... that's cute. My mom hunts and pecks when she types too. She still asks me to look stuff up on the internet even though she has her own computer and three capable men in the house to help her (they just refuse to).

[Buffy]

My mom kills me. She's been online since 1998 and she still cant figure out how to cut and paste and change her passwords.

[Colleen]

Sounds like my dad! He started off clueless, and still hunts and pecks a little, but he's an ace at email and stuff now. He called me last week to help him find a vide clip online. HE found it and I couldn't!